Full-plans building regulations drawings for East Downs — the technical construction set covering structure, fire safety, insulation and Part L, drawn to satisfy building control so your builder can price and build with certainty, delivered in days and revised free until sign-off, with a free project check first.
Swale Borough Council granted 94% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 7 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. East Downs contains Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham, Eastling conservation areas (Badlesmere designated 1982), 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), interwar (1918–1939) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
The permitted-development ceilings are fixed: 40m³ of new roof volume for a terraced loft and 50m³ for a semi or detached house under Class B, plus a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house under Class A. East Downs carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham and Eastling remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in East Downs is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Badlesmere (conservation area designated in 1982), Doddington and Newnham (conservation area designated in 1973), Eastling (conservation area designated in 1973), Painter's Forstal (conservation area designated in 1992), Stalisfield Green (conservation area designated in 1975), Syndale (conservation area designated in 2008), Throwley Forstal (conservation area designated in 1973), Whitehill (conservation area designated in 1975), Badlesmere (civil parish within East Downs), Doddington (civil parish within East Downs), Eastling (civil parish within East Downs), Leaveland (civil parish within East Downs), Newnham (civil parish within East Downs) and Ospringe (civil parish within East Downs) — these are the East Downs pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham, Eastling, Painter's Forstal, Stalisfield Green, Syndale, Throwley Forstal and Whitehill. Swale Borough Council weighs each proposal against the adopted Swale local plan and Swale Borough Council's design guidance for householder work, where the 1,240 homes here are 48% pre-1900, 8% 1945-1954, 7% 1930-1939, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building, over Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,240 homes), early postwar houses (8%) and 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (7%).
Before anything is drawn we check your address against the designations that apply in East Downs: Badlesmere (conservation area designated in 1982), Doddington and Newnham (conservation area designated in 1973), Eastling (conservation area designated in 1973), Painter's Forstal (conservation area designated in 1992), Stalisfield Green (conservation area designated in 1975), Syndale (conservation area designated in 2008), Throwley Forstal (conservation area designated in 1973) and Whitehill (conservation area designated in 1975). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Swale 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.
Beyond the designated areas, East Downs takes in Badlesmere, Doddington, Eastling, Leaveland, Newnham and Ospringe. Swale Borough Council has 22 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions — check the address before assuming PD applies in East Downs.
On stock, East Downs is Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,240 homes), early postwar houses (8%) and 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (7%) — which is why steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Swale Borough Council decided 329 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 94%, with 37% issued inside the eight-week target. That decision record, not a national figure, is what we design to.
The full build-period split for East Downs runs pre-1900 48% (590 homes), 1900-1918 2% (20 homes), 1919-1929 5% (60 homes), 1930-1939 7% (90 homes), 1945-1954 8% (100 homes), 1955-1964 6% (70 homes), 1965-1972 6% (80 homes), 1973-1982 3% (40 homes), 1983-1992 3% (40 homes), 1993-1999 2% (30 homes) and 2000-2008 2% (30 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.
Swale Borough Council also decides for Abbey, Borden and Grove Park, Boughton and Courtenay, Sheerness, Teynham and Lynsted, Watling and West Downs, so a decision in East Downs sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1 and 2 Flint Cottages, 20 East Street, 43-47, 49-51, 54, 56, 57, 59-72 Marine Parade and 49, 88, 90, 104, 114-128(evens), 132-140(evens) The Street and 1 & 2 Chapel Cottages. 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 East Downs and Swale 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 | East Downs |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 1,240 |
| Built pre-1900 | 590 (48%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 20 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 60 (5%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 90 (7%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 100 (8%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 70 (6%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 80 (6%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 30 (2%) |
| Built before 1919 | 49% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 12% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 31% |
| Conservation areas in East Downs | 8 (Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 52 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 22 |
| Householder applications decided | 329 |
| Householder applications granted | 94% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 37% |
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 Swale Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Planning permission decides whether you can build; the Building Regulations decide that what you build is safe, warm and sound. They are two separate approvals, run by different bodies, and a East Downs project usually needs both. The building regulations set is the technical layer beneath the planning drawings — construction sections, structural details, insulation build-ups and fire-safety provisions that a builder works from and a building control surveyor checks against the approved documents.
In practice that means Part A structure — beam and foundation details with the structural calculations behind them; Part B fire — escape, protected routes and, in a loft, a fire door and mains-linked alarms; Part L conservation of fuel and power — U-values, insulation and airtightness; plus drainage, ventilation and stairs. On East Downs's stock, which runs to Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,240 homes), early postwar houses (8%) and 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (7%), the recurring challenge is meeting Part L in solid-walled period houses without ruining the room, and we detail the insulation to hit the numbers with the least intrusion.
Building control applies everywhere in East Downs regardless of planning designation, but in conservation areas such as Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham, Eastling, Painter's Forstal, Stalisfield Green, Syndale, Throwley Forstal and Whitehill the two processes interact — insulation and window details often have to satisfy Part L and a planning condition at once. Swale Borough Council has 22 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions — check the address before assuming PD applies in East Downs. We draw the construction details to reconcile both.
