Two-storey rear extension in Tower Hamlets

Which postcode districts around Tower Hamlets do we cover for two storey rear work?

Every Tower Hamlets postcode district we draw in, the stock that dominates it and the authority that validates a two storey rear there. Tower Hamlets fees below are the statutory England rates for 2026, not two storey rear estimates.

How does a two storey rear differ street by street across Tower Hamlets?

Roof pitch, wall build-up and plot depth change every few Tower Hamlets streets, and each one changes what a two storey rear can achieve at that address.

• Stepney (E1) — two storey rear work in Stepney means victorian terraces, post-war estates. Stepney is Victorian terraces, post-war estates. The side-return infill is the classic move on these Victorian terraces — 3 m of permitted development depth plus the width of the original side passage throughout E1. Tower Hamlets Council decides the Stepney application, and St Dunstan's anchors the Stepney location plan.
• Spitalfields (E1) — Georgian listed townhouses, market quarter defines Spitalfields, where georgian listed townhouses set what a two storey rear can do. Georgian rear elevations here are usually the listed or locally listed face of the building across E1. Any Spitalfields two storey rear is validated by Tower Hamlets Council, with Old Spitalfields Market the usual Spitalfields reference point on the site plan.
• Whitechapel (E1) — Victorian terraces, mixed defines Whitechapel, where victorian terraces, post-war estates, new-build set what a two storey rear can do. The side-return infill is the classic move on these Victorian terraces — 3 m of permitted development depth plus the width of the original side passage across E1. Any Whitechapel two storey rear is validated by Tower Hamlets Council, with Whitechapel Gallery the usual Whitechapel reference point on the site plan.
• Bethnal Green (E2) — Victorian terraces, post-war estates defines Bethnal Green, where victorian terraces, post-war estates set what a two storey rear can do. The side-return infill is the classic move on these Victorian terraces — 3 m of permitted development depth plus the width of the original side passage across E2. Any Bethnal Green two storey rear is validated by Tower Hamlets Council, with Victoria Park the usual Bethnal Green reference point on the site plan.
• Bow (E3) — a two storey rear in Bow starts from victorian terraces, georgian fragments, and Bow reads as Victorian terraces, Georgian fragments. Georgian rear elevations here are usually the listed or locally listed face of the building in E3. Tower Hamlets Council assesses Bow two storey rears against its own Bow character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Bow references Bow Bells.
• Mile End (E1, E3) — two storey rear work in Mile End means victorian terraces, post-war estates. Mile End is Victorian terraces, post-war estates. The side-return infill is the classic move on these Victorian terraces — 3 m of permitted development depth plus the width of the original side passage throughout E1. Tower Hamlets Council decides the Mile End application, and Mile End Park anchors the Mile End location plan.
• Wapping (E1W) — Georgian fragments, warehouse conversions defines Wapping, where georgian terraces, warehouse conversions set what a two storey rear can do. Georgian rear elevations here are usually the listed or locally listed face of the building across E1W. Any Wapping two storey rear is validated by Tower Hamlets Council, with St Katharine Docks the usual Wapping reference point on the site plan.

What local planning policy applies to a two storey rear in Tower Hamlets?

Tower Hamlets conservation designations: there are 58 across Tower Hamlets Council, Whitechapel Market, Fournier Street, Tredegar Square among them. Designation costs a Tower Hamlets owner the permitted-development route: a two storey rear then needs a £548 householder application over 8 weeks, in place of the £249 prior approval route that takes 6 weeks. Tredegar Square is the Tower Hamlets designation that most often changes a two storey rear design.

Article 4 and your Tower Hamlets two storey rear: Article 4 for HMOs borough-wide; additional Article 4 covering office-to-residential in Canary Wharf and City Fringe. At a E1 address that matters twice over, because Tower Hamlets Council applies the direction unevenly across Tower Hamlets — we read the Tower Hamlets policies map for the exact E1 address before quoting two storey rears.

What Tower Hamlets is built from: Georgian in Spitalfields and Wapping; Victorian industrial conversions; extensive post-war social housing; modern high-density towers in Canary Wharf and Aldgate. High heritage value in pockets (Spitalfields, Wapping), mixed with substantial regeneration areas; active planning committee. That mix decides the two storey rear route in Tower Hamlets more than the postcode does.

Who decides a two storey rear on the edge of Tower Hamlets?

• Southwark — cross the Tower Hamlets boundary and Southwark Council takes the two storey rear instead, applying 43 conservation areas of its own around SE1. We re-price two storey rears at the Tower Hamlets edge because Southwark policy and Tower Hamlets policy rarely align on two storey rear depth.
• Greenwich — the Greenwich boundary runs against Tower Hamlets, so a two storey rear a street from Tower Hamlets is decided by Greenwich Council instead. Greenwich runs 20 conservation areas across SE3 and its neighbours, which is why two storey rears priced for Tower Hamlets are re-checked against Greenwich policy whenever the Tower Hamlets address sits on that edge.
• Hackney — the Hackney boundary runs against Tower Hamlets, so a two storey rear a street from Tower Hamlets is decided by Hackney Council instead. Hackney runs 29 conservation areas across E2 and its neighbours, which is why two storey rears priced for Tower Hamlets are re-checked against Hackney policy whenever the Tower Hamlets address sits on that edge.
• Newham — adjoining Tower Hamlets, with 10 conservation areas centred on E6. A two storey rear on the far side of the Tower Hamlets line is determined by Newham Council, so the Tower Hamlets quote for two storey rears is checked against Newham guidance before it is issued.

Sources for this Tower Hamlets two storey rear page: borough policies maps and conservation-area registers (2025–26), Royal Mail postcode district boundaries, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (England) Regulations, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 as amended, and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.