Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Southwark homes — designed to stay ancillary to the main house rather than become a separate dwelling, drawn to Southwark Council's policies, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Southwark Council granted 89% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Mansards and roof extensions on terraces are assessed against the established roofline and the conservation-area appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Under Class B, a rear dormer stays permitted development up to 40m³ of added roof volume on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi-detached or detached house, while Class A allows a single-storey rear extension of 3m beyond the original rear wall on a terrace and 4m on a detached house before a full application is needed. Southwark carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Camberwell Grove, Dulwich Village and Bermondsey Street remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Southwark is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Camberwell (Georgian and Victorian terraces around Camberwell Grove), Dulwich (villas and the Dulwich Village conservation area under the Dulwich Estate), Bermondsey (warehouse conversions and terraces off Bermondsey Street), Peckham (Victorian terraces including the Holly Grove enclave), Nunhead (modest Victorian terraces near Nunhead Green and the cemetery) and Walworth (dense Georgian and Victorian terraces threaded through large estates) — these are the Southwark pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Camberwell Grove, Dulwich Village, Bermondsey Street, Holly Grove and Nunhead Green. Southwark Council weighs each proposal against the Southwark Plan and the borough's Residential Design Standards SPD, where the borough runs detailed basement and residential design standards on top of the usual tests. Camberwell, Peckham and the warehouse quarters around Bermondsey are heavily subdivided into flats, none of which hold householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is butterfly and parapet roofs on the terraces and flat and pitched roofs on the former warehouses, over Georgian and Victorian terraces, former warehouse and industrial conversions and Dulwich villas and postwar estates.
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. Southwark 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.
Southwark is largely Georgian and Victorian terraces, former warehouse and industrial conversions and Dulwich villas and postwar estates, 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 Southwark's conservation areas — including Camberwell Grove and Dulwich Village — 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. Southwark carries numerous Article 4 directions across conservation areas such as Camberwell Grove and Bermondsey Street, while the Dulwich Estate's scheme of management adds a separate layer of consent in Dulwich.
An annexe almost always needs an application to Southwark 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 Southwark Council has to test, rather than leaving the officer to assume the worst.
Below is Southwark Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Southwark grants most householder applications, but heavy conservation-area coverage, its basement policies and the Dulwich Estate's scheme of management dictate what is achievable in many neighbourhoods. 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, rolling year). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
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Across Camberwell, Dulwich and Bermondsey, 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 georgian and victorian terraces, 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.
Mansards and roof extensions on terraces are assessed against the established roofline and the conservation-area appraisal. Where Southwark 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 Southwark. A few of the areas where multigenerational schemes come up most often:
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Camberwell — Georgian and Victorian terraces around Camberwell Grove — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Dulwich — villas and the Dulwich Village conservation area under the Dulwich Estate — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Bermondsey — warehouse conversions and terraces off Bermondsey Street — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Peckham — Victorian terraces including the Holly Grove enclave — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Nunhead — modest Victorian terraces near Nunhead Green and the cemetery — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Annexe and granny-flat drawings for Walworth — dense Georgian and Victorian terraces threaded through large estates — planned to stay ancillary and drawn to Southwark Council's policies.
Three similar buildings, three different consents. This is what separates them.
| What you build | Planning status | Key test | What Southwark 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 Southwark 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 Southwark.
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 Southwark Council's policies.
We submit the application with a supporting statement on use, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise free until Southwark 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 Southwark we prepare a full application to Southwark 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. Southwark 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.
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 Southwark, particularly near designated areas such as Camberwell Grove and Dulwich Village. Southwark 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 Southwark address specifically. Southwark 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 Southwark address specifically. Southwark 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 Southwark address specifically. Southwark Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Southwark 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 Southwark Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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