The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Hammersmith and Fulham — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Hammersmith & Fulham Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. Basement schemes require a detailed basement impact assessment covering ground stability, flooding and construction management, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901) and Edwardian (1901–1910) 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. Hammersmith and Fulham carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Brackenbury, Bradmore and Peterborough Estate remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Hammersmith and Fulham is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Hammersmith (Victorian terraces around the Brackenbury village grid), Fulham (the Peterborough Estate 'Lion' houses and Hurlingham mansion flats), Shepherd's Bush (dense Victorian terraces, much of it split into flats), Brook Green (Edwardian terraces interspersed with mansion blocks), Parsons Green (Victorian terraces gathered around the green) and Sands End (former industrial land now mixing terraces with new housing) — these are the Hammersmith and Fulham pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Brackenbury, Bradmore, Peterborough Estate, Ravenscourt and Wendell Park. Hammersmith & Fulham Council weighs each proposal against Hammersmith and Fulham Local Plan and the Planning Guidance SPD, where with terraces packed tightly, mansard and side-return proposals turn on protecting a consistent roofline and rear amenity. Converted flats dominate large parts of Shepherd's Bush and Fulham, and none carry householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is London butterfly roofs concealed behind the terrace parapets and back-addition closet-wing roofs that shape side-return schemes, over Victorian and Edwardian terraces, purpose-built mansion flats and converted period flats.
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 Brackenbury and Bradmore 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.
Hammersmith and Fulham is largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces, purpose-built mansion flats and converted period flats. Basement schemes require a detailed basement impact assessment covering ground stability, flooding and construction management, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. Conservation areas blanket much of the borough — Brackenbury, Bradmore and the Fulham Peterborough Estate among them — and Article 4 directions there remove permitted-development rights on frontages and roofs.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Hammersmith & Fulham Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith & Fulham Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Hammersmith and Fulham grants a high share of householder applications, though tight terrace density and basement engineering are the constraints that shape most designs. 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 Hammersmith, Fulham and Shepherd's Bush, 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.
With terraces packed tightly, mansard and side-return proposals turn on protecting a consistent roofline and rear amenity. 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 Hammersmith and Fulham. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Hammersmith — Victorian terraces around the Brackenbury village grid — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Fulham — the Peterborough Estate 'Lion' houses and Hurlingham mansion flats — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Shepherd's Bush — dense Victorian terraces, much of it split into flats — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Brook Green — Edwardian terraces interspersed with mansion blocks — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Parsons Green — Victorian terraces gathered around the green — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Sands End — former industrial land now mixing terraces with new housing — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham 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 Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham address specifically. Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Brackenbury and Bradmore, 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 Hammersmith & Fulham Council. This applies to your Hammersmith and Fulham address specifically.
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 Hammersmith and Fulham address specifically. Hammersmith & Fulham 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 Hammersmith and Fulham address specifically. Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Hammersmith and Fulham 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 Hammersmith & Fulham Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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.