Single-storey, double-storey, rear and side extension drawings for Longstanton homes — measured to South Cambridgeshire District Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check before you commit.
South Cambridgeshire District Council granted 95% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Longstanton contains Longstanton, Oakington, Westwick conservation areas (Longstanton designated 2005), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant 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. Longstanton carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Longstanton, Oakington and Westwick remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Longstanton is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Longstanton (conservation area designated in 2005), Oakington (conservation area designated in 2005), Westwick (conservation area designated in 2005), Northstowe (civil parish within Longstanton), Oakington and Westwick (civil parish within Longstanton) and Willingham (civil parish within Longstanton) — these are the Longstanton pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Longstanton, Oakington and Westwick. South Cambridgeshire District Council weighs each proposal against South Cambridgeshire District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 3,590 homes here are 11% 1955-1964, 11% 2000-2008, 6% 1973-1982, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building and trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building, over late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11% of 3,590 homes), 2000s houses and apartments (11%) and 1970s and early-1980s houses (6%).
Before anything is drawn we check your address against the designations that apply in Longstanton: Longstanton (conservation area designated in 2005), Oakington (conservation area designated in 2005) and Westwick (conservation area designated in 2005). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and South Cambridgeshire District 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, Longstanton takes in Northstowe, Oakington and Westwick and Willingham. South Cambridgeshire District Council has 8 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for painting the exterior — check the address before assuming PD applies in Longstanton.
On stock, Longstanton is late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11% of 3,590 homes), 2000s houses and apartments (11%) and 1970s and early-1980s houses (6%) — which is why shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building and trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. South Cambridgeshire District Council decided 787 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 95%, with 84% issued inside the eight-week target. That decision record, not a national figure, is what we design to.
The full build-period split for Longstanton runs pre-1900 3% (110 homes), 1900-1918 0% (10 homes), 1919-1929 1% (30 homes), 1930-1939 1% (40 homes), 1945-1954 3% (110 homes), 1955-1964 11% (410 homes), 1965-1972 6% (200 homes), 1973-1982 6% (210 homes), 1983-1992 4% (130 homes), 1993-1999 2% (60 homes) and 2000-2008 11% (400 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.
South Cambridgeshire District Council also decides for Balsham, Barrington, Bassingbourn, Caldecote, Cottenham, Fen Ditton & Fulbourn, Foxton and Girton, so a decision in Longstanton 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 Beach Road Cottenham, Clay Close Lane, Impington, Land Adjacent To Villa Road Impington and Land Opp. Milestone Farm, Great Chishill. 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 Longstanton and South Cambridgeshire District Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Longstanton |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 3,590 |
| Built pre-1900 | 110 (3%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 10 (0%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 30 (1%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 40 (1%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 110 (3%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 410 (11%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 200 (6%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 210 (6%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 130 (4%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 60 (2%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 400 (11%) |
| Built before 1919 | 3% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 2% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 42% |
| Conservation areas in Longstanton | 3 (Longstanton, Oakington…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 85 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 8 |
| Householder applications decided | 787 |
| Householder applications granted | 95% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 84% |
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 South Cambridgeshire District Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
Longstanton homes come in a handful of recurring shapes, and each one points to a different extension. The borough is built largely from late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11% of 3,590 homes), 2000s houses and apartments (11%) and 1970s and early-1980s houses (6%), 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. South Cambridgeshire District Council judges every one of them against South Cambridgeshire District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, 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. Longstanton contains Longstanton, Oakington, Westwick conservation areas (Longstanton designated 2005), 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.
Longstanton also protects whole streets — Longstanton, Oakington and Westwick among them. South Cambridgeshire District Council has 8 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for painting the exterior — check the address before assuming PD applies in Longstanton. 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 Longstanton 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 South Cambridgeshire District Council if any of these apply:
We draw the footprint, the ridge and eaves heights and the neighbours' daylight on the page — the relationships South Cambridgeshire District 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 South Cambridgeshire District Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. South Cambridgeshire District Council granted 95% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Longstanton 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 Longstanton, Oakington and Westwick, 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 late-1950s and early-1960s houses (11% of 3,590 homes), a side-return infill frequently pairs with it to square off the plan; on wider 1970s and early-1980s houses (6%), a two-storey side or rear extension can add a bedroom above without swallowing the garden.
The 3,590 homes here are 11% 1955-1964, 11% 2000-2008, 6% 1973-1982, 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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 Longstanton projects come up most often:
Extension drawings for Longstanton's conservation area designated in 2005 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Oakington's conservation area designated in 2005 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Westwick's conservation area designated in 2005 — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Northstowe's civil parish within Longstanton — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Oakington and Westwick's civil parish within Longstanton — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Willingham's civil parish within Longstanton — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to South Cambridgeshire District Council's guidance.
The right extension in Longstanton 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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 Longstanton and Oakington and Article 4 directions can remove permitted-development rights.
A fixed process built around how South Cambridgeshire District Council validates and decides householder extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Tell us your Longstanton 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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 Longstanton you will need to apply to South Cambridgeshire District 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 Longstanton and Oakington.
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 South Cambridgeshire District Council and a neighbour-consultation period, and it does not apply on designated land such as Longstanton'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 South Cambridgeshire District 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 Longstanton address specifically.
A householder planning application in Longstanton 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. South Cambridgeshire District 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 South Cambridgeshire District Council's building control or an approved inspector can sign the work off. This applies to your Longstanton address specifically.
Every house and brief is different, so we price each Longstanton extension individually and send a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until South Cambridgeshire District Council approves, and we tell you upfront whether your extension qualifies as permitted development. Call 020 7864 7245 to get started.
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