Orangery and conservatory drawings for Katesgrove homes — checked against the Class A rear limits and the 30m² building-regulations exemption, drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance and revised free until your decision.
Reading Borough Council granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. The HMO Article 4 direction means a change of use is normally refused where HMOs already exceed 25 per cent within 50 metres, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901) 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. Katesgrove carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Kendrick, South Park and Downshire Square remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Katesgrove is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Katesgrove Hill (steep Victorian terraces between Southampton Street and Elgar Road), Silver Street (dense red-brick terraces near the town-centre edge), Elgar Road (Victorian streets running down toward the Kennet), Kendrick (substantial Victorian villas in the Kendrick conservation area), South Park (terraces around the South Park conservation area) and Mount Pleasant (terraced streets on the higher ground south of the centre) — these are the Katesgrove pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Kendrick, South Park and Downshire Square. Reading Borough Council weighs each proposal against the Reading Borough Local Plan (2019), where the loss of family terraces to further flat or HMO conversion is resisted across the ward. Many Katesgrove terraces are already split into flats and HMOs, which carry no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is pitched and gabled roofs on the hillside terraces and valley roofs behind the larger Victorian houses, over Victorian red-brick terraces climbing Katesgrove Hill, converted flats and HMOs on the terraced streets and larger Victorian houses toward Kendrick and South Park.
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 the Reading Borough Local Plan (2019). Katesgrove is largely Victorian red-brick terraces climbing Katesgrove Hill, converted flats and HMOs on the terraced streets and larger Victorian houses toward Kendrick and South Park, 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 Kendrick and South Park, rear glazing is assessed on visibility from the street and on the effect on the rear elevation's character. Katesgrove ward is one of the three areas — with Park and Redlands — covered by Reading's HMO Article 4 direction, so changing a house to a small HMO here needs a planning application rather than relying on permitted-development rights.
Many conservatories are permitted development. You will need an application to Reading Borough 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 Reading Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Katesgrove approves most householder schemes, but as an Article 4 ward of tightly packed hillside terraces the balance between family houses and HMOs is what drives its harder decisions. Glazed rear additions are judged on depth, eaves height and how the glazing meets the existing elevation.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
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Across Katesgrove Hill, Silver Street and Elgar Road, 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 victorian red-brick terraces climbing katesgrove hill, 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.
The HMO Article 4 direction means a change of use is normally refused where HMOs already exceed 25 per cent within 50 metres. 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 Katesgrove. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Katesgrove Hill — steep Victorian terraces between Southampton Street and Elgar Road — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Silver Street — dense red-brick terraces near the town-centre edge — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Elgar Road — Victorian streets running down toward the Kennet — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Kendrick — substantial Victorian villas in the Kendrick conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for South Park — terraces around the South Park conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Mount Pleasant — terraced streets on the higher ground south of the centre — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough 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 Katesgrove postcode and house type. We confirm the Class A limits that apply, check designation status, and score your odds against live Reading Borough 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 Reading Borough 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 Katesgrove you will need an application to Reading Borough Council beyond those limits, and on designated land such as Kendrick and South Park.
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 Katesgrove address specifically. Reading Borough Council is the decision-maker.
For planning, none — both are rear extensions assessed against the same Class A limits by Reading Borough 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. This applies to your Katesgrove address specifically.
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 Katesgrove address specifically. Reading Borough 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 Katesgrove address specifically. Reading Borough 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 Reading Borough Council's planning decision. We flag it at design stage so the notice period does not delay the start on site. This applies to your Katesgrove address specifically.
We quote each Katesgrove 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 Reading Borough Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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