The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Longwell Green — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via South Gloucestershire Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
South Gloucestershire Council granted 83% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 4 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Longwell Green contains the Hanham Abbots Conservation Area conservation area (Hanham Abbots Conservation Area designated 1989), 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.
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. Longwell Green carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Hanham Abbots Conservation Area remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Longwell Green is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Hanham Abbots (conservation area designated in 1989), Hanham Abbots (civil parish within Longwell Green) and Oldland (civil parish within Longwell Green) — these are the Longwell Green pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Hanham Abbots Conservation Area. South Gloucestershire Council weighs each proposal against South Gloucestershire Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 3,980 homes here are 32% 1973-1982, 27% 1955-1964, 21% 1983-1992, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building, over 1970s and early-1980s houses (32% of 3,980 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (27%) and 1980s estate houses (21%).
Longwell Green's designated heritage is specific, and it is the first thing we check against your address: Hanham Abbots (conservation area designated in 1989). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and South Gloucestershire 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, Longwell Green takes in Hanham Abbots and Oldland. South Gloucestershire Council has 2 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Longwell Green.
On stock, Longwell Green is 1970s and early-1980s houses (32% of 3,980 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (27%) and 1980s estate houses (21%) — which is why shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. South Gloucestershire Council decided 771 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 83%, with 61% issued inside the eight-week target. Those are the numbers our drawings are prepared against.
The full build-period split for Longwell Green runs pre-1900 2% (90 homes), 1900-1918 1% (20 homes), 1919-1929 1% (40 homes), 1930-1939 2% (80 homes), 1945-1954 2% (70 homes), 1955-1964 27% (1,060 homes), 1965-1972 3% (110 homes), 1973-1982 32% (1,290 homes), 1983-1992 21% (850 homes), 1993-1999 1% (50 homes) and 2000-2008 3% (100 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 Gloucestershire Council also decides for Boyd Valley, Frampton Cotterell, Frenchay & Downend, Parkwall & Warmley, Severn Vale and Winterbourne, so a decision in Longwell Green 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 Land at Gloucester Road North in the Filton ward and Land at Stoke Park and Cheswick ward East of Southmead Road. 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 Longwell Green and South Gloucestershire Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Longwell Green |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 3,980 |
| Built pre-1900 | 90 (2%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 40 (1%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 80 (2%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 70 (2%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 1,060 (27%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 110 (3%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 1,290 (32%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 850 (21%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 50 (1%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 100 (3%) |
| Built before 1919 | 3% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 3% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 89% |
| Conservation areas in Longwell Green | 1 (Hanham Abbots Conservation Area) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 30 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 2 |
| Householder applications decided | 771 |
| Householder applications granted | 83% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 61% |
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 Gloucestershire Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
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 Hanham Abbots Conservation Area 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.
Longwell Green is largely 1970s and early-1980s houses (32% of 3,980 homes), late-1950s and early-1960s houses (27%) and 1980s estate houses (21%). Longwell Green contains the Hanham Abbots Conservation Area conservation area (Hanham Abbots Conservation Area designated 1989), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. South Gloucestershire Council has 2 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Longwell Green.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to South Gloucestershire Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack South Gloucestershire 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 South Gloucestershire Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. South Gloucestershire Council granted 83% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Hanham Abbots Conservation Area shapes what is approved here. 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 Hanham Abbots, Hanham Abbots and Oldland, 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 3,980 homes here are 32% 1973-1982, 27% 1955-1964, 21% 1983-1992, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. 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 Longwell Green. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Hanham Abbots — conservation area designated in 1989 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for South Gloucestershire Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Hanham Abbots — civil parish within Longwell Green — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for South Gloucestershire Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Oldland — civil parish within Longwell Green — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for South Gloucestershire 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 Longwell Green 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 South Gloucestershire 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 South Gloucestershire 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 Longwell Green address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell South Gloucestershire 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 Longwell Green 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 Longwell Green address specifically. South Gloucestershire Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Hanham Abbots Conservation Area, 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 South Gloucestershire Council. This applies to your Longwell Green 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 Longwell Green address specifically. South Gloucestershire 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 Longwell Green address specifically. South Gloucestershire Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Longwell Green 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 South Gloucestershire Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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