Planning FAQ
Do I need planning permission for a side-return extension?
Side returns are PD up to half the width of the original house, single-storey, height-restricted. Conservation areas require full planning.
Side returns are PD up to half the width of the original house, single-storey, height-restricted. Conservation areas require full planning.
Often yes. A side return alone can be permitted development, but the depth limit is measured from the original rear wall — the back of the main house, not the back of the Victorian addition. Most side returns run past that line, which takes them over the 3 m limit and into a £548 householder application.
On a typical London terrace the back addition already projects 3 to 4 m behind the original rear wall. A side return infill that runs the full length of that addition is therefore already at or beyond the permitted 3 m depth before it extends any further into the garden.
Where the infill stops short of the original rear wall line — filling only the part of the passage alongside the main house — it can remain permitted development, but that is rarely what an owner actually wants.
Single storey only, no wider than half the width of the original house, maximum 4 m high and 3 m within 2 m of a boundary, materials similar in appearance, and no part forward of the principal elevation. Extensions beyond a side wall are not permitted at all on Article 2(3) land, which includes conservation areas.
Existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections; a 1:1250 location plan with the site edged red; a 1:500 or 1:200 site plan; and — where the boundary is tight — a demonstration that the 45-degree line from the neighbour's nearest habitable window is not crossed. Rooflights along the return should be shown on the roof plan.
The boundary wall is almost always a party wall or party fence wall. Building against or on it is section 1 or section 2 work with one month's notice, and new foundations within 3 m of the neighbour's structure add a section 6 notice at two months.
How do i need planning permission for a side-return extension? plays out in Kingston upon Thames: Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (Kingston Council) maintains 22 conservation areas, the Kingston Old Town Conservation Area and the Surbiton Conservation Area among them, and there is no borough-wide Article 4 direction, so permitted development generally survives outside conservation areas. Anyone dealing with do i need planning permission for a side-return extension? at a Kingston upon Thames address is therefore working to a £548 householder application decided in 8 weeks, or a £249 prior approval over 6 weeks where do i need planning permission for a side-return extension? still qualifies. are the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the GPDO 2015 and the Building Regulations 2010.
| Typical width | 1.5–2.5 m |
|---|---|
| Depth measured from | The original rear wall |
| Height limit | 4 m; 3 m within 2 m of a boundary |
| Conservation area | Side extensions not permitted development |
| Application fee | £548, 8 weeks |
| Our package from |
Yes — both describe filling the original side passage beside the back addition.
If the neighbour dissents or does not respond within fourteen days, yes.
Typically 8 to 12 m², but the usability gain is far larger than the area suggests.
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