Orangery and conservatory drawings for Meopham South & Vigo homes — checked against the Class A rear limits and the 30m² building-regulations exemption, drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance and revised free until your decision.
Gravesham Borough Council granted 78% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 9 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Meopham South & Vigo contains Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area, The Street, Meopham Conservation Area conservation areas (Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area designated 1970), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant postwar (1945–1970) 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. In conservation areas such as Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area and The Street, Meopham Conservation Area those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Meopham South & Vigo is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Harvel, Meopham (conservation area designated in 1970), The Street, Meopham (conservation area designated in 1975), Meopham (civil parish within Meopham South & Vigo) and Vigo (civil parish within Meopham South & Vigo) — these are the Meopham South & Vigo pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area and The Street, Meopham Conservation Area. Gravesham Borough Council weighs each proposal against Gravesham Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 1,790 homes here are 34% 1965-1972, 25% 1973-1982, 9% 1955-1964, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, over late-1960s and early-1970s houses (34% of 1,790 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (25%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%).
What is permitted in Meopham South & Vigo turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Harvel, Meopham (conservation area designated in 1970) and The Street, Meopham (conservation area designated in 1975). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Gravesham Borough Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.
Beyond the designated areas, Meopham South & Vigo takes in Meopham and Vigo. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Gravesham Borough Council, but Meopham South & Vigo's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
On stock, Meopham South & Vigo is late-1960s and early-1970s houses (34% of 1,790 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (25%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%) — which is why shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Gravesham Borough Council decided 400 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 78%, with 72% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Meopham South & Vigo runs pre-1900 4% (80 homes), 1900-1918 2% (30 homes), 1919-1929 2% (30 homes), 1930-1939 3% (50 homes), 1945-1954 2% (40 homes), 1955-1964 9% (170 homes), 1965-1972 34% (610 homes), 1973-1982 25% (440 homes), 1983-1992 3% (50 homes), 1993-1999 4% (80 homes) and 2000-2008 8% (140 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.
Gravesham Borough Council also decides for Higham & Shorne, Meopham North, Pelham and Town, so a decision in Meopham South & Vigo sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.
Published figures for Meopham South & Vigo and Gravesham Borough Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Meopham South & Vigo |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 1,790 |
| Built pre-1900 | 80 (4%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 50 (3%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 40 (2%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 170 (9%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 610 (34%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 440 (25%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 50 (3%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 80 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 140 (8%) |
| Built before 1919 | 6% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 4% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 85% |
| Conservation areas in Meopham South & Vigo | 2 (Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area, The Street, Meopham Conservation Area) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 23 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 0 |
| Householder applications decided | 400 |
| Householder applications granted | 78% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 72% |
Dwelling stock from VOA council-tax data at 31 March 2025; conservation-area and Article 4 counts from planning.data.gov.uk (MHCLG); decision figures are Gravesham Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
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 Gravesham Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance. Meopham South & Vigo is largely late-1960s and early-1970s houses (34% of 1,790 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (25%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (9%), 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 Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area and The Street, Meopham Conservation Area, rear glazing is assessed on visibility from the street and on the effect on the rear elevation's character. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Gravesham Borough Council, but Meopham South & Vigo's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
Many conservatories are permitted development. You will need an application to Gravesham 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 Gravesham Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Gravesham Borough Council granted 78% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area shapes what is approved here. 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.
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 Harvel, Meopham, The Street, Meopham and Meopham, 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 late-1960s and early-1970s houses (34% of 1,790 homes), 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.
Meopham South & Vigo contains Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area, The Street, Meopham Conservation Area conservation areas (Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area designated 1970), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal. 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 Meopham South & Vigo. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Harvel, Meopham — conservation area designated in 1970 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for The Street, Meopham — conservation area designated in 1975 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Meopham — civil parish within Meopham South & Vigo — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Vigo — civil parish within Meopham South & Vigo — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Gravesham 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 Meopham South & Vigo postcode and house type. We confirm the Class A limits that apply, check designation status, and score your odds against live Gravesham 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 Gravesham 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 Meopham South & Vigo you will need an application to Gravesham Borough Council beyond those limits, and on designated land such as Harvel, Meopham Conservation Area and The Street, Meopham Conservation Area.
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 Meopham South & Vigo address specifically. Gravesham Borough Council is the decision-maker.
For planning, none — both are rear extensions assessed against the same Class A limits by Gravesham 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 Meopham South & Vigo 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 Meopham South & Vigo address specifically. Gravesham 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 Meopham South & Vigo address specifically. Gravesham 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 Gravesham 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 Meopham South & Vigo address specifically.
We quote each Meopham South & Vigo 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 Gravesham Borough Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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