Orangery and conservatory drawings for Old Harlow homes — checked against the Class A rear limits and the 30m² building-regulations exemption, drawn to Harlow District Council's guidance and revised free until your decision.
Harlow District Council granted 79% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Old Harlow contains Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury conservation areas (Churchgate Street designated 1969), 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.
The permitted-development ceilings are fixed: 40m³ of new roof volume for a terraced loft and 50m³ for a semi or detached house under Class B, plus a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house under Class A. Old Harlow carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate and Harlowbury remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Old Harlow is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Churchgate Street (conservation area designated in 1969), Harlow Garden Village Estate (conservation area designated in 2013), Harlowbury (conservation area designated in 1994) and Old Harlow (conservation area designated in 1969) — these are the Old Harlow pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury and Old Harlow. Harlow District Council weighs each proposal against Harlow District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 4,050 homes here are 13% 1973-1982, 11% 1945-1954, 9% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building, over 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%).
Before anything is drawn we check your address against the designations that apply in Old Harlow: Churchgate Street (conservation area designated in 1969), Harlow Garden Village Estate (conservation area designated in 2013), Harlowbury (conservation area designated in 1994) and Old Harlow (conservation area designated in 1969). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Harlow District 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.
Harlow District Council has 14 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and other roof alterations, including rooflights — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Harlow.
On stock, Old Harlow is 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%) — which is why shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building and simple gabled and hipped roofs typical of early postwar building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Harlow District Council decided 149 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 79%, with 67% issued inside the eight-week target. That decision record, not a national figure, is what we design to.
The full build-period split for Old Harlow runs pre-1900 7% (300 homes), 1900-1918 2% (70 homes), 1919-1929 2% (90 homes), 1930-1939 3% (130 homes), 1945-1954 11% (450 homes), 1955-1964 7% (280 homes), 1965-1972 9% (370 homes), 1973-1982 13% (510 homes), 1983-1992 5% (210 homes), 1993-1999 3% (140 homes) and 2000-2008 2% (70 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.
Harlow District Council also decides for Bush Fair and Mark Hall, so a decision in Old Harlow 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.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1 to 56 Morley Grove, 57 to 99 Morley Grove, Churchgate Street and Field House and Goodman House (Burnt Mill Industrial Estate). Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for Old Harlow and Harlow District Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Old Harlow |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 4,050 |
| Built pre-1900 | 300 (7%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 70 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 90 (2%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 130 (3%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 450 (11%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 280 (7%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 370 (9%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 510 (13%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 210 (5%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 140 (3%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 70 (2%) |
| Built before 1919 | 9% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 5% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 50% |
| Conservation areas in Old Harlow | 4 (Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 10 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 14 |
| Householder applications decided | 149 |
| Householder applications granted | 79% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 67% |
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 Harlow District 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 Harlow District Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance. Old Harlow is largely 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 homes), early postwar houses (11%) and late-1960s and early-1970s 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 Churchgate Street and Harlow Garden Village Estate, rear glazing is assessed on visibility from the street and on the effect on the rear elevation's character. Harlow District Council has 14 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions and other roof alterations, including rooflights — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Harlow.
Many conservatories are permitted development. You will need an application to Harlow District 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 Harlow District Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Harlow District Council granted 79% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Churchgate Street 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 Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate and Harlowbury, 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 1970s and early-1980s houses (13% of 4,050 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.
Old Harlow contains Churchgate Street, Harlow Garden Village Estate, Harlowbury conservation areas (Churchgate Street designated 1969), 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 Old Harlow. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Churchgate Street — conservation area designated in 1969 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Harlow District Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Harlow Garden Village Estate — conservation area designated in 2013 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Harlow District Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Harlowbury — conservation area designated in 1994 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Harlow District Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Old Harlow — conservation area designated in 1969 — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Harlow District 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 Old Harlow postcode and house type. We confirm the Class A limits that apply, check designation status, and score your odds against live Harlow District 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 Harlow District 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 Old Harlow you will need an application to Harlow District Council beyond those limits, and on designated land such as Churchgate Street and Harlow Garden Village Estate.
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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District Council is the decision-maker.
For planning, none — both are rear extensions assessed against the same Class A limits by Harlow District 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 Old Harlow 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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District 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 Old Harlow address specifically. Harlow District 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 Harlow District 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 Old Harlow address specifically.
We quote each Old Harlow 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 Harlow District Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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