The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Patcham — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Brighton & Hove City Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Brighton & Hove City Council granted 89% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. The northern edges of Patcham and Withdean adjoin the South Downs National Park, where development on the open downland fringe is tightly restrained, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant interwar (1918–1939) and 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. Patcham carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Patcham and Tongdean remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Patcham is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Old Patcham (the flint village core around All Saints church and the Black Lion), Ladies Mile (sweeping interwar semi-detached avenues on the downland slope), Tongdean (large detached 20th-century houses in a wooded conservation setting), Withdean (1930s semis and detached villas around the stadium and woods), Patcham Place (housing set against the Grade II* manor and its park) and Carden fringe (postwar suburban estates on the northern edge) — these are the Patcham pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Patcham and Tongdean. Brighton & Hove City Council weighs each proposal against Brighton & Hove City Plan (Parts One 2016 and Two 2022) and the relevant SPDs, where the flint village core of Old Patcham and the wooded Tongdean estate are protected against alterations that would erode their established character. Pockets of larger houses around Withdean and Patcham have been converted into flats, which sit outside householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is hipped roofs on the interwar semis and bungalows and pitched clay-tiled roofs on the village cottages and larger villas, over interwar semi-detached houses and bungalows, the historic flint core of Old Patcham, large 20th-century detached houses at Tongdean and mock-Tudor and 1930s suburban villas.
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 Patcham and Tongdean 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.
Patcham is largely interwar semi-detached houses and bungalows, the historic flint core of Old Patcham, large 20th-century detached houses at Tongdean and mock-Tudor and 1930s suburban villas. The northern edges of Patcham and Withdean adjoin the South Downs National Park, where development on the open downland fringe is tightly restrained, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. Patcham is covered by the city-wide small-HMO Article 4 direction, while the Patcham conservation area — the historic downland village designated in 1970 — and the neighbouring Tongdean conservation area (designated 1989) protect their older cores from unrestricted alteration.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Brighton & Hove City Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Brighton & Hove 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 Brighton & Hove City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. The council grants a high share of householder applications, and across Patcham and Withdean the main pressures are the South Downs National Park fringe to the north and keeping roof alterations in step with the interwar streets. 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 Old Patcham, Ladies Mile and Tongdean, 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 flint village core of Old Patcham and the wooded Tongdean estate are protected against alterations that would erode their established character. 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 Patcham. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Old Patcham — the flint village core around All Saints church and the Black Lion — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Ladies Mile — sweeping interwar semi-detached avenues on the downland slope — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Tongdean — large detached 20th-century houses in a wooded conservation setting — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Withdean — 1930s semis and detached villas around the stadium and woods — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Patcham Place — housing set against the Grade II* manor and its park — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Carden fringe — postwar suburban estates on the northern edge — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Brighton & Hove 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 Patcham 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 Brighton & Hove 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 Brighton & Hove 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 Patcham address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Brighton & Hove 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 Patcham 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 Patcham address specifically. Brighton & Hove City Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Patcham and Tongdean, 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 Brighton & Hove 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 Patcham address specifically. Brighton & Hove 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 Patcham address specifically. Brighton & Hove City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Patcham 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 Brighton & Hove City Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.