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Lewisham, London

Garden room drawings in Lewisham

Garden room drawings in Lewisham start at £495 including VAT. Lewisham's own guidance says an outbuilding that needs permission must be subordinate, ancillary to the house and kept away from the front, and the borough's long south-eastern gardens give those rules room to work.

From £495 (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 garden room 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

    Lewisham's rule for garden buildings

    The Alterations and Extensions SPD deals with outbuildings directly. Where a garden building needs permission it should be subordinate to the house, used only in connection with it, and placed at the back, not at the front. The same passage says that using an outbuilding as a separate dwelling will be restricted.

    Those four tests are the ones we draw to. Subordinate means the room is clearly smaller and lower than the house; ancillary means the drawing labels an office, studio or gym; at the back means the site plan fixes the position behind the rear wall; and no separate dwelling means no kitchen and no sleeping space shown.

    The borough's current plan, Lewisham Local Plan 2020-2040, is recent, so officers are applying it to householder cases now. A design that echoes the guidance above reads as consistent with it, and the Small Sites document is not relevant to a garden room unless a separate home is proposed.

    Finished white-rendered rear house extension with large glazed doors

    Local figures for Lewisham

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Article 4 directions57 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 direction areas89 Article 4 direction area polygons published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas30 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries367 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)31.1 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Households living in a house42.2 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Householder applications granted89.4 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time95.2 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    GPDO Sch 2 Pt 1 Class E, para E.1(e)Max 2.5 m if within 2 m of a boundary; otherwise 4 m dual-pitched roof or 3 m any other roof—legislation.gov.uk
    Class E, para E.1(b)Buildings may not cover more than 50% of the curtilage (excluding the original house)—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 Lewisham
    Single-storey rear extension: the permitted development limitsDepth beyond the original rear wall: 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey. Maximum height: 4 m. Within the zone near the boundary: Eaves no higher than 3 m where within 2 m of the curtilage boundary. Larger extension under prior approval: 6 m (attached) / 8 m (detached), single storey, height max 4 m; not on article 2(3) land or an SSSIABCD

    Single-storey rear extension: the permitted development limits

    The house in section with a rear extension; the dashed lines mark the zone near the boundary.

    A · Depth beyond the original rear wall
    3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey
    B · Maximum height
    4 m
    C · Within the zone near the boundary
    Eaves no higher than 3 m where within 2 m of the curtilage boundary
    D · Larger extension under prior approval
    6 m (attached) / 8 m (detached), single storey, height max 4 m; not on article 2(3) land or an SSSI

    Article 4 land and conservation areas in Lewisham

    The council has made 57 Article 4 directions over 89 mapped areas, and it names 30 conservation areas. One direction concerns houses in multiple occupation, so not every direction is relevant to a room at the back of the garden, but we read each one that touches your road.

    Inside a conservation area the side-of-house restriction applies: On article 2(3) land, no outbuilding between a side wall and the boundary. Where the house is one of the 367 listed entries, the national rule is that Garden buildings within the curtilage of a listed building are not permitted development.

    Garden room permitted development in Lewisham

    Lewisham's gardens are generous, with domestic gardens covering 31.1 per cent of the land, and houses make up 42.2 per cent of households. That makes many plots comfortably inside the cover limit: Buildings may not cover more than 50% of the curtilage (excluding the original house).

    Height is where designs fail. The order sets Max 2.5 m if within 2 m of a boundary; otherwise 4 m dual-pitched roof or 3 m any other roof, so a studio tucked into the back corner has to drop to the lower figure, which is why we model the roof in 3D against the fence at the start.

    A lawful development certificate in Lewisham records a compliant design, and a planning application covers one that goes beyond it. Lewisham granted 89.4 per cent of its 578 householder decisions, and decided 95.2 per cent in time.

    Planning rules and ground reality differ in these gardens. Some gardens slope, so we ask for levels and measure from the real ground, because the height limit is taken from the highest natural ground beside the building.

    Building Regulations, price and next step

    A small detached room used as an office is normally exempt from building control: Detached single-storey building up to 30 m², no sleeping accommodation, at least 1 m from the boundary or substantially non-combustible, is exempt. Where a family wants a bed for guests, the room stops being exempt and a set of construction details is needed, which our building regulations drawings in Lewisham service supplies.

    Our fixed fee is £495 with VAT included. The set holds a site plan, floor plan, elevations, a roof and floor section and a 3D view, drawn by MCIAT chartered architectural technologists and checked by a second person. The council fee, if one is due, is paid to the council.

    Lewisham is covered in full on the architectural drawings in Lewisham page, and the national limits are set out on the garden room drawings page. If an officer asks for changes we redraw free until approval; we do not promise the outcome.

    Send the address and what the room is for. We check the Article 4 layers, tell you whether it is permitted development or an application, and quote before any drawing begins.

    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 Lewisham

    Garden room drawings nearby

    Questions

    Can I use a Lewisham garden room as a separate home?

    No. The borough says outbuildings used as separate dwellings will be restricted, and the national order requires use incidental to the house. Drawings show an office, studio or gym only.

    Does Lewisham want garden rooms at the back of the plot?

    Its guidance says a garden building needing permission should not be at the front and should be subordinate to the house. We fix the position behind the rear wall on the site plan.

    Do Lewisham Article 4 directions stop garden rooms?

    Not necessarily. Directions vary by area, so we read the one that covers your address before we quote.

    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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