Single-storey, double-storey, rear and side extension drawings for Exbourne homes — measured to West Devon Borough Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check before you commit.
West Devon Borough Council granted 93% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 6 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Exbourne contains Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly, Exbourne conservation areas (Bondleigh designated 1995), 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) 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. In conservation areas such as Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly and Exbourne those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Exbourne is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Bondleigh (conservation area designated in 1995), Broadwood-kelly (conservation area designated in 1993), Exbourne (conservation area designated in 1980), North Tawton (conservation area designated in 1973), Sampford Courtenay (conservation area designated in 1973), Iddesleigh (civil parish within Exbourne), Jacobstowe (civil parish within Exbourne), Monkokehampton (civil parish within Exbourne), North Tawton (civil parish within Exbourne), Sampford Courtenay (civil parish within Exbourne) and Bondleigh (civil parish within Exbourne) — these are the Exbourne pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly, Exbourne, North Tawton and Sampford Courtenay. West Devon Borough Council weighs each proposal against West Devon Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 1,940 homes here are 48% pre-1900, 10% 1983-1992, 10% 2000-2008, 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 trussed-rafter roofs typical of 1980s building, over Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,940 homes), 1980s estate houses (10%) and 2000s houses and apartments (10%).
Exbourne's designated heritage is specific, and it is the first thing we check against your address: Bondleigh (conservation area designated in 1995), Broadwood-kelly (conservation area designated in 1993), Exbourne (conservation area designated in 1980), North Tawton (conservation area designated in 1973) and Sampford Courtenay (conservation area designated in 1973). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and West Devon 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, Exbourne takes in Iddesleigh, Jacobstowe, Monkokehampton, North Tawton, Sampford Courtenay and Bondleigh. No Article 4 direction is recorded for West Devon Borough Council, but Exbourne's 5 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
On stock, Exbourne is Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,940 homes), 1980s estate houses (10%) and 2000s houses and apartments (10%) — which is why steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and trussed-rafter roofs typical of 1980s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. West Devon Borough Council decided 130 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 93%, with 62% issued inside the eight-week target. Those are the numbers our drawings are prepared against.
The full build-period split for Exbourne runs pre-1900 48% (940 homes), 1900-1918 1% (10 homes), 1919-1929 2% (40 homes), 1930-1939 1% (20 homes), 1945-1954 2% (30 homes), 1955-1964 4% (70 homes), 1965-1972 3% (60 homes), 1973-1982 5% (90 homes), 1983-1992 10% (190 homes), 1993-1999 4% (70 homes) and 2000-2008 10% (190 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.
West Devon Borough Council also decides for Bere Ferrers, Buckland Monachorum, Hatherleigh, Milton Ford, Okehampton South, Tamarside and Tavistock South East, so a decision in Exbourne 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.
Published figures for Exbourne and West Devon 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 | Exbourne |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 1,940 |
| Built pre-1900 | 940 (48%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 10 (1%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 40 (2%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 70 (4%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 60 (3%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 90 (5%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 190 (10%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 70 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 190 (10%) |
| Built before 1919 | 49% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 3% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 36% |
| Conservation areas in Exbourne | 5 (Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 24 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 0 |
| Householder applications decided | 130 |
| Householder applications granted | 93% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 62% |
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 West Devon Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Exbourne homes come in a handful of recurring shapes, and each one points to a different extension. The borough is built largely from Victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,940 homes), 1980s estate houses (10%) and 2000s houses and apartments (10%), so a Victorian terrace usually wants a rear or side-return infill, while an interwar semi has room for a wider single-storey wrap or a two-storey side addition. West Devon Borough Council judges every one of them against West Devon Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, weighing footprint, height and the impact on the house next door before it looks at the elevations.
That is why the drawings decide the outcome. We set the extension depth against the permitted-development limits precisely, keep the eaves and ridge within the allowances, and plot the 45-degree daylight lines to the neighbours' windows so the case officer can see the amenity test is passed. Exbourne contains Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly, Exbourne conservation areas (Bondleigh designated 1995), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so we design around it from the first sketch rather than discover it at validation.
Exbourne also protects whole streets — Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly, Exbourne, North Tawton and Sampford Courtenay among them. No Article 4 direction is recorded for West Devon Borough Council, but Exbourne's 5 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets. On designated land the larger-home extension route and most side extensions stop being permitted development, so we confirm your address against those layers before drawing a line.
Plenty of Exbourne extensions are permitted development and need no planning application — a single-storey rear extension within the depth and height limits is the common case. You will normally need to apply to West Devon Borough Council if any of these apply:
We draw the footprint, the ridge and eaves heights and the neighbours' daylight on the page — the relationships West Devon Borough Council's officers weigh first — and submit a validation-complete pack, whether that is a lawful development certificate, a prior-approval notification or a full householder application.
Below is West Devon Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. West Devon Borough Council granted 93% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Bondleigh shapes what is approved here. A complete, policy-literate extension pack anticipates those pressure points before submission, which is why professionally drawn applications are decided faster and refused less often than DIY ones.
