The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Totley — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Sheffield City Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Sheffield City Council granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. Totley meets the Peak District National Park boundary directly, so landscape and moorland setting weigh on larger proposals, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Edwardian (1901–1910), interwar (1918–1939) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Before permission is required, Class B allows 40m³ of added loft volume on a terrace and 50m³ on a semi or detached house, and Class A allows a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house. In conservation areas such as Totley, Dore and Whirlow those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Totley is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Totley (a historic stone village at the very south-west edge of the city, against the Peak District), Totley Rise (interwar and postwar family housing around the local shopping parade), Totley Brook (Edwardian and interwar homes on the leafy valley streets), Bradway (postwar semis and detached houses on the neighbouring hillside), Dore (the adjoining affluent stone village sharing the same moorland edge) and Bents Green (1930s semis on the rising ground towards the moors) — these are the Totley pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Totley, Dore and Whirlow. Sheffield City Council weighs each proposal against the Sheffield Local Plan (the emerging Sheffield Plan, alongside the saved Sheffield Unitary Development Plan and Core Strategy), where outer plots sit within the Green Belt, where extensions face the openness test rather than ordinary householder policy. On roofs the borough is stone-tiled and slate roofs on the village core and hipped tiled roofs on the twentieth-century semis, over stone-built cottages along the historic village spine, interwar and postwar family semis across Totley Rise and detached houses on the moorland fringe.
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 Totley and Dore 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.
Totley is largely stone-built cottages along the historic village spine, interwar and postwar family semis across Totley Rise and detached houses on the moorland fringe. Totley meets the Peak District National Park boundary directly, so landscape and moorland setting weigh on larger proposals, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. Totley lies outside Sheffield's university HMO Article 4 direction, so small shared houses are not caught here; the Totley conservation area, covering the historic village spine along Baslow Road, instead removes permitted-development rights on its older stone properties.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Sheffield City Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Sheffield 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 Sheffield City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Sheffield grants a high share of householder applications, and in Totley the Peak District boundary, surrounding Green Belt and the stone village conservation area shape most schemes. 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 Totley, Totley Rise and Totley Brook, 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.
Outer plots sit within the Green Belt, where extensions face the openness test rather than ordinary householder policy. 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 Totley. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Totley — a historic stone village at the very south-west edge of the city, against the Peak District — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Totley Rise — interwar and postwar family housing around the local shopping parade — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Totley Brook — Edwardian and interwar homes on the leafy valley streets — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Bradway — postwar semis and detached houses on the neighbouring hillside — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Dore — the adjoining affluent stone village sharing the same moorland edge — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield City Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Bents Green — 1930s semis on the rising ground towards the moors — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Sheffield 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 Totley 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 Sheffield 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 Sheffield 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 Totley address specifically.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Sheffield 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 Totley 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 Totley address specifically. Sheffield City Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Totley and Dore, 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 Sheffield 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 Totley address specifically. Sheffield 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 Totley address specifically. Sheffield City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Totley 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 Sheffield City Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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