Orangery and conservatory drawings for Redlands 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 planning permission is normally refused where a new HMO would push the share of HMOs within a 50-metre radius above 25 per cent, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901) and Edwardian (1901–1910) 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. Redlands carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Redlands, Kendrick and Christchurch remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Redlands is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Redlands (grand Victorian villas heavily converted to flats and HMOs), University (Whiteknights) (student rentals around the Whiteknights campus), Erleigh Road (long red-brick Victorian terraces east of the centre), Kendrick (substantial Victorian houses in the Kendrick conservation area), Christchurch (Victorian and Edwardian streets in the Christchurch conservation area) and London Road (villas around the university's historic London Road campus) — these are the Redlands pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Redlands, Kendrick, Christchurch and Alexandra Road. Reading Borough Council weighs each proposal against the Reading Borough Local Plan (2019), where converting family houses to further flats or student rooms is resisted and is frequently the deciding issue. Much of Redlands is already converted flats, HMOs and student housing, which hold no householder permitted-development rights of their own.. On roofs the borough is pitched and gabled roofs on the villas and terraces and valley roofs behind the larger Victorian houses, over large Victorian and Edwardian villas subdivided into flats and HMOs, red-brick Victorian terraces off the London and Erleigh roads and student and rented housing around the university.
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). Redlands is largely large Victorian and Edwardian villas subdivided into flats and HMOs, red-brick Victorian terraces off the London and Erleigh roads and student and rented housing around the university, 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 Redlands and Kendrick, rear glazing is assessed on visibility from the street and on the effect on the rear elevation's character. Redlands ward sits inside Reading's HMO Article 4 direction, in force since 2013, which removes the automatic right to change a house (C3) to a small house in multiple occupation (C4) in this student-heavy area next to the University of Reading.
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. Redlands grants a solid share of householder applications, but as the borough's densest student-HMO belt it is where the Article 4 direction and the protection of remaining family houses shape most refusals. 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 Redlands, University (Whiteknights) and Erleigh 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 large victorian and edwardian villas subdivided into flats and hmos, 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 planning permission is normally refused where a new HMO would push the share of HMOs within a 50-metre radius above 25 per cent. 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 Redlands. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Redlands — grand Victorian villas heavily converted to flats and HMOs — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for University (Whiteknights) — student rentals around the Whiteknights campus — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Erleigh Road — long red-brick Victorian terraces east of the centre — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Kendrick — substantial Victorian houses in the Kendrick conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for Christchurch — Victorian and Edwardian streets in