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Kingston upon Thames, London

Double-storey extension drawings in Kingston upon Thames

Kingston's Residential Design SPD is unusually specific, with a different test for each position on the house: rear, side of a semi, side of a detached home and cat-slide roof. Our double-storey extension drawings start at £1,295 and apply the right test to your house.

From £1,295 (VAT included)

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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 double-storey extension drawings

    Nine 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.

    8. Building regulations

      Technical drawings are coordinated with the structural engineer's calculations, the drainage and the planning conditions.

    9. Approval and hand-over

      Building control approval, then a next-steps pack covering the commencement notice, party wall timing and CIL.

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

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    Brick house being extended, with a wide new opening supported over the ground floor

    The Residential Design SPD, position by position

    At the rear, the council applies a daylight test and an outlook test. The daylight test is the 45 degrees rule drawn from the closest neighbouring habitable-room window. The outlook test is a minimum of 21 m between habitable-room windows, and a first floor is only likely to be accepted on an end-of-terrace, semi-detached or detached house whose eaves line runs with the original.

    At the side, a house with a neighbour needs a gap of 15 m between the primary elevation of an existing house and the flank wall of the extension. A semi-detached or end-of-terrace house then takes 1 m gap; 500 mm set-down; 500 mm set-back, with the extension at most half the original width. A detached house is treated differently: 500 mm set-down; 1 m set-back, either set back or integral.

    Houses with a cat-slide roof get their own sentence in the SPD: a first-floor side extension should be set back by 1 m from the front building line so that the cat-slide survives. Because the numbers differ by house type, we confirm yours from the survey before sketching and show each dimension on the first-floor plan.

    Finished white-rendered rear house extension with large glazed doors

    Local figures for Kingston upon Thames

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    The 45 degree rule from the closest neighbouring habitable-room window applies to extensions (daylight test).45 degrees—kingston.gov.uk, Residential Design SPD 2013, p.44-45, Policy Guidance 17
    Two-storey rear extensions may be acceptable on end-of-terrace, semi-detached and detached houses if the eaves line runs with the original, and a minimum 21 m is kept between habitable-room windows of neighbours.21 m—kingston.gov.uk, Residential Design SPD 2013, p.78-79, paras 4.17-4.18
    Semi-detached or end-of-terrace side extensions: no more than 50% of the original width, set in at least 1 m from the boundary, ridge set down at least 500 mm and front set back at least 500 mm.1 m gap; 500 mm set-down; 500 mm set-back—kingston.gov.uk, Residential Design SPD 2013, p.84, Policy Guidance 36
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)30.9 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area17 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas28 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries163 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions3 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted83 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time92.5 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Class A, para A.1(h)Over one storey: max 3 m beyond the original rear wall and not within 7 m of the rear boundary—legislation.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 Kingston upon Thames
    The 45-degree test in planTest used in daylight assessments: 45 degrees (plan and elevation). Kingston upon Thames guidance: 45 degreesAB

    The 45-degree test in plan

    A line from the middle of the neighbour's nearest window: the extension should stay behind it.

    A · Test used in daylight assessments
    45 degrees (plan and elevation)
    B · Kingston upon Thames guidance
    45 degrees

    Gardens, Green Belt and trees in the royal borough

    Kingston is a garden borough: 30.9 per cent of its land was domestic garden in the national land-use survey. That is why rear and side extensions are common here, and also why neighbours' windows are rarely far from your boundary.

    17 per cent of the borough lies in the Green Belt, and tree preservation zones number 7,145. A protected tree close to a flank wall can limit a side extension before any dimension is tested.

    With so many categories, the first meeting with a Kingston client is usually spent on a single question: where does the house sit in the SPD's categories? A semi with a cat-slide roof, a detached house with a garage on the flank and an end-of-terrace with a side passage each lead to a different first-floor plan, and we would rather confirm that on a survey than assume it from a photograph.

    Conservation areas and listed buildings

    The borough has 28 conservation areas and 163 listed building entries, of which 3 are Grade I. There are 3 Article 4 directions covering 114 separate areas, so an address check comes first.

    In a conservation area: No rear extension of more than one storey under PD on article 2(3) land. Elsewhere, the permitted development limit for a second storey is Over one storey: max 3 m beyond the original rear wall and not within 7 m of the rear boundary, and few Kingston plots allow a first floor within it, so most schemes go through a householder application.

    Housing and prices

    Households in a house or bungalow make up 61.5 per cent of the total and 60.9 per cent own their home. The latest Land Registry figures show a semi-detached house at £812,491 and a detached house at £1,304,915. The distance between those numbers is the budget for building up instead of moving.

    Planning decisions in Kingston upon Thames

    Kingston decided 742 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 83 per cent. It decided 92.5 per cent within eight weeks or an agreed extension. The timing figure is a reason to leave room in the programme, and the SPD's specific numbers are a reason to design to them.

    Your drawing set, price and neighbouring boroughs

    The set shows existing and proposed plans for both floors, sections, every elevation and the location and block plans. A second chartered technologist checks each sheet and we redraw free until approval if the council requests changes.

    For a single-storey option see rear extension drawings in Kingston upon Thames. The borough is summarised at architectural drawings in Kingston upon Thames. The same service is available in Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Merton, and the service itself is explained at double-storey extension drawings.

    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.
    Two-storey rear extension under construction on a semi-detached house
    Every side considered
    Flick across the turntable to spin it.

    Other services in Kingston upon Thames

    Double-storey extension drawings nearby

    Questions

    What is the Kingston daylight test for a two-storey extension?

    The SPD applies the 45 degrees rule from the closest neighbouring habitable-room window. An extension that crosses the line risks refusal on daylight grounds.

    How far must a first-floor side extension be set back in Kingston?

    It depends on the house. On a semi-detached or end-of-terrace house the figures are 1 m gap; 500 mm set-down; 500 mm set-back. On a detached house the roof is set down and the extension is either integral or set back, and a cat-slide roof needs 1 m at the front.

    Can I build two storeys at the back of a terraced house?

    The SPD names end-of-terrace, semi-detached and detached houses as the candidates, with the eaves line matching the original and the window-to-window distance kept. A mid-terrace house is a harder case.

    What do the drawings cost?

    From £1,295, fixed up front. The council's fee of £548 is separate.

    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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