Daylight and sunlight report in Sutton

A borough of houses and large gardens

Sutton is largely suburban: 62.9 per cent of households live in a house or bungalow, and 64.4 per cent own their home. Domestic gardens covered 34.5 per cent of the borough's land in the Greater London Authority's survey, so rear plots are long and the typical neighbour has a rear garden to protect.

The council's Design of Residential Extensions SPD is the reference officers use for extension size, and the Urban Design Guide covers the wider street. On a road of semi-detached houses the common light problem is a deep two-storey rear extension next to a single-storey neighbour. The test is the effect on that neighbour's back window and the patio in front of it.

Back-garden development raises a different question. A new house in the end of a long plot is a new dwelling, so its own light is tested to the European standard, and the neighbours' gardens are tested for overshadowing.

Heritage and local plan context

Sutton has 8 conservation areas, and Historic England lists 209 entries, so most houses are free of heritage controls, and light becomes the main test an officer applies when a neighbour objects. The adopted local plan is the Sutton Local Plan 2016-2031, and it is the policy base for any amenity argument.

Where a house stands in a conservation area, the report helps in another way. It shows a design that respects light often respects scale too, and scale is what the conservation officer is looking at.

What the planning record shows for Sutton

In the latest published year the council decided 601 householder applications, granting 91.8 per cent, with 94.8 per cent decided on time. Minor schemes, of up to nine homes, were granted at 76.5 per cent and on time at 87.8 per cent.

The gap between the two grant rates is the practical point. A house extension is a safe application when it follows the guidance. A scheme that adds homes meets more scrutiny, and the light evidence is part of satisfying it. Where the scheme goes beyond a house extension, our planning consultant service in Sutton can run the wider case. If the project creates a new home, Community Infrastructure Levy may also apply; the council's borough-wide residential rate is £100/m² (Residential, borough-wide).

How the report is prepared

We begin with a measured survey and photographs of the neighbouring elevations. We model the street, add the proposal, and test the neighbours' windows and rooms, then the new rooms where there are any. Results are given in tables with the model views, and each shortfall is explained in plain English with the planning context.

Because the council can use an external assessor, our report is written to be checked: assumptions, window positions, reflectance values and the source of each dimension are listed, so a reviewer can reproduce the numbers. A second chartered technologist checks the geometry before issue.

Our planning drawings in Sutton are drawn from the same model.

Cost and next step

The fee is fixed after a free constraints check and depends on the windows to be tested and the site. If an external assessor is appointed, their fee is separate and is the applicant's under the council's wording.

See the daylight and sunlight overview for the method and the architectural drawings page for Sutton for the rest of our work in the borough. Neighbouring councils differ: see Merton and Richmond upon Thames.