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.
Across Bondleigh, Broadwood-kelly and Exbourne, the extension that lands most often is the single-storey rear addition — a glazed kitchen-diner across the back of the house, kept within the permitted-development depth or taken to a full application where the ground floor wants more. On the borough's victorian and earlier houses (48% of 1,940 homes), a side-return infill frequently pairs with it to square off the plan; on wider 2000s houses and apartments (10%), a two-storey side or rear extension can add a bedroom above without swallowing the garden.
The 1,940 homes here are 48% pre-1900, 10% 1983-1992, 10% 2000-2008, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. We size the extension to the amenity and daylight tests, match the roof and materials to the host house, and keep enough garden to satisfy West Devon Borough Council's space standards — so the scheme answers the borough's questions before an objection can raise them. Where permitted-development rights are used up or removed, we prepare the householder application to the council's extension design guidance instead.
We draw extensions on every street in the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where Exbourne projects come up most often:
Extension drawings for Bondleigh's conservation area designated in 1995 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Broadwood-kelly's conservation area designated in 1993 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Exbourne's conservation area designated in 1980 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for North Tawton's conservation area designated in 1973 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Sampford Courtenay's conservation area designated in 1973 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Iddesleigh's civil parish within Exbourne — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to West Devon Borough Council's guidance.
The right extension in Exbourne depends on your house type and how much garden you can give up. This is how the main options compare on planning route and what they add.
| Extension type | Permitted development? | What it adds | What West Devon Borough Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-storey rear | Often, within 3m/4m depth (6m/8m via prior approval) | Bigger kitchen-diner across the back | Depth, height, neighbour daylight (45°) |
| Side-return infill | Sometimes, if within width and height limits | Squares off an L-shaped ground floor | Width vs the original house, glazing to boundary |
| Two-storey rear/side | No — full application | Extra bedroom or bathroom above | Bulk, overlooking, 7m rear-boundary gap |
| Wraparound (rear + side) | No — full application | Whole-width open-plan ground floor | Combined footprint and garden retained |
Route depends on your street — conservation areas such as Bondleigh and Broadwood-kelly and Article 4 directions can remove permitted-development rights.
A fixed process built around how West Devon Borough Council validates and decides householder extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Tell us your Exbourne postcode and house type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, how much permitted-development depth you have left, and score your odds against live West Devon Borough Council decisions.
We measure the existing footprint, floor and eaves levels, boundary distances and the neighbours' window positions — the numbers the depth limits and daylight tests depend on.
Chartered designers develop the single-storey, two-storey or side extension to your brief, drawn inside the permitted-development limits or to West Devon Borough Council's extension design guidance.
We submit the certificate, prior-approval notice or application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until West Devon Borough Council issues its decision.
Not always. A single-storey rear extension up to 3 metres deep on a terrace or semi, or 4 metres on a detached house, and no higher than 4 metres, is usually permitted development. In Exbourne you will need to apply to West Devon Borough Council for two-storey extensions, side extensions wider than half the house, anything forward of the front wall, deeper rear extensions under the larger-home prior-approval route, and any extension in a conservation area such as Bondleigh and Broadwood-kelly.
Standard permitted development allows 3 metres on a terraced or semi-detached house and 4 metres on a detached one. The larger-home extension scheme can double that to 6 or 8 metres, but it needs a prior-approval notification to West Devon Borough Council and a neighbour-consultation period, and it does not apply on designated land such as Exbourne's conservation areas. We confirm which route your property qualifies for before drawing.
Two-storey and double-storey extensions almost always need a full householder application to West Devon Borough Council, because they fall outside permitted development on most homes. The council looks closely at bulk, overlooking of neighbours and the 7-metre gap a two-storey rear extension must keep from the rear boundary. We design to those tests and show the daylight and privacy angles on the drawings. This applies to your Exbourne address specifically.
A householder planning application in Exbourne runs to a statutory eight-week target, a larger-home prior-approval notification to around six weeks including the neighbour-consultation period, and a lawful development certificate to eight weeks. Incomplete submissions stall at validation, so we submit a complete pack and manage officer queries to keep the decision on schedule. West Devon Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Yes — planning permission and building regulations are separate consents, and almost every extension needs both. Planning governs whether you can build it; building control governs how it is built, covering structure, insulation, drainage and fire safety. We prepare the building-regulations drawings alongside the planning set so West Devon Borough Council's building control or an approved inspector can sign the work off. This applies to your Exbourne address specifically.
Every house and brief is different, so we price each Exbourne extension individually and send a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until West Devon Borough Council approves, and we tell you upfront whether your extension qualifies as permitted development. Call 020 7864 7245 to get started.
Answer five quick questions and get a free planning score for your exact address — instantly. Then, if you want the full picture, unlock the detailed analysis: your council's live approval rates, local precedents, constraints on your street and a step-by-step route to permission.
Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.