Wraparound extension drawings in Richmond upon Thames

Richmond's House Extensions SPD

The council's House Extensions and External Alterations SPD is the document that officers will measure the scheme against, with the Design Quality SPD behind it and the Richmond Local Plan 2024-2039, adopted in 2,025. The extensions guidance sets out principles for side and rear additions, but we found no number specific to wraparounds that could be quoted, so a wraparound is read as the sum of its two parts.

Read that way, each wing has to pass its own test. The side wing must not close the gap between houses in a way that creates a terracing effect; the rear wing must not dominate the garden or the neighbours' windows. The proposed plan and the street elevation therefore carry most of the argument, and we draw the street elevation even when the extension is barely visible from the road, because the officer will want to be sure of that.

Roofs deserve care too. A modest pitched or hipped side roof in matching tile usually sits better in a conservation area than a flat roof with a parapet, and we check that against the character appraisal before settling the form.

Prior approval works differently in Richmond

For a house outside the designations the national limits are: 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey; and Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house. The larger-home prior approval lets the rear go deeper, and Richmond's record is unusual: in the latest national statistics the council granted 78 and refused 30.

That is encouraging for a deeper rear wing on a house with no designation, but it is still a rear-only route. A side wing needs to fit within the permitted limits or go through householder planning, and the total enlargement is counted across both: Limits apply to the total enlargement (new part plus any existing enlargement it joins).

How Richmond householder cases are decided

Richmond decided 1,302 householder applications in its latest published year, granted 83.3 per cent and decided 98.3 per cent inside eight weeks or an agreed extension.

Those are figures for every sort of home project, so they say little about an L-shaped extension in a conservation area. They do show a team that handles volume and keeps to its deadlines, which helps when planning the build programme around a decision.

Gardens account for 19.4 per cent of the borough's land. Owners here are mostly settled: 62.4 per cent of households own their home, and 59.8 per cent live in a house, so a wraparound is usually a long-term improvement and we draw it for the next owner as well as this one.

Wraparound extension drawings in Richmond upon Thames: the package

You receive existing and proposed plans, sections and elevations, a street elevation where it helps, a location plan and a block plan, with a second chartered technologist checking every sheet. The fee is £1,195 including VAT, fixed before work starts, and we redraw free if the council asks for changes before it decides. The council's householder fee is £548.

A side wing built close to the neighbour's flank will need a party wall notice, and the rule is that Line-of-junction (new wall) notice at least 1 month before work.

Nearby projects and councils

For a smaller step, compare house extension drawings in Richmond upon Thames and side return extension drawings in Richmond upon Thames. A new roof storey is covered by loft conversion drawings in Richmond upon Thames. The borough overview is at architectural drawings in Richmond upon Thames. Across the river, Hounslow and Kingston upon Thames have their own limits.