Wraparound extension drawings in Kingston upon Thames

Policy: an older plan and a design SPD

Kingston still works from Core Strategy (with Kingston Town Centre Area Action Plan 2008), adopted in 2,012, and its design guide is the Residential Design SPD. With an older plan, recent decisions on your own street are useful evidence, so we search recent approvals before drawing.

We draw to that guide with extensions kept subordinate to the host house and in keeping with the street. For a wraparound that means a lower roof than the main house, a side arm set back from the front, and materials that match.

What the prior approval figures say

Larger home extension prior approvals were granted only 3 times and refused 35 times in the latest return year, a sharp tilt towards refusal. The route lets adjoining neighbours object, and the council then judges the effect on their amenity.

Householder applications fare better: 83% of 742 decisions were granted and 92.5% were decided in time. The lesson for a wraparound is simple. A full application at £548 lets the whole design be judged on its merits, unlike the prior approval route, and a wraparound with a side arm is outside that route in any case.

Where the scheme fits the national limits, a Lawful Development Certificate is an option; the borough handled 220 in its latest return year.

Design choices that protect trees and neighbours

Near a protected tree the wraparound shape often changes. The rear arm may shorten, or step in around the root zone, and the side arm may become the larger part. Where roots forbid conventional strip foundations, a piled or beam-and-pile base keeps the ground undisturbed, and we agree it with a structural engineer before the planning drawings are fixed.

Neighbours matter equally. Kingston officers weigh outlook and daylight at the neighbouring windows, so we set the boundary eaves height low, keep the rear arm's depth modest on terraces, and show the effect on the neighbour's light in a short section. If the neighbour has already extended, we draw the relationship to their wall, because a mismatch there is the quickest route to an objection.

These choices cost little at the drawing stage and a great deal once the planning decision, or the site, has gone wrong.

Housing, gardens and levy

61.5% of households live in a house or bungalow, 60.9% own their home, and the average price is £591,555. Domestic gardens account for 30.9% of the borough's land, which gives many plots the depth to take a rear arm, with the side arm as the sensitive part.

Borough CIL runs in zones, from £323.07/m² (Zone 1); £200/m² (Zone 2); £130.76/m² (Zone 3); £76.92/m² (Zone 4), with Mayoral CIL band 2 at £72.73 per square metre indexed. Levies generally apply to larger additions only, and we check liability on the measured floor area.

Drawings, neighbours and next steps

The set includes existing and proposed plans, elevations, sections, a roof plan, a location plan and a block plan. To compare, see rear extension drawings in Kingston upon Thames, a simpler scheme with less effect on the neighbours.

Neighbours will receive party wall notices on the shared boundaries, and our wider work is described at architectural drawings in Kingston upon Thames. If the council asks for changes before it decides, we redraw them free of charge.