Rear dormer drawings for West Downs roofs — the box across the back slope that turns a low attic into a full-height room, drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance and the volume limits, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds 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. West Downs contains Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead conservation areas (Bexon designated 2026), 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 postwar (1945–1970) 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. West Downs carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Bexon, Bredgar and Milstead remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in West Downs is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Bexon (conservation area designated in 2026), Bredgar (conservation area designated in 1973), Milstead (conservation area designated in 1973), Rodmersham Church Street (conservation area designated in 2022), Rodmersham Green (conservation area designated in 1974), Tunstall (conservation area designated in 1973), Bapchild (civil parish within West Downs), Bredgar (civil parish within West Downs), Milstead (civil parish within West Downs), Rodmersham (civil parish within West Downs) and Tunstall (civil parish within West Downs) — these are the West Downs pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead, Rodmersham Church Street, Rodmersham Green and Tunstall. Swale Borough Council weighs each proposal against Swale Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 1,410 homes here are 17% pre-1900, 13% 1973-1982, 10% 1955-1964, 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 shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, over Victorian and earlier houses (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%).
What is permitted in West Downs turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Bexon (conservation area designated in 2026), Bredgar (conservation area designated in 1973), Milstead (conservation area designated in 1973), Rodmersham Church Street (conservation area designated in 2022), Rodmersham Green (conservation area designated in 1974) and Tunstall (conservation area designated in 1973). 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, West Downs takes in Bapchild, Bredgar, Milstead, Rodmersham and Tunstall. 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 West Downs.
On stock, West Downs is Victorian and earlier houses (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%) — which is why steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s 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. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for West Downs runs pre-1900 17% (240 homes), 1900-1918 2% (30 homes), 1919-1929 3% (40 homes), 1930-1939 7% (100 homes), 1945-1954 7% (100 homes), 1955-1964 10% (140 homes), 1965-1972 4% (60 homes), 1973-1982 13% (180 homes), 1983-1992 1% (20 homes), 1993-1999 3% (40 homes) and 2000-2008 9% (120 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, East Downs, Sheerness, Teynham and Lynsted and Watling, so a decision in West 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 West 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 | West Downs |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 1,410 |
| Built pre-1900 | 240 (17%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 100 (7%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 100 (7%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 140 (10%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 60 (4%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 180 (13%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 120 (9%) |
| Built before 1919 | 19% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 10% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 47% |
| Conservation areas in West Downs | 6 (Bexon, Bredgar…) |
| 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.
The box dormer is the workhorse loft, and most of West Downs is built for it — the borough runs to Victorian and earlier houses (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%) under steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, and a flat-roofed box across the rear slope is the cheapest cubic metre of full-height space those roofs give up. Swale Borough Council tests the dormer against Swale Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, and because permitted development turns on a number, the volume you propose against the volume you have left is the first thing an officer or a certificate checks.
That is why the arithmetic goes on the drawings. We calculate the box against the 40- or 50-cubic-metre allowance, count any earlier roof enlargement into the total, hold the flat roof below the ridge and set the face back off the eaves so the dormer reads as subordinate. West Downs contains Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead conservation areas (Bexon designated 2026), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so the cheeks, the window line and the material are drawn to answer it rather than invite a query.
Where West Downs's streets are protected — Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead, Rodmersham Church Street, Rodmersham Green and Tunstall among them — the Class B dormer right is switched off and even a modest rear box needs consent. 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 West Downs. We confirm the designation before the box is sized.
Many rear dormers in West Downs are permitted development, but the volume and position decide it. You will normally need a full application to Swale Borough Council if any of these apply:
We draw the box within its volume allowance, the flat roof below the ridge and the face set back off the eaves — the three things a dormer stands or falls on — and submit a validation-complete pack, whether that is a lawful development certificate or a full householder application.
Below is Swale Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Swale Borough Council granted 94% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Bexon shapes what is approved here. A dormer is decided on volume and set-back, so a pack that shows the calculation and the eaves detail is cleared faster and refused less often than a DIY submission.
