Side return extension drawings in Lambeth

Conservation areas, Article 4 and trees in Lambeth

Lambeth publishes 64 conservation areas, and national permitted development gives no side extension in them: No side extensions under PD on article 2(3) land (conservation areas etc.). It also lists 12 Article 4 directions over 223 mapped areas, which can remove rights that apply elsewhere.

Historic England lists 953 entries in the borough, and the council holds 339 tree preservation orders across 226 mapped zones. We check your address against each at the free review.

Outside any of these, the permitted limit is: Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house.

The corner of the return is the item to settle early. On a Lambeth terrace we measure the distance from the back of the main house to the outrigger and mark the existing corner on every sheet, then show the infill pulling back from it where the guide asks. Owners sometimes prefer a full-width scheme for the kitchen, and we can draw both versions side by side, so you see what the stepped plan gives up and keeps before the application is submitted.

How Lambeth has been deciding householder applications

Lambeth decided 595 householder applications in its latest twelve months and granted 83.4 per cent, with 93.4 per cent decided in eight weeks or an agreed extension.

Only 24.8 per cent of households live in a house and 33 per cent own their home, so side returns come from a pocket of terraces. The average terraced house sold for £796,865 in the latest figures.

On larger home extension prior approvals the council granted 13 and refused 18, so deeper rear schemes tend to need the full application, as shown in our planning drawings in Lambeth.

Neighbours, glass and fees on a Lambeth side return

Terraced houses share walls, so a side return rarely escapes the Party Wall Act. A wall newly built on the line requires: Line-of-junction (new wall) notice at least 1 month before work. Work into the shared wall needs: Party structure notice at least 2 months before work. Our party wall notices service drafts them for each affected neighbour.

The glazing limit under Approved Document L is: 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. Lambeth's householder planning fee is £548.

Lambeth's levy varies by zone, shown as £602/m² (Zone A Waterloo and Vauxhall Nine Elms); £422/m² (Zone B Kennington, Oval and Clapham); £301/m² (Zone C Brixton, Herne Hill and Tulse Hill); £241/m² (Zone D Streatham, Streatham Hill and West Norwood), and the handover pack records any liability.

What the Lambeth set includes

The fixed £745 covers plans, elevations, sections and the location and block plans. A second chartered technologist checks the Lambeth set sheet by sheet, and if the officer wants changes we redraw them free.

The rear can be drawn separately as rear extension drawings in Lambeth, and the borough overview is architectural drawings in Lambeth.

On a terrace with a narrow lightwell at the back, the side return is often the only space where the kitchen can widen. We draw the floor plan with the new door positions and the garden level changes shown, so the builder can see how the step down to the garden is handled.