A full-plans set for East Downs building control is checked against the Approved Documents. A typical extension or loft set covers each of these:
We produce the full-plans construction set — structure, fire, thermal and drainage details with the structural calculations — and submit it to your chosen building control body, whether that is Swale Borough Council's own team or an approved inspector, so problems are settled on paper before they cost money on site.
Building control is a separate approval, but most East Downs projects clear planning first, so Swale Borough Council's live decision record below sets the context. Swale Borough Council granted 94% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Badlesmere shapes what is approved here. We handle both stages, so the construction drawings follow through seamlessly once permission is granted.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
Tell us about your project and get a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. If you don't need planning permission at all, we'll tell you that too — for free.
There are two ways to get building control approval, and for anything structural in East Downs we recommend the full-plans route — particularly on the borough's victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,240 homes) and early postwar houses (8%), where opening up an old structure tends to reveal surprises. A building notice lets work start with no approved drawings — cheaper up front, but the surveyor rules on compliance as the build proceeds, so a wrong detail is discovered mid-work and rebuilt at your cost. Full plans get the whole set checked and approved before a brick moves, which is what banks, warranty providers and future buyers want to see.
Full plans also protect the project commercially. With approved construction drawings your builder prices exact quantities rather than guessing, and there is a completion certificate at the end — the document a solicitor asks for when you sell across Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham and Eastling and the rest of East Downs. Where a project sits in a controlled setting — East Downs contains Badlesmere, Doddington and Newnham, Eastling conservation areas (Badlesmere designated 1982), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal — the construction details also have to respect what planning has conditioned, and we draw the full set and manage the building control submission to reconcile both.
Every structural project needs building regulations drawings whatever the planning position. A few of the East Downs neighbourhoods and property types where we prepare them most often:
Building regulations drawings for Badlesmere's conservation area designated in 1982 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Doddington and Newnham's conservation area designated in 1973 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Eastling's conservation area designated in 1973 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Painter's Forstal's conservation area designated in 1992 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Stalisfield Green's conservation area designated in 1975 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
Building regulations drawings for Syndale's conservation area designated in 2008 — structure, fire and Part L detailed for building control sign-off.
They are different approvals and most projects need both. This is how they split in East Downs.
| Planning permission | Building regulations | |
|---|---|---|
| Question it answers | Should this be built here? | Is it built safely and efficiently? |
| Decided by | Swale Borough Council planning | Building control body or approved inspector |
| Main drawings | Location, block, proposed plans & elevations | Structural, fire, thermal & construction details |
| Needed for permitted development? | No — a certificate is optional | Yes — always, before work starts |
In conservation areas such as Badlesmere and Doddington and Newnham, a planning condition can dictate materials that the building regulations details must then also satisfy.
A fixed process built around how East Downs projects are approved and inspected — most construction sets are ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your East Downs postcode and scheme. We confirm whether you also need planning, which parts of the regulations apply, and whether Swale Borough Council building control or an approved inspector suits the job.
We measure the existing structure so the construction details, spans and junctions are drawn to the real building rather than an assumption — the base sound structural calculations depend on.
Chartered designers and engineers produce the full-plans set — structure, fire, Part L thermal, drainage and details — with the structural calculations that support every beam and foundation.
We submit the full-plans application to your building control body, resolve any queries before work starts, and revise the drawings free until the set is approved and the work signed off.
They are two separate approvals. Planning permission, decided by Swale Borough Council, answers whether a scheme should be built at all — its size, look and impact on neighbours. Building regulations, checked by a building control body, answer whether it is built safely and efficiently — structure, fire, insulation and drainage. A East Downs project usually needs both, and even permitted-development work that skips planning still needs building control sign-off.
Yes — planning permission is not building control approval. The planning drawings show what the building looks like; building regulations drawings show how it is constructed, and no structural work in East Downs can lawfully complete without a building control sign-off. The two sets are drawn together but approved by different bodies, so having one never removes the need for the other. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
For anything structural in East Downs — a loft, an extension or removing a wall — we recommend full plans. The whole construction set is checked and approved before work starts, so a non-compliant detail is caught on paper rather than rebuilt on site. On the borough's victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,240 homes) that certainty matters, and a building notice — which lets a surveyor judge compliance as work proceeds — risks costly rework. Banks and warranty providers also prefer the approved full-plans set that Swale Borough Council or an approved inspector signs off.
Yes. You can use Swale Borough Council's building control team or an independent approved inspector — both enforce the same regulations, so it comes down to price, availability and continuity. We draw the full-plans set to the same standard either way and submit it to whichever body you choose, then manage the queries and inspections through to the completion certificate. This applies to your East Downs address specifically.
Solid-walled period houses — common across East Downs, including conservation areas such as Badlesmere and Doddington and Newnham — are the hardest to bring up to Part L without losing room or altering the fabric. We detail the insulation to hit the required U-values with the least intrusion, using internal or roof-level build-ups and, where a planning condition protects the exterior, methods that satisfy both the energy standard and the heritage requirement at once. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
We price each East Downs job individually, because the structural content and the size of the construction set vary from a single beam to a whole-house refurbishment, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full-plans drawings and structural calculations with free revisions until sign-off. The building control body's own fee is separate. Call 020 7864 7245 to start. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
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