Single-storey, double-storey, rear and side extension drawings for Richmond upon Thames homes — measured to Richmond upon Thames Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check before you commit.
Richmond upon Thames Council granted 86% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 1 point below the 87% England-wide householder average. The borough's exceptional conservation coverage means design detail and materials are scrutinised closely, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910) and interwar (1918–1939) 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. Richmond upon Thames carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Richmond Green, Twickenham Riverside and Kew Green remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Richmond upon Thames is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Richmond (Georgian and Victorian houses around Richmond Green), Twickenham (riverside conservation streets and Edwardian terraces), Kew (Victorian houses around Kew Green), Teddington (Edwardian terraces and villas), East Sheen (Edwardian family houses near Sheen Common) and Ham (period cottages and houses by Ham Common) — these are the Richmond upon Thames pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Richmond Green, Twickenham Riverside, Kew Green, Ham Common and East Sheen (Sheen Common). Richmond upon Thames Council weighs each proposal against Richmond Local Plan and the House Extensions and External Alterations SPD, where roof alterations and dormers visible from the street or river are strongly resisted. On roofs the borough is pitched roofs on the villas and butterfly roofs on the terraces, over Victorian and Edwardian villas and terraces, Georgian houses near the river and interwar semis in the outer wards.
Richmond upon Thames homes come in a handful of recurring shapes, and each one points to a different extension. The borough is built largely from Victorian and Edwardian villas and terraces, Georgian houses near the river and interwar semis in the outer wards, 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. Richmond upon Thames Council judges every one of them against Richmond Local Plan and the House Extensions and External Alterations SPD, 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. The borough's exceptional conservation coverage means design detail and materials are scrutinised closely, so we design around it from the first sketch rather than discover it at validation.
Richmond upon Thames also protects whole streets — Richmond Green, Twickenham Riverside, Kew Green, Ham Common and East Sheen (Sheen Common) among them. Richmond is one of London's most conservation-heavy boroughs, with widespread Article 4 directions — on many streets even minor external alterations that would be permitted development elsewhere need a full application. 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames Council if any of these apply:
We draw the footprint, the ridge and eaves heights and the neighbours' daylight on the page — the relationships Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Richmond grants a fair share of householder applications, but its dense conservation-area and Article 4 coverage makes design quality and roof visibility decisive. 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, rolling year). 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 Richmond, Twickenham and Kew, 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 edwardian villas and terraces, a side-return infill frequently pairs with it to square off the plan; on wider interwar semis in the outer wards, a two-storey side or rear extension can add a bedroom above without swallowing the garden.
Roof alterations and dormers visible from the street or river are strongly resisted. 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames projects come up most often:
Extension drawings for Richmond's Georgian and Victorian houses around Richmond Green — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Twickenham's riverside conservation streets and Edwardian terraces — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Kew's Victorian houses around Kew Green — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Teddington's Edwardian terraces and villas — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for East Sheen's Edwardian family houses near Sheen Common — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
Extension drawings for Ham's period cottages and houses by Ham Common — footprint-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Richmond upon Thames Council's guidance.
The right extension in Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond Green and Twickenham Riverside and Article 4 directions can remove permitted-development rights.
A fixed process built around how Richmond upon Thames Council validates and decides householder extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Tell us your Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames you will need to apply to Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond Green and Twickenham Riverside.
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 Richmond upon Thames Council and a neighbour-consultation period, and it does not apply on designated land such as Richmond upon Thames'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 Richmond upon Thames 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.
A householder planning application in Richmond upon Thames 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. Richmond upon Thames 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 Richmond upon Thames Council's building control or an approved inspector can sign the work off.
Every house and brief is different, so we price each Richmond upon Thames extension individually and send a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Richmond upon Thames 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.