The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Old Harlow — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Harlow District Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Harlow District Council granted 79% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Old Harlow contains Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury conservation areas (Churchgate Street designated 1969), 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.
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. Old Harlow carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate and Harlowbury remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Old Harlow is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Churchgate Street (conservation area designated in 1969), Harlow Garden Village Estate (conservation area designated in 2013), Harlowbury (conservation area designated in 1994) and Old Harlow (conservation area designated in 1969) — these are the Old Harlow pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury and Old Harlow. Harlow District Council weighs each proposal against Harlow District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 4,050 homes here are 13% 1973-1982, 11% 1945-1954, 9% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building, over 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%).
Before anything is drawn we check your address against the designations that apply in Old Harlow: Churchgate Street (conservation area designated in 1969), Harlow Garden Village Estate (conservation area designated in 2013), Harlowbury (conservation area designated in 1994) and Old Harlow (conservation area designated in 1969). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Harlow District 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.
Harlow District Council has 14 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and other roof alterations, including rooflights — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Harlow.
On stock, Old Harlow is 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%) — which is why shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Harlow District Council decided 149 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 79%, with 67% issued inside the eight-week target. That decision record, not a national figure, is what we design to.
The full build-period split for Old Harlow runs pre-1900 7% (300 homes), 1900-1918 2% (70 homes), 1919-1929 2% (90 homes), 1930-1939 3% (130 homes), 1945-1954 11% (450 homes), 1955-1964 7% (280 homes), 1965-1972 9% (370 homes), 1973-1982 13% (510 homes), 1983-1992 5% (210 homes), 1993-1999 3% (140 homes) and 2000-2008 2% (70 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.
Harlow District Council also decides for Bush Fair and Mark Hall, so a decision in Old Harlow 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 1 to 56 Morley Grove, 57 to 99 Morley Grove, Churchgate Street and Field House and Goodman House (Burnt Mill Industrial Estate). 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 Old Harlow and Harlow District Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Old Harlow |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 4,050 |
| Built pre-1900 | 300 (7%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 70 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 90 (2%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 130 (3%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 450 (11%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 280 (7%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 370 (9%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 510 (13%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 210 (5%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 140 (3%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 70 (2%) |
| Built before 1919 | 9% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 5% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 50% |
| Conservation areas in Old Harlow | 4 (Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 10 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 14 |
| Householder applications decided | 149 |
| Householder applications granted | 79% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 67% |
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 Harlow District 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 Churchgate Street and Harlow Garden Village Estate 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.
Old Harlow is largely 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%). Old Harlow contains Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury conservation areas (Churchgate Street designated 1969), 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. Harlow District Council has 14 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and other roof alterations, including rooflights — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Harlow.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Harlow District Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Harlow District 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 Harlow District Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Harlow District Council granted 79% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Churchgate Street 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 Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate and Harlowbury, 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 4,050 homes here are 13% 1973-1982, 11% 1945-1954, 9% 1965-1972, 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 Old Harlow. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Churchgate Street — conservation area designated in 1969 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Harlow District Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Harlow Garden Village Estate — conservation area designated in 2013 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Harlow District Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Harlowbury — conservation area designated in 1994 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Harlow District Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Old Harlow — conservation area designated in 1969 — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Harlow District 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 Old Harlow 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 Harlow District 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 Harlow District 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 Old Harlow address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Harlow District 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 Old Harlow 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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Churchgate Street and Harlow Garden Village Estate, 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 Harlow District Council. This applies to your Old Harlow 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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District 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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Old Harlow 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 Harlow District Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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