Dormer, hip-to-gable and mansard loft conversion drawings for Ealing homes — prepared to Ealing Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision lands, with a free approval-odds score first.
Ealing Council granted 85% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Case officers apply the borough's daylight and outlook tests strictly across tight Victorian plot lines, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910) and interwar (1918–1939) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Class A and Class B set the thresholds — a rear dormer to 40m³ on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi or detached, and a single-storey rear extension to 3m on a terrace or 4m on a detached house — beyond which Ealing Council needs a full application. Ealing carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Bedford Park, Ealing Common and Ealing Green remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Ealing is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Ealing Broadway (red-brick Victorian and Edwardian terraces around the town centre), Hanwell (Edwardian terraces and the Hanwell Village Green conservation area), Northfields (Edwardian streets around Lammas Park), West Ealing (mixed Victorian terraces and converted flats), Greenford (interwar semi-detached estates) and Perivale (1930s Metroland semis with hipped roofs) — these are the Ealing pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bedford Park, Ealing Common, Ealing Green, Hanwell Village Green and Northfields (Lammas Park). Ealing Council weighs each proposal against Ealing Local Plan and the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, where roof bulk on paired 1930s houses is a recurring refusal reason. Converted terraces are common across West Ealing and Hanwell, and flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is London butterfly / valley roofs on the terraces and hipped roofs on the 1930s semis, over Victorian and Edwardian terraces, interwar semi-detached houses and converted period flats.
Ealing's roofs set the brief. The borough is built largely from Victorian and Edwardian terraces, interwar semi-detached houses and converted period flats, and its lofts sit under London butterfly / valley roofs on the terraces and hipped roofs on the 1930s semis — the geometry that decides whether a rear dormer, a hip-to-gable or a mansard gives you the headroom you want. Ealing Council assesses loft proposals against Ealing Local Plan and the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, and its case officers read each roof against the pair next door and the wider street before they read the plans.
That makes drawing quality decisive. We measure ridge and eaves heights, roof pitch and the existing stair, calculate the added volume against the permitted-development limits exactly, and show the workings on the drawings so Ealing Council can verify them. Case officers apply the borough's daylight and outlook tests strictly across tight Victorian plot lines, so we resolve it on the page rather than leave it for the case officer to raise.
Ealing also carries protected streets — Bedford Park, Ealing Common, Ealing Green, Hanwell Village Green and Northfields (Lammas Park) among them. Bedford Park — shared with Hounslow — carries a long-established Article 4 direction, and several other Ealing conservation areas remove permitted-development rights, so PD can never be assumed on those streets. We check your address against those designations before a line is drawn.
Many Ealing loft conversions proceed without planning permission — a rear dormer within the permitted-development volume limits (40 cubic metres on a terrace, 50 on a semi or detached house) is usually lawful. You will normally need a full application to Ealing Council if any of these apply:
We draw the roof line, the ridge height and the neighbour's daylight on the page — the relationships Ealing Council's officers check first — and submit a validation-complete pack, whether that is a lawful development certificate or a full householder application.
Below is Ealing Council's real householder decision record, pulled from official planning statistics and updated as new data lands. Ealing grants around the London average of householder applications, with roof bulk on paired 1930s houses and neighbour daylight across narrow plots the most common sticking points. Professionally prepared loft drawings anticipate those pressure points before submission, which is why complete, policy-literate packs are decided faster and refused less often than DIY applications.
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 Ealing Broadway, Hanwell and Northfields, the recurring loft is the rear dormer — a box across the back roof slope that turns a cramped attic into a full-height double bedroom and en-suite. On London butterfly / valley roofs on the terraces, that is usually the most efficient use of the roof; where the stock is hipped roofs on the 1930s semis, a hip-to-gable followed by a rear dormer unlocks far more space, though it needs a full application.
Roof bulk on paired 1930s houses is a recurring refusal reason. We draw the dormer inside the volume allowance, keep the flat-roof build-up below the ridge, and set the face back from the eaves as the rules require — so the pack answers Ealing Council's questions before they are asked. Where permitted-development rights are exhausted or removed, we prepare a householder application composed to the borough's roof-alteration guidance instead.
