Wraparound extension drawings in Islington

Decision figures and the absence of prior approvals

The council decided 98.8% of householder applications in time and granted 92.6%. Because the household count is small, there are only 337 decisions a year, so local precedent for a wraparound can be thin.

The larger home extension prior approval route shows 0 granted and 0 refused in the latest return year, so the route is little used here. Lawful Development Certificates are also rare here, with 141 recorded. For almost every Islington wraparound the route is a full householder application, with a council fee of £548.

That makes the design statement a working document. It should say what the extension replaces, how the new roof meets the old, and how the garden and the neighbours' light are protected.

Costs and the value of the plot

Houses here average £674,592, so a well-judged wraparound adds real value, and a poorly judged one is an expensive mistake. Borough CIL is charged at £300/m² (Zone A); £250/m² (Zone B) — residential dwellings, Use Classes C3 and C4 for residential floorspace, and the Mayoral band is 1 at £96.97 per square metre indexed. Levies generally apply to larger additions, but we check liability on the measured floor area.

Garden land is 19.7% of the borough, and each yard is small, so officers look hard at how much of it a wraparound removes.

Design points for an Islington terrace

Terraces here commonly have a closet wing at the back, and the wraparound is usually the infill between that wing and the boundary, extended into the yard. The skill is in the junction: the new roof should sit below the first-floor window cill of the wing and keep light reaching the retained rear rooms.

Walls and boundaries deserve equal care. The neighbour's garden wall is often old brick of uncertain depth, so we record it on the survey and detail the new wall to bear on its own foundation, not on theirs. A parapet gutter cannot overhang their land, so we draw the rainwater route within the plot.

We also look at the glazing. A fully glazed rear and side elevation can look light but risks overheating and can exceed the energy glazing limit, so we balance solid wall, rooflight and doors, and show the proportions on the elevations.

What we draw and how it runs

The set includes surveyed existing plans, proposed plans on each floor affected, elevations, sections through the new room and the old wall, and a roof plan. We add a short heritage note where a conservation area or listing applies, with photographs of the neighbours' extensions.

Alternatives are worth a look. The simpler rear extension drawings in Islington cost less and leave the side passage, while a Lawful Development Certificate suits the rare plot that fits the national limits.

Neighbours on both sides will need party wall notices, and our wider service in the borough is at architectural drawings in Islington. If the council asks for amendments we redraw them without extra charge.