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Bexley, London

Side return extension drawings in Bexley

Side return extension drawings for a Bexley home start at £745 including VAT. Bexley is a borough of houses, where the side return is often a wider gap beside the property than the narrow slot of inner London. The borough's Design Guide SPD Part 2: Building Alterations and Extensions is the document your design is read against.

From £745 (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 side return 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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    Two-storey rear extension under construction on a semi-detached house

    Side return extension drawings in Bexley and the Design Guide

    Bexley splits its design advice in two. Design Guide SPD Part 1: Design Principles sets out the general principles, and Design Guide SPD Part 2: Building Alterations and Extensions deals with the specifics of building alterations and extensions. Both support the Bexley Local Plan, adopted in 2,023. We have found no numeric side return limit in the extension guide that we can quote, so the first job is to read the guide as an officer would and draw to its intent.

    In practice the intent is about how a new side wall and roof relate to the house and the street. In Bexley's semi-detached streets, a side return can be visible from the pavement, which a Victorian terrace's rear-only slot never is. A set-in front corner, a roof pitch that matches the main house and brickwork that blends are the details we resolve in the elevations, because they are the ones that decide whether the scheme looks like part of the house.

    Where a side passage leads to a garage, we show how the passage is kept or relocated, because losing the access is a practical problem as well as a planning one, and a sensible officer will ask where the bins and the bicycles go.

    House extension under construction with scaffolding, new glazed doors and building materials

    Local figures for Bexley

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Householder decisions877 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted94.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time99.4 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Conservation areas23 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area17 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house75.3 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Average price, terraced416,198 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)25.1 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Class A, para A.1(j)Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house—legislation.gov.uk
    Class A, para A.1(i)Eaves no higher than 3 m where within 2 m of the curtilage 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 Bexley

    Householder applications by street in Bexley

    Streets in Bexley with the most householder applications, and the share approved
    StreetApplicationsApproved
    Rydal Drive3688%
    Danson Road3578%
    Glenhurst Avenue3491%
    Westwood Lane3494%
    Wren Road3389%
    Harland Avenue3297%
    Halfway Street3167%
    Northumberland Avenue3197%
    Okehampton Crescent3090%
    Upton Road2679%
    Bellegrove Road2591%
    Latham Road25100%
    Mayplace Road East2584%
    Walton Road25100%
    Wansunt Road2596%
    Counts of householder applications by street; no individual applications are shown. Streets with fewer than five applications are left out.Source: GLA Planning London Datahub, householder applications, all years held. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
    The 45-degree test in planTest used in daylight assessments: 45 degrees (plan and elevation)A

    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)

    Bexley figures that affect your application

    Bexley decided 877 householder applications in its latest year and granted 94.6 per cent, with 99.4 per cent decided in time. That record still turns on each submission, so a clear, complete set serves you better than a clever one.

    The borough has 23 conservation areas and 17 per cent of its land is Green Belt. A side return in a conservation area falls outside permitted development and needs a householder application, so we check the boundary on the council's map before quoting the route.

    75.3 per cent of households live in a house or bungalow and 68.6 per cent own their home. A terraced house averages £416,198, and average prices have moved 2 per cent in a year. Domestic gardens are 25.1 per cent of the borough's land, so most plots have room to give up a strip and keep a usable garden.

    Permitted development and the energy rules

    A side extension under permitted development is limited like this: Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house. Near a boundary, Eaves no higher than 3 m where within 2 m of the curtilage boundary, and the finish has to match: Exterior materials must be of similar appearance to the existing house (conservatories excepted).

    Bexley's larger-extension prior approvals were 7 granted and 8 refused, an even split, so we treat that route as a case-by-case choice. If your design fits the limits, a lawful development certificate in Bexley records it in writing before you build.

    Glazing limits come from the energy rules: Windows, roof windows, rooflights and doors in an extension should not exceed 25% of the extension floor area plus the area of openings removed or covered. Fabric values: New elements in existing dwellings, limiting U-values W/(m²·K): roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, windows 1.4 (or WER Band B), doors 1.4. A side return roof full of glass is the usual place a design runs into the limit.

    Price, fees and what to order alongside

    The set costs £745 including VAT and is fixed before you commit. The householder application fee is £548, paid to the council, and our free redraws apply if the case officer asks for changes.

    Our process is short. We survey the house and the gap, agree a layout with you, and draw the set. We model the house in Revit, so the plans, sections and elevations always agree with one another. Drawings follow about a week after the survey. Every set is checked independently, by someone other than the person who drew it, before it reaches you. Questions from your builder or from a neighbour can then be answered from the drawings alone. The same drawings then serve your application and, later, a Building Regulations submission.

    Party wall notices are your responsibility to serve, and the timings are: Line-of-junction (new wall) notice at least 1 month before work; and for work to a shared structure, Party structure notice at least 2 months before work. We draw the foundation detail so your surveyor has something concrete to agree.

    A side return often pairs with work at the back, so see rear extension drawings in Bexley, or the full application set in planning drawings in Bexley. Next door, side return extension drawings in Bromley show how a different council reads the same national limits.

    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.
    Brick house being extended, with a wide new opening supported over the ground floor
    Every side considered
    Flick across the turntable to spin it.

    Other services in Bexley

    Side return extension drawings nearby

    Questions

    Which Bexley document governs a side return?

    The Design Guide SPD Part 2: Building Alterations and Extensions, read with Design Guide SPD Part 1: Design Principles.

    Does a side return in Bexley need planning permission?

    Not always. The permitted limit is: Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house. It never applies in a conservation area.

    How often does Bexley grant householder applications?

    It granted 94.6 per cent of 877 decisions in its latest year. Your result depends on your drawings.

    What does a Bexley side return drawing set cost?

    From £745 including VAT, quoted before you commit.

    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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