Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Old Town homes — designed to stay ancillary to the main house rather than become a separate dwelling, drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's policies, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Stevenage Borough Council granted 96% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 9 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Old Town contains Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area conservation areas (Old Town High Street Conservation Area designated 1969), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901) and Edwardian (1901–1910) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Before permission is required, Class B allows 40m³ of added loft volume on a terrace and 50m³ on a semi or detached house, and Class A allows a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house. Old Town carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Old Town is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Old Town High Street (conservation area designated in 1969) and Orchard Road (conservation area designated in 2007) — these are the Old Town pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area. Stevenage Borough Council weighs each proposal against Stevenage Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 2,090 homes here are 21% 2000-2008, 11% pre-1900, 11% 1900-1918, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building, over 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%).
What is permitted in Old Town turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Old Town High Street (conservation area designated in 1969) and Orchard Road (conservation area designated in 2007). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Stevenage Borough Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.
Stevenage Borough Council has 127 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Town.
On stock, Old Town is 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%) — which is why trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Stevenage Borough Council decided 133 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 96%, with 81% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Old Town runs pre-1900 11% (230 homes), 1900-1918 11% (230 homes), 1919-1929 6% (120 homes), 1930-1939 4% (80 homes), 1945-1954 1% (20 homes), 1955-1964 9% (180 homes), 1965-1972 11% (230 homes), 1973-1982 7% (140 homes), 1983-1992 3% (70 homes), 1993-1999 4% (90 homes) and 2000-2008 21% (440 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1 VIEWPOINT Babbage Road Stevenage SG1 2EQ, 10 Eastman Way SG1 4SZ, 2 Viewpoint Babbage Road Stevenage SG1 2EQ and 3 Parsons Green Estate Boulton Road Stevenage SG1 4QG. Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for Old Town and Stevenage Borough Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Old Town |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 2,090 |
| Built pre-1900 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 120 (6%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 80 (4%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 180 (9%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 140 (7%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 70 (3%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 90 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 440 (21%) |
| Built before 1919 | 22% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 10% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 56% |
| Conservation areas in Old Town | 2 (Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 7 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 127 |
| Householder applications decided | 133 |
| Householder applications granted | 96% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 81% |
Dwelling stock from VOA council-tax data at 31 March 2025; conservation-area and Article 4 counts from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG); decision figures are Stevenage Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Councils do not decide annexes on square metres. They decide whether, once built, the accommodation forms part of one planning unit with the main house or a second one beside it. Stevenage Borough Council looks at whether the garden is shared or divided, whether the annexe has its own street access and address, whether the occupier could live there entirely independently, and whether the two households would function as one. That is the whole case, and it is made or lost on the layout.
Old Town is largely 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%), which shapes the realistic options: converting part of the existing house, extending it, or building a detached unit in the garden. A detached annexe can sometimes sit under Class E as an outbuilding incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse — but sleeping accommodation is generally not "incidental", so a garden annexe with a bedroom usually needs its own permission rather than relying on outbuilding rights.
In Old Town's conservation areas — including Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area — a garden building is also judged on its effect on the character of the area, which limits height and footprint before the use question is reached. Stevenage Borough Council has 127 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Town.
An annexe almost always needs an application to Stevenage Borough Council. Expect one where any of these apply:
We plan the annexe so its relationship to the main house is visible on the page — shared garden, connected access, a layout that reads as one household — and set out the case Stevenage Borough Council has to test, rather than leaving the officer to assume the worst.
Below is Stevenage Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Stevenage Borough Council granted 96% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Old Town High Street Conservation Area shapes what is approved here. Annexe applications are decided on use as much as design, so the supporting case matters as much as the elevations.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
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Across Old Town High Street and Orchard Road, the annexes that succeed keep one shared garden, take access past the main house rather than from the street, and are modest against the host building — single storey where the plot is overlooked, and set back from boundaries. On 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), converting an integral garage or a rear ground floor is often approved more readily than a detached garden unit, because the ancillary relationship is self-evident.