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 Bexon, Bredgar and Milstead, the dormer that goes through is the subordinate rear box: flat roof kept low, cheeks clad to recede, side windows obscure-glazed against overlooking, and the whole thing set back so the original eaves line still reads from the garden. On steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building, this returns a full-height double and en-suite from what was standing-room-only, usually inside the permitted-development volume.
The 1,410 homes here are 17% pre-1900, 13% 1973-1982, 10% 1955-1964, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. We keep the box off the ridge, match the cheek material to the roof, and where the volume is already spent — or the street is designated — draw the dormer as a householder application composed to Swale Borough Council's roof-alteration guidance rather than push a certificate that would be refused.
We draw rear dormers on the terraced and semi-detached streets across the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where West Downs dormers come up most often:
Dormer loft drawings for Bexon's conservation area designated in 2026 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Dormer loft drawings for Bredgar's conservation area designated in 1973 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Dormer loft drawings for Milstead's conservation area designated in 1973 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Dormer loft drawings for Rodmersham Church Street's conservation area designated in 2022 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Dormer loft drawings for Rodmersham Green's conservation area designated in 1974 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Dormer loft drawings for Tunstall's conservation area designated in 1973 — volume-checked, set-back-detailed and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Whether a dormer in West Downs needs permission comes down to where it sits and how big the box is. This is how the cases compare.
| Dormer type | Permitted development? | What it gains | What Swale Borough Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rear box, within volume | Usually yes | Full-height room across the back | Volume total, 20cm eaves set-back |
| Rear box, over volume limit | No — full application | A larger room | How far over the allowance, bulk |
| Front or side dormer | No — full application | Light to the front rooms | Visibility from the street, character |
| Dormer in a conservation area | No — full application | Same space, extra scrutiny | Roof form and street appearance |
In conservation areas such as Bexon and Bredgar, Class B dormer rights are removed and every dormer needs a full application.
A fixed process built around how Swale Borough Council validates and decides dormer applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your West Downs postcode and roof type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, work out how much permitted-development volume you have left, and score your odds against live Swale Borough Council decisions.
We measure ridge and eaves heights, roof pitch and the existing loft floor — the numbers the volume calculation, the set-back and the head heights depend on.
Chartered designers develop the box to your brief, drawn inside the Class B volume limits or, where those are exhausted or removed, to Swale Borough Council's roof-alteration guidance.
We submit the certificate or application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Swale Borough Council issues its decision.
Often not. A rear box dormer within 40 cubic metres on a terrace, or 50 on a semi or detached house, set back at least 20 centimetres from the eaves and kept below the ridge, is usually permitted development. In West Downs you will need a full application to Swale Borough Council for a front or side dormer, a box that exceeds the volume, and any dormer in a conservation area such as Bexon and Bredgar, where those rights are removed.
The permitted-development limit is a volume, not a footprint: 40 cubic metres of added roof space on a terraced house and 50 on a semi-detached or detached one, and any earlier loft enlargement counts against that total. In West Downs the box must also sit below the ridge and back from the eaves. We measure your roof and calculate the exact volume you have left before drawing. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development. A dormer on the front roof slope, or one facing a highway, always needs a full application to Swale Borough Council, because it changes how the house reads from the street. Rear box dormers are far more likely to be approved — or to be permitted development outright — which is why almost every West Downs dormer we draw sits on the back slope.
Often, on a terrace or semi. If the dormer or the loft steelwork meets the party wall with your neighbour, the Party Wall etc. Act applies and notice must be served before work starts — separately from Swale Borough Council's planning decision. We flag the party-wall junction on the drawings so a surveyor can be appointed early and the build is not held up. This applies to your West Downs address specifically.
If your dormer is permitted development, a lawful development certificate from Swale Borough Council is council-stamped proof of it — worth holding, because a buyer's solicitor will ask for it when you sell. We prepare and submit the certificate with the same measured drawing pack that shows the box within its volume allowance. This applies to your West Downs address specifically.
We price each West Downs dormer individually, because the roof pitch and the volume left vary house to house, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Swale Borough Council approves, and we confirm at the outset whether your box is permitted development or needs an application. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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