The fast route to a deep single-storey rear extension in Tower Hamlets — up to 6 metres on an attached house or 8 on a detached one — via Tower Hamlets Council's prior approval scheme rather than a full planning application.
Tower Hamlets Council granted 92.1% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 1.7999999999999972 points above the 90.3% England-wide householder average. Georgian frontages in Spitalfields are treated as near-untouchable, pushing any addition to the rear and out of public view, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) 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. Tower Hamlets carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Fournier Street, Elder Street and Narrow Street remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Tower Hamlets is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Spitalfields (early-Georgian silk-weavers' houses under strict conservation control), Bow (Victorian terraces around the Bow conservation area), Limehouse (riverside warehouse conversions along Narrow Street), Poplar (mixed Victorian terraces and postwar estates), Bethnal Green (dense Victorian terraces and former industrial buildings) and Mile End (Victorian terraces facing Mile End Park) — these are the Tower Hamlets pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Fournier Street, Elder Street, Narrow Street, Victoria Park and Bow. Tower Hamlets Council weighs each proposal against Tower Hamlets Local Plan 2031 and the borough's Residential Alterations and Extensions guidance, where dense back-land plots make daylight, overlooking and outlook the decisive tests on rear projections. Much of the borough is flatted — split houses, ex-industrial units and dock conversions — so most homes here have no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is parapet-hidden butterfly roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched roofs on the Victorian stock, over Georgian merchant terraces around Spitalfields, Victorian terraces across Bow and Poplar and warehouse and dock conversions.
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 Fournier Street and Elder Street 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.
Tower Hamlets is largely Georgian merchant terraces around Spitalfields, Victorian terraces across Bow and Poplar and warehouse and dock conversions. Georgian frontages in Spitalfields are treated as near-untouchable, pushing any addition to the rear and out of public view, which matters here because an objecting neighbour puts amenity squarely in front of a case officer. The Spitalfields conservation areas around Fournier Street and Elder Street carry some of the tightest heritage controls in London, with Article 4 directions removing permitted-development rights on their early-Georgian frontages.
The scheme is available where all of these hold. Fail any one and it is a full application to Tower Hamlets Council instead:
We prepare the notification pack Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Tower Hamlets grants most householder applications, yet the exceptional heritage sensitivity of its Georgian quarters is the constraint that governs design more than anything else. 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 Spitalfields, Bow and Limehouse, 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.
Dense back-land plots make daylight, overlooking and outlook the decisive tests on rear projections. 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 Tower Hamlets. A few of the areas where deep rear extensions come up most often:
Prior approval drawings for Spitalfields — early-Georgian silk-weavers' houses under strict conservation control — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Bow — Victorian terraces around the Bow conservation area — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Limehouse — riverside warehouse conversions along Narrow Street — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Poplar — mixed Victorian terraces and postwar estates — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Bethnal Green — dense Victorian terraces and former industrial buildings — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets Council's neighbour consultation.
Prior approval drawings for Mile End — Victorian terraces facing Mile End Park — dimensioned to the 6m and 8m limits and prepared for Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets Council before starting and the conditions on height, materials and land coverage are met. The scheme is not available on designated land.
It is a notification, not an application for permission. You tell Tower Hamlets 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.
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 Tower Hamlets address specifically. Tower Hamlets Council is the decision-maker.
No. The larger home extension scheme is unavailable on designated land, which includes conservation areas such as Fournier Street and Elder Street, 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 Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets address specifically. Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets address specifically. Tower Hamlets Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Tower Hamlets 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 Tower Hamlets Council determines it. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.