The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Hackney — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Hackney Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Hackney Council granted 89% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Parapet-fronted terraces mean rear roof extensions are scrutinised harder than the concealed front slope suggests, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837) and Victorian (1837–1901) 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. Hackney carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square and Stoke Newington Church Street remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Hackney is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
De Beauvoir Town (grid of early-Victorian villas inside a tightly protected conservation area), Stoke Newington (Georgian and Victorian frontages along Church Street with heavy heritage control), Clapton (Victorian terraces and squares around Clapton Square), London Fields (dense Victorian terraces framing the park), Dalston (mixed Victorian stock with warehouse conversions off the high street) and Shoreditch (former industrial and warehouse buildings turned residential) — these are the Hackney pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square, Stoke Newington Church Street, London Fields and Well Street Common. Hackney Council weighs each proposal against Hackney Local Plan 2033 (LP33) and the Development Management supplementary guidance, where warehouse conversions are read against the borough's employment-floorspace and character policies before residential gains are weighed. A large share of Hackney's terraces and warehouses are split into flats and maisonettes, none of which carry householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is London butterfly / valley roofs behind parapets and pitched slate roofs on the villas, over Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, later Victorian terraces and villas and warehouse and industrial conversions.
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 De Beauvoir Town and Clapton Square 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.
Hackney is largely Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, later Victorian terraces and villas and warehouse and industrial conversions. Parapet-fronted terraces mean rear roof extensions are scrutinised harder than the concealed front slope suggests, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. Hackney is one of London's most conservation-dense boroughs, and directions such as the one covering Stoke Newington strip out permitted-development rights for shopfronts, roof alterations and frontages, so nothing on those streets is automatic.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Hackney Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Hackney 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 Hackney Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Hackney approves the large majority of householder applications, but the borough's dense web of conservation areas is the single biggest factor shaping what design will pass. 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, 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 De Beauvoir Town, Stoke Newington and Clapton, 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.
Warehouse conversions are read against the borough's employment-floorspace and character policies before residential gains are weighed. 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 Hackney. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for De Beauvoir Town — grid of early-Victorian villas inside a tightly protected conservation area — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Stoke Newington — Georgian and Victorian frontages along Church Street with heavy heritage control — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Clapton — Victorian terraces and squares around Clapton Square — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for London Fields — dense Victorian terraces framing the park — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Dalston — mixed Victorian stock with warehouse conversions off the high street — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Shoreditch — former industrial and warehouse buildings turned residential — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hackney 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 Hackney 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 Hackney 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 Hackney Council before starting and the conditions on height, materials and land coverage are met. The scheme is not available on designated land.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Hackney 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.
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 Hackney address specifically. Hackney Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as De Beauvoir Town and Clapton Square, 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 Hackney 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 Hackney address specifically. Hackney 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 Hackney address specifically. Hackney Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Hackney 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 Hackney Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.