Orangery and conservatory drawings for Havering homes — checked against the Class A rear limits and the 30m² building-regulations exemption, drawn to Havering Council's guidance and revised free until your decision.
Havering Council granted 85% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Green Belt coverage across the east restricts the scale of extensions and any new outbuildings on affected plots, 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. Havering carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Langtons (Hornchurch), Upminster (Tithe Barn) and Rainham Village remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Havering is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Romford (denser interwar and postwar housing around the town centre and Marshalls Park), Hornchurch (interwar semis and the Langtons conservation area), Upminster (larger suburban homes near the Tithe Barn conservation area), Emerson Park (low-density detached houses on generous plots under Article 4), Rainham (historic village core alongside newer housing near the Thames marshes) and Elm Park (planned interwar semi-detached suburb) — these are the Havering pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Langtons (Hornchurch), Upminster (Tithe Barn), Rainham Village, Emerson Park and Corbets Tey. Havering Council weighs each proposal against Havering Local Plan 2016–2031 and the borough's residential extensions and alterations guidance, where generous plot sizes make front-of-house impact and the gaps between detached homes a key design test. On roofs the borough is hipped roofs on the suburban semis and gabled roofs on the detached and older stock, over interwar and postwar semi-detached houses, detached houses on larger plots and village-core cottages and period frontages.
The difference is not marketing. A conservatory is predominantly glazed — at least three quarters of the roof and half of the walls — which is what earns it the building-regulations exemption. An orangery has a solid masonry perimeter with a glazed lantern set into a flat roof, so it usually reads as a conventional extension for building control and has to meet Part L thermal standards, Part A structure and Part B fire like any other room.
Both are judged the same way for planning: as rear extensions, against the Class A depth, height and eaves limits, and against Havering Local Plan 2016–2031 and the borough's residential extensions and alterations guidance. Havering is largely interwar and postwar semi-detached houses, detached houses on larger plots and village-core cottages and period frontages, and the design question is usually whether the glazing reads as a lightweight addition to that stock or as a bolted-on conservatory kit. On period houses, an orangery with a properly proportioned lantern almost always sits better than a full-height glazed box.
In conservation areas such as Langtons (Hornchurch) and Upminster (Tithe Barn), rear glazing is assessed on visibility from the street and on the effect on the rear elevation's character. Prized low-density enclaves such as Emerson Park sit under Article 4 controls, and with much of eastern Havering falling inside Metropolitan Green Belt, extension potential is tightly held on the borough's fringes.
Many conservatories are permitted development. You will need an application to Havering Council where any of these apply:
We check the scheme against the Class A planning limits and against the building-regulations exemption at the same time, so you know before committing whether you are building an exempt conservatory or a fully regulated room.
Below is Havering Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Havering grants a fair majority of householder applications, with extensive Green Belt on its eastern side the main brake on what larger schemes can achieve. Glazed rear additions are judged on depth, eaves height and how the glazing meets the existing elevation.
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 Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster, the schemes that succeed keep the eaves below the neighbour's ground-floor cill line, set the glazing back from the boundary, and use a solid parapet or brick perimeter to tie the addition into the house. On interwar and postwar semi-detached houses, a lantern set in a flat roof usually reads better than a pitched glazed roof, and it avoids the summer overheating that makes full conservatories unusable for months a year.
Green Belt coverage across the east restricts the scale of extensions and any new outbuildings on affected plots. The decision worth making early is whether to keep the separating doors. Keeping them preserves the building-regulations exemption but leaves you with a room that is not part of the house; removing them creates one continuous space but brings the whole addition inside Part L, which changes the glazing specification and usually the heating design too. We set out both versions before you commit.
We draw glazed rear additions across Havering. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Romford — denser interwar and postwar housing around the town centre and Marshalls Park — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Hornchurch — interwar semis and the Langtons conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Upminster — larger suburban homes near the Tithe Barn conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Emerson Park — low-density detached houses on generous plots under Article 4 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Rainham — historic village core alongside newer housing near the Thames marshes — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Elm Park — planned interwar semi-detached suburb — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Havering Council's guidance.
The planning test is the same for both. The building-regulations test is not.
| Structure | Planning route | Building regulations | Practical effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservatory under 30m², doors retained | Class A rear extension limits | Largely exempt | Cheaper build, unheated in winter |
| Conservatory, doors removed | Class A rear extension limits | Part L applies in full | Continuous space, higher spec glazing |
| Orangery with solid perimeter and lantern | Class A rear extension limits | Fully regulated | Usable year round, better on period houses |
| Any of the above beyond the depth limits | Full householder application | As above | 8-week determination |
| Any of the above on designated land | Full householder application | As above | Design and visibility assessed |
Planning limits from the GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A; exemption criteria from the Building Regulations 2010, Schedule 2, Class 7.
A fixed process covering both consents, because they pull in different directions.
Send us your Havering postcode and house type. We confirm the Class A limits that apply, check designation status, and score your odds against live Havering Council decisions.
We measure the rear elevation, eaves and ground levels, and the neighbouring boundary — the numbers that decide both the projection limit and the 2-metre eaves rule.
Chartered designers develop the orangery or conservatory to your brief, and we set out clearly whether it stays inside the building-regulations exemption or becomes a fully regulated room.
We submit the certificate or application, manage validation and officer queries, and revise free until Havering Council decides.
Often not. A conservatory is treated as a rear extension, so it can be permitted development within the Class A limits — 3 metres of projection on a terrace or semi, 4 metres on a detached house, with eaves under 3 metres where it sits within 2 metres of a boundary. In Havering you will need an application to Havering Council beyond those limits, and on designated land such as Langtons (Hornchurch) and Upminster (Tithe Barn).
A conservatory is largely exempt if it is under 30 square metres, at ground level, separated from the house by external-quality doors, and has at least 75% of its roof and 50% of its walls glazed. Glazing, electrics and any drainage work still have to comply. Remove the separating doors and the exemption falls away — the space becomes part of the house and Part L thermal standards apply. This applies to your Havering address specifically. Havering Council is the decision-maker.
For planning, none — both are rear extensions assessed against the same Class A limits by Havering Council. The difference is in building control: an orangery's solid perimeter and flat roof with a lantern usually means it fails the glazing test for exemption, so it is fully regulated. That is why an orangery costs more to build but is comfortable in January.
Usually yes at the rear, though permitted-development rights are narrower on designated land and an Article 4 direction can remove them entirely. The assessment turns on whether the addition is visible from the street and how it meets the original rear elevation. A restrained orangery in matching brick with a lantern is consistently easier to get through than a proprietary glazed conservatory. This applies to your Havering address specifically. Havering Council is the decision-maker.
A fully glazed roof will, unless it is specified for it. That is the practical reason most of our clients end up building an orangery instead: a solid insulated roof perimeter with a lantern gives daylight without the greenhouse effect, and keeps the space usable across the year. We raise it at design stage because it is much cheaper to solve on paper than after the build. This applies to your Havering address specifically. Havering Council is the decision-maker.
If you excavate foundations within 3 metres of a neighbouring structure and deeper than its foundations, or build on the boundary itself, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 applies and notice must be served. That is separate from Havering Council's planning decision. We flag it at design stage so the notice period does not delay the start on site.
We quote each Havering orangery or conservatory individually, because the structure and the roof form change the work considerably, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Havering Council approves. 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.