Old Town contains Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area conservation areas (Old Town High Street Conservation Area designated 1969), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal. Where Stevenage Borough Council grants permission, it commonly attaches a condition tying occupation of the annexe to the main dwelling. That condition is not a problem to be avoided — it is usually the mechanism that makes approval possible, and we draft the application on that basis rather than pretending the annexe is something it is not.
We draw annexes across Old Town. A few of the areas where multigenerational schemes come up most often:
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Old Town High Street — conservation area designated in 1969 — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Orchard Road — conservation area designated in 2007 — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's policies.
Three similar buildings, three different consents. This is what separates them.
| What you build | Planning status | Key test | What Stevenage Borough Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garden room, no sleeping space | Often Class E permitted development | Incidental to the house | Height, footprint, boundary position |
| Annexe used by the household | Full application, usually with a tie condition | Ancillary use | Shared garden and access, layout |
| Self-contained unit, own access | New dwelling — full application | Separate planning unit | Policy on new homes, amenity, parking |
| Converted garage or ground floor | Often permitted, use still assessed | Whether use changes | Independence of the accommodation |
| Annexe on designated land | Full application | Designation | Character and appearance |
The ancillary/separate-dwelling distinction comes from section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; outbuilding limits from the GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class E.
A fixed process built around how Stevenage Borough Council tests the use question as well as the design.
Tell us who the annexe is for and where it would sit on the plot. We confirm designation status and tell you honestly whether the scheme reads as ancillary or as a separate dwelling in Old Town.
We measure the plot, the existing house and the access route, so the shared-garden and shared-access case can be drawn rather than asserted.
Chartered designers develop the annexe to your brief, with the layout, access and garden relationship arranged to support the ancillary case under Stevenage Borough Council's policies.
We submit the application with a supporting statement on use, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise free until Stevenage Borough Council decides.
Almost always. Sleeping accommodation is generally not "incidental" to the enjoyment of a house, so it falls outside the outbuilding permitted-development right, and any annexe that could function independently raises a change-of-use question under section 55. In Old Town we prepare a full application to Stevenage Borough Council and make the ancillary case explicitly rather than hoping it is not asked.
A shared garden rather than a divided one, access through the main property rather than a separate street entrance, occupation by a member of the same household, and a physical and functional relationship with the main house. Stevenage Borough Council weighs those together — no single feature decides it, but a separate front door and a fenced-off garden together usually settle it against you. This applies to your Old Town address specifically.
Yes, subject to permission. A detached garden annexe is assessed on its scale against the plot, its effect on neighbours and the character of the area, and then on the use question. Keeping it single storey, set in from boundaries and served off the shared garden gives it the best prospect in Old Town, particularly near designated areas such as Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area. Stevenage Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Commonly, yes — a condition tying occupation of the annexe to the main dwelling, so it cannot be sold or let separately. That is normally what makes approval possible, because it removes the concern that a new independent home is being created without going through housing policy. The condition runs with the land, so it matters at resale, and we explain the implications before you commit. This applies to your Old Town address specifically. Stevenage Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Yes. A new annexe is new habitable accommodation, so structure, fire escape, insulation and ventilation all apply, and a detached annexe close to a boundary raises fire-spread requirements as well. Planning and building control are separate consents with separate submissions — we prepare both so the approved design is the one that can actually be built. This applies to your Old Town address specifically. Stevenage Borough Council is the decision-maker.
A householder application runs to an eight-week statutory target; where the council treats the annexe as creating a new unit it becomes a minor application with a thirteen-week target instead. Which route applies depends on how the use is characterised, which is precisely why the ancillary case is worth making properly at the outset. This applies to your Old Town address specifically. Stevenage Borough Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Old Town annexe individually, because plot, access and whether you are converting or building new all change the work, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack and supporting statement, with free revisions until Stevenage Borough Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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