The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Darley Abbey — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Derby City Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Derby City Council granted 93% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 6 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Darley Abbey lies within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, so alterations are tested against WHS Outstanding Universal Value and its setting, not ordinary householder policy alone, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) and interwar (1918–1939) 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. In conservation areas such as Darley Abbey, Allestree and Strutts Park those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Darley Abbey is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Darley Abbey village (the most complete 18th-century mill village in the world, built around the Boar's Head Mills), Darley Abbey Mills (the restored Evans cotton-mill complex, now workspace and event venues, dating 1782-1830), Darley Park (riverside parkland and larger houses on the west bank of the Derwent), Old Lane (terraced and detached mill-era cottages climbing from the river), Abbey Lane (the historic approach past St Matthew's Church) and Broadway (interwar and later houses on the northern edge of the village) — these are the Darley Abbey pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Darley Abbey, Allestree and Strutts Park. Derby City Council weighs each proposal against the Derby City Local Plan Part 1 (Core Strategy) and Part 2, where the village holds a dense concentration of listed mill and cottage buildings, so many works need listed building consent alongside planning permission. On roofs the borough is steep gabled roofs on the Georgian mill cottages and pitched roofs on the later village houses, over late-18th and early-19th-century mill-workers' housing built by the Evans family, the Boar's Head cotton mill complex and associated buildings and later Victorian and interwar houses on the village fringe.
The ordinary Class A limits stop a single-storey rear extension at 3 metres on an attached house and 4 on a detached one. The larger home extension scheme doubles both, on condition that the council is told first. That notification is not an application for permission — the council cannot refuse on design, materials or policy grounds. It can only consider the effect on the amenity of adjoining premises, and only if a neighbour actually objects during the 21-day consultation.
The other conditions still apply and are strict: single storey only, no higher than 4 metres, eaves no higher than the existing eaves, and no more than half the land around the original house covered. It is not available on designated land, so a house in a conservation area such as Darley Abbey and Allestree cannot use it at all. Materials must be similar to the existing house, and the extension must not include a veranda, balcony or raised platform.
Darley Abbey is largely late-18th and early-19th-century mill-workers' housing built by the Evans family, the Boar's Head cotton mill complex and associated buildings and later Victorian and interwar houses on the village fringe. Darley Abbey lies within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, so alterations are tested against WHS Outstanding Universal Value and its setting, not ordinary householder policy alone, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. Darley Abbey village sits north of the Ring Road, so it is outside the inner-city area covered by Derby's HMO Article 4 direction; instead its permitted-development freedoms are constrained by conservation-area status and its position inside the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Derby City Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Derby City Council needs — plans, elevations, a site plan with the adjoining owners identified — and manage the 21-day neighbour consultation so the 42-day clock is not restarted by an incomplete submission.
Below is Derby City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Derby approves most applications it determines, but in Darley Abbey World Heritage Site status, listed mill-village buildings and conservation detail make design and heritage justification the decisive factors. Prior approval turns on neighbour amenity alone, so the drawings that matter are the ones showing the relationship to the boundary.
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 Darley Abbey village, Darley Abbey Mills and Darley Park, the notifications that clear without objection are the ones that treat the neighbour as the audience. We show the extension in section against the boundary, demonstrate the 45-degree daylight relationship to the nearest habitable window, and where the plot is tight we taper the depth away from the boundary rather than running the full 6 metres to the fence.
The village holds a dense concentration of listed mill and cottage buildings, so many works need listed building consent alongside planning permission. Where an objection does arrive, the council's assessment is narrow: loss of light, outlook and overbearing effect on the adjoining property, nothing else. A pack that has already answered those three points on the drawings usually survives an objection, whereas one that leaves them to the officer's imagination usually does not.
We prepare prior-approval notifications across Darley Abbey. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Darley Abbey village — the most complete 18th-century mill village in the world, built around the Boar's Head Mills — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Darley Abbey Mills — the restored Evans cotton-mill complex, now workspace and event venues, dating 1782-1830 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Darley Park — riverside parkland and larger houses on the west bank of the Derwent — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Old Lane — terraced and detached mill-era cottages climbing from the river — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Abbey Lane — the historic approach past St Matthew's Church — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Broadway — interwar and later houses on the northern edge of the village — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Derby City Council's neighbour consultation.
Same extension, two routes, very different tests.
| Route | Depth allowed | What the council may consider | Timescale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary Class A permitted development | 3m attached / 4m detached | Nothing — no application needed | Immediate |
| Larger home extension prior approval | 6m attached / 8m detached | Amenity of adjoining premises, only if a neighbour objects | 21-day consultation, 42-day determination |
| Full householder application | No fixed limit | Design, materials, policy, amenity, everything | 8-week target |
| Any of these on designated land | 3m / 4m only | Prior approval scheme unavailable | Full application beyond the limits |
Limits and procedure from the GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A and paragraph A.4, made permanent by amendment in 2019.
A process built around the 21-day consultation, which is where these schemes are won or lost.
Send us your Darley Abbey postcode and house type. We confirm whether the property is on designated land, whether the scheme is available, and what depth you can realistically take.
We measure the original rear wall, eaves height, boundary distances and the neighbouring windows that the amenity assessment will turn on.
We draw the extension to the 6m or 8m limit with the boundary relationship shown in section, and prepare the written description and adjoining-owner details Derby City Council needs to start the consultation.
We submit, track the 21-day consultation and the 42-day determination, respond to any objection on amenity grounds, and revise free until the decision.
Three metres on a terraced or semi-detached house and four on a detached one under ordinary permitted development. Under the larger home extension prior approval scheme those double to six and eight metres, provided you notify Derby City Council before starting and the conditions on height, materials and land coverage are met. The scheme is not available on designated land. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Derby City Council what you intend to build, it writes to the adjoining owners, and they have 21 days to object. If nobody objects, you may build. If someone does, the council assesses the effect on the amenity of adjoining premises and must decide within 42 days. Design and policy are not in scope. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically.
The council then considers the impact on the amenity of the adjoining property — loss of light, loss of outlook, and overbearing effect — and nothing else. It cannot refuse because it dislikes the design or the materials. We prepare the drawings so those three questions are already answered in section and on the site plan, which is what usually carries an objected scheme through. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Darley Abbey and Allestree, national landscapes, national parks and world heritage sites. On those properties the ordinary 3-metre and 4-metre limits apply, and anything deeper needs a full householder application to Derby City Council.
Twenty-one days for the neighbour consultation, and a maximum of 42 days from a valid submission for the council to determine it. If the council does not respond within 42 days you may proceed as notified. That deadline is the scheme's real advantage over a full application, and it is why validation completeness matters so much. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
Yes — always. Prior approval deals only with the planning position. A 6-metre rear extension still needs building control approval for foundations, structure, drainage, thermal performance and fire safety, and the beam over the opening into the existing house needs designing and calculating. We prepare both sets so the notified scheme is the buildable one. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Darley Abbey scheme individually, because plot shape and the boundary relationship drive the work, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the notification pack and free revisions until Derby City Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.