We draw loft conversions on every street in the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where Ealing roofs come up most often:
Loft conversion drawings for Ealing Broadway's red-brick Victorian and Edwardian terraces around the town centre — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
Loft conversion drawings for Hanwell's Edwardian terraces and the Hanwell Village Green conservation area — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
Loft conversion drawings for Northfields's Edwardian streets around Lammas Park — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
Loft conversion drawings for West Ealing's mixed Victorian terraces and converted flats — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
Loft conversion drawings for Greenford's interwar semi-detached estates — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
Loft conversion drawings for Perivale's 1930s Metroland semis with hipped roofs — measured, volume-checked and drawn to Ealing Council's guidance.
The right loft in Ealing depends on your roof. This is how the main types compare on planning route and the space they add.
| Loft type | Permitted development? | Space & headroom | What Ealing Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rear dormer | Usually yes, within volume limits | Full-height double room at the back | Volume, set-back from eaves, ridge height |
| Hip-to-gable | No — full application | Extends the whole side of the roof | Roof bulk and the symmetry of the pair |
| Mansard | No — full application | Maximum floor area across the roof | Street character, especially in conservation areas |
| Rooflights only | Usually yes (Class C) | Light and headroom, no extra footprint | Whether rooflights sit within the existing slope |
Route depends on your street — conservation areas such as Bedford Park and Ealing Common and Article 4 directions can remove permitted-development rights.
A fixed process built around how Ealing Council validates and decides householder loft applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Tell us your Ealing postcode and roof type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, how much permitted-development volume you have left, and score your odds against live Ealing Council decisions.
We measure ridge and eaves heights, roof pitch, joist levels and the existing stair — the numbers the volume calculation and head heights depend on.
Chartered designers develop the dormer, hip-to-gable or mansard to your brief, drawn inside the Class B limits or to Ealing Council's roof-alteration guidance.
We submit the certificate or application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Ealing Council issues its decision.
Often not. A rear dormer within 40 cubic metres on a terrace, or 50 on a semi-detached or detached house, set back from the eaves and no higher than the ridge, is usually permitted development. In Ealing the main exceptions are hip-to-gable conversions, dormers visible from the highway, and homes in conservation areas such as Bedford Park and Ealing Common or on streets with an Article 4 direction. Ealing Council is the decision-maker.
Generally no. In conservation areas including Bedford Park and Ealing Common, Class B permitted-development rights for lofts are removed, so a rear dormer that would be lawful elsewhere needs a full application to Ealing Council. Bedford Park — shared with Hounslow — carries a long-established Article 4 direction, and several other Ealing conservation areas remove permitted-development rights, so PD can never be assumed on those streets. We check your exact address before drawing.
On London butterfly / valley roofs on the terraces, common across Ealing, a rear dormer is usually the most efficient conversion and often permitted development. Where the roof is hipped roofs on the 1930s semis, a hip-to-gable followed by a rear dormer gains far more usable space but needs planning permission. Our survey confirms which your roof supports before we draw. Ealing Council is the decision-maker.
A householder planning application in Ealing runs to a statutory eight-week target, and a lawful development certificate to eight weeks as well, though validation can add time if the pack is incomplete. We submit validation-complete drawings and manage case-officer queries to keep the decision on track. Ealing Council is the decision-maker.
If your dormer is permitted development, a lawful development certificate from Ealing Council is council-stamped proof of that — worth having, because every buyer's solicitor will ask for it when you sell. We prepare and submit the certificate application with the same drawing pack.
Every roof is different, so we quote each Ealing project individually — a fixed, no-obligation price back within one working day. The quote covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Ealing Council approves, and we tell you upfront whether your loft qualifies as permitted development. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
Answer five quick questions and get a free planning score for your exact address — instantly. Then, if you want the full picture, unlock the detailed analysis: your council's live approval rates, local precedents, constraints on your street and a step-by-step route to permission.
Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.