Mansard drawings for Greenwich terraces — the rebuilt roof with a steep, near-vertical rear slope that adds a full storey of loft, drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's roofline and streetscape rules, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
the Royal Borough of Greenwich granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its buffer zone add height and setting tests near the town centre, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich needs a full application. Greenwich carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including West Greenwich, Blackheath Park and Ashburnham Triangle remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Greenwich is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Greenwich (Georgian and early-Victorian terraces inside the West Greenwich conservation area), Blackheath (villas and terraces around the Cator Estate and Blackheath Park), Westcombe Park (Edwardian and Victorian villas climbing the hill above the river), Charlton (the older cottages and interwar streets around Charlton Village), Eltham (interwar semis including the Well Hall Progress Estate) and Woolwich (denser Victorian terraces amid riverside regeneration) — these are the Greenwich pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include West Greenwich, Blackheath Park, Ashburnham Triangle, Westcombe Park and Charlton Village. the Royal Borough of Greenwich weighs each proposal against the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies and the borough's residential extensions design guidance, where protected Thames-side views shape what roof additions are acceptable on the borough's northern edge. On roofs the borough is parapet and butterfly roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched and hipped roofs on the villas, over Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and riverside and interwar housing.
The mansard is the maximum-volume loft, and Greenwich's stock is where it belongs — the borough runs to Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and riverside and interwar housing, and on a period terrace a mansard rebuilds the roof at roughly seventy degrees to create almost a full new floor rather than the part-height room a dormer returns. the Royal Borough of Greenwich assesses it against the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies and the borough's residential extensions design guidance, and because the whole roof changes shape the test is the street: whether the new profile continues the terrace or breaks it.
That is what the drawings have to settle. We set the mansard behind the original parapet or eaves, hold it to the ridge height of neighbouring mansards where the terrace already has them, and detail the slate face, the dormer windows within it and the party walls to both sides so the addition reads as part of the row. The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its buffer zone add height and setting tests near the town centre, and on a roof this prominent that is the argument that has to be won on the page.
Much of Greenwich's terraced stock is designated — West Greenwich, Blackheath Park, Ashburnham Triangle, Westcombe Park and Charlton Village among the areas — and there a mansard is judged on whether it restores or respects the historic roofline. Article 4 directions strip out permitted-development rights across Greenwich's conservation areas such as West Greenwich and Westcombe Park, so front-facing and roof alterations there need a full application. Some terraces already have a consistent mansard line an addition can follow; others do not, and we establish which before drawing.
A mansard in Greenwich always needs a full application to the Royal Borough of Greenwich — rebuilding the roof puts it well outside permitted development. These are the points the council weighs:
We draw the new roof behind the parapet, the slope and ridge matched to the terrace, the slate face and dormer windows, and the party walls to both neighbours — the roofline and streetscape relationships the Royal Borough of Greenwich's officers check first — and submit a validation-complete householder application.
Below is the Royal Borough of Greenwich's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Greenwich approves most householder applications, but the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its dense conservation coverage set the terms for what works near the town centre and the river. A mansard is decided on roofline and streetscape, so a scheme drawn to continue the terrace is cleared faster and refused less often than one that fights it.
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 Greenwich, Blackheath and Westcombe Park, the mansard that goes through is the one that disappears into the row: set behind the parapet, its ridge matched to neighbouring mansards, the front slope in natural slate with traditional dormer windows, and the whole storey reading as though the terrace was always that height. On the borough's georgian and early-victorian terraces, this is the single biggest volume the roof can give — close to a full floor.
Protected Thames-side views shape what roof additions are acceptable on the borough's northern edge. We follow any established mansard line on the terrace, keep the slope and materials traditional, and where a row has none yet, draw a design that could set the pattern rather than break it — the argument the Royal Borough of Greenwich needs to grant on a roof this visible.
We draw mansard roofs on the period-terrace streets across the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where Greenwich mansards come up most often:
Mansard loft drawings for Greenwich's Georgian and early-Victorian terraces inside the West Greenwich conservation area — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Mansard loft drawings for Blackheath's villas and terraces around the Cator Estate and Blackheath Park — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Mansard loft drawings for Westcombe Park's Edwardian and Victorian villas climbing the hill above the river — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Mansard loft drawings for Charlton's the older cottages and interwar streets around Charlton Village — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Mansard loft drawings for Eltham's interwar semis including the Well Hall Progress Estate — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Mansard loft drawings for Woolwich's denser Victorian terraces amid riverside regeneration — roofline-matched, slate-detailed and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
A mansard wins the most space of any loft but asks the most of the planning case. This is how it compares in Greenwich.
| Loft type | Planning route | Space gained | What the Royal Borough of Greenwich checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mansard | Always a full application | Close to a full extra storey | Roofline, streetscape, terrace match |
| Rear dormer | Often permitted development | A room across the back slope | Volume and eaves set-back |
| Hip-to-gable | Full application | Full width where the roof is hipped | Balance with the paired neighbour |
| Rooflights only | Usually permitted development | Light and headroom, no new shape | Rooflights within the existing slope |
In conservation areas such as West Greenwich and Blackheath Park, a mansard is judged on how it sits within the protected roofline of the terrace.
A fixed process built around how the Royal Borough of Greenwich validates and decides mansard applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Greenwich postcode and terrace type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, check whether the row already has a mansard line to follow, and score your odds against live the Royal Borough of Greenwich decisions.
We measure the parapet, ridge and party walls, and the roofline of the neighbouring houses — the numbers the new slope, its height and the terrace match depend on.
Chartered designers develop the rebuilt roof to your brief, drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's roof-alteration and conservation guidance with the slope, slate face, dormers and party walls detailed on the page.
We submit the householder application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until the Royal Borough of Greenwich issues its decision.
Always. A mansard rebuilds the roof into a steep rear slope with a flat top, and that wholesale change of roof shape is well outside permitted development — so it needs a full householder application to the Royal Borough of Greenwich on every street, designated or not. On a terrace in a conservation area such as West Greenwich and Blackheath Park the roofline is protected, so the design is scrutinised more closely still.
It is a rebuilt roof with a steep, near-vertical rear slope and a small flat top, which creates almost a full extra storey inside — far more than a dormer returns. Greenwich's period terraces are the classic mansard candidates, and where a row already carries mansards a new one that matches the line is the most likely of all lofts to be approved despite being the largest. the Royal Borough of Greenwich is the decision-maker.
Because it reshapes the whole roof rather than adding a box to it. The steep slope pushes the walls out almost to vertical and the flat top lifts the ceiling, so the usable floor runs nearly the full footprint of the house at head height — close to a complete storey. That is why, in Greenwich, a mansard is chosen when a dormer or hip-to-gable will not give enough room. the Royal Borough of Greenwich is the decision-maker.
It can, but the case is harder. Where a terrace already has a consistent mansard line, matching it is straightforward; on an unbroken row, the Royal Borough of Greenwich weighs whether your mansard would break the skyline or could set an acceptable pattern for the street. We draw the design to sit within the terrace and make that argument on the elevations rather than leave it to chance.
Almost certainly, on both sides. A mansard rebuilds the roof up to and across the party walls with the neighbours either side, so the Party Wall etc. Act applies to each and notice must be served before work starts — separately from the Royal Borough of Greenwich's planning decision. We detail both party walls on the drawings and flag the notices early so surveyors can be appointed without holding up the build.
We price each Greenwich mansard individually, because the terrace, the roofline match and the party-wall detailing vary street to street, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until the Royal Borough of Greenwich approves, and we confirm the roofline case at the outset. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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