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Kensington and Chelsea, London

Daylight and sunlight report in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea asks for a daylight and sunlight assessment on every application that could materially affect an adjoining property, garden or amenity space, and where the site is itself affected by neighbouring buildings. Its submission requirements say that where impact is possible the officer expects VSC + ADF; BRE, so the two standard measures are usually both needed.

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    Architectural model of a four-storey London stucco townhouse in its terrace, with a portico, area railings, sash windows, a cornice and chimney stacks
    The house as it stands: four storeys over a lower ground floor.Existing Proposed worksAn illustrative model, built for this page.

    How we work on daylight and sunlight reports

    Seven steps from first call to approval.

    The same model cut through the middle: every floor, the stair, the chimney breasts, the new mansard, rear extension and basement in section
    Section through the model: every floor on one datum.

    1. Enquiry and constraints check

      We check the property against conservation areas, listed status, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and planning history. We choose the right route and send a fixed quote.

    2. Measured survey

      We survey the house on one datum: rooms, levels, boundaries, drains, trees and the neighbours' windows that the 45° and 25° tests depend on.

    3. Design options

      We model the house in Revit and show you options in 3D and plan, with the planning strategy and the precedents in your street.

    4. Design frozen

      You choose an option in writing. Nothing changes after this without your say.

    5. Independent check

      A second chartered technologist checks every sheet against the council's validation checklist and the policy. A senior review signs it off before anything is submitted.

    6. Submission

      We prepare the forms, certificates, fee and documents and submit through the Planning Portal.

    7. Officer liaison

      We answer the planning officer and make any amendments within five working days, at no charge until approval.

    Free redraws until approval. Every drawing set is checked independently, and the checker is never the person who drew it.

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    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline

    What the council's submission requirements say

    The council's Submission Requirements for Planning Applications list the daylight and sunlight assessment in their table of local requirements, and a note adds detail. Where a material impact is possible, a daylight, vertical sky component, sunlight availability and shadow study against the BRE guide is expected, and the note says officers often look at both VSC and ADF. The first measures light at the face of a neighbour's window, the second the average daylight factor inside the room.

    The trigger is wide. It covers any application with potential for material impact, not only majors, and it also applies where the site is affected by adjoining buildings. A basement conversion beneath a mews house, or a new rear room that sits in a lightwell, can therefore be caught.

    We treat the note as a specification. If the officer expects both measures, we run both from the start rather than waiting for a request, which saves a round of correspondence.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Kensington and Chelsea

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Daylight/Sunlight Assessment required for all applications with potential for material impact on daylight/sunlight of adjoining properties, gardens or amenity space, or where the site is affected by adjoining buildings. Where material impact is possible a daylight, vertical sky component, sunlight availability and shadow study against the BRE guide is expected; often both VSC and ADF. Local Plan: regard to the most recent BRE guidance; mathematical calculation may be inappropriate in tight lightwell situations.VSC + ADF; BRE—rbkc.gov.uk, RBKC Submission Requirements for Planning Applications (10 March 2023), p.12 (table); Note 16, p.32; Local Plan paras 6.79-6.80 (printed p.249)
    Conservation areas39 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions84 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries1,350 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Registered parks and gardens16 registered parks and gardens intersecting the LPA boundary (Historic England)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house17 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Average price, terraced2,429,086 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Householder decisions664 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted93.7 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time91.9 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications granted93.2 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    Councils bordering Kensington and Chelsea
    Which application your project needsLawful Development Certificate decision: 8 weeks. Prior approval decision: 42 days. Householder decision: 8 weeksYour projectWithin permitted development?Lawful Development CertificatePrior approvalHouseholder applicationYesLarger rear extensionNoABC

    Which application your project needs

    The usual route for a house; flats and listed buildings follow other rules.

    A · Lawful Development Certificate decision
    8 weeks
    B · Prior approval decision
    42 days
    C · Householder decision
    8 weeks

    Tight lightwells and the limits of calculation

    The Local Plan makes an important concession. It asks for regard to the most recent BRE guidance, and it recognises that a mathematical calculation may be inappropriate in tight lightwell situations. This is the common case here: a narrow well at the front of a stucco terrace, a rear yard enclosed by high walls, or a basement room lit from a single opening.

    Where a calculation would be meaningless, we say so in the report and use other evidence instead. Annotated sections, photographs from the neighbouring openings and a plain description of what the room already receives give the officer something truthful to weigh. A report that forces numbers onto a situation the plan itself says they suit poorly loses credibility.

    Basements as the main source of work

    The council publishes a Basements SPD, and basements are the project type where light and ground questions meet. Digging down changes the light because it creates new lightwells and enlarges existing ones, and the new room's own daylight must be tested as well as the neighbours'. Our basement impact assessment in Kensington and Chelsea covers the ground and water side, and the two documents are written to agree with each other.

    Sequencing matters. We fix the light result before the structural design is completed, because a lightwell that fails the test has to be redesigned and the engineer should not be working on a layout that changes.

    Heritage and Article 4 across the borough

    Kensington and Chelsea has 39 conservation areas and 84 Article 4 directions, and Historic England lists 1,350 entries, including 116 at Grade II* and 18 at Grade I. The borough also holds 16 registered parks and gardens.

    A great many applications therefore sit in a protected setting. The light study then has to sit beside a heritage case, and the two are cross-referenced so that a reduction in height offered to protect a roofline is shown also to help the neighbour's windows.

    The value of what is at stake

    The average price of a terraced house was £2,429,086 in the latest figures, and a flat averaged £971,688. Only 17 per cent of households live in a house or bungalow. With values at that level, a neighbour may well answer a light study with expert evidence of their own.

    A report that records its method, its measured window positions and its limits is easier to defend than one that does not. We keep the full model and the survey data so that any later challenge can be answered.

    Decisions and related pages

    The council decided 664 householder applications in the latest published year, granting 93.7 per cent, with 91.9 per cent decided in time. Minor schemes were granted at 93.2 per cent from 840 decisions.

    For the tests in plain terms, see daylight and sunlight reports, for the drawings planning drawings in Kensington and Chelsea, and for the borough architectural drawings in Kensington and Chelsea. Next door, compare Westminster and Hammersmith and Fulham. Fees are fixed after a free look at the address.

    What you receive

    Planning drawing sheet for a rear extension with plans, elevations and sections
    Sample drawing. Planning drawings for a rear extension: plans, elevations and sections on one sheet set.
    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Kensington and Chelsea

    Daylight and sunlight reports nearby

    Questions

    Which tests does Kensington and Chelsea expect?

    Where a material impact is possible the council expects VSC + ADF; BRE, often both vertical sky component and average daylight factor.

    What if my lightwell is too tight to calculate?

    The Local Plan accepts that mathematical calculation may be inappropriate in tight lightwells. We then use annotated sections and photographs instead.

    Does a basement need its own light test?

    Yes. New or enlarged lightwells change the room's own daylight and the neighbours' outlook, and the council has a Basements SPD.

    How many Article 4 directions apply?

    The council publishes 84, so check the address before assuming permitted development.

    Sources and dates

    City of London skyline glowing at dusk across the Thames under a dramatic orange sky

    Tell us about your property.

    We check the constraints, then send a fixed fee. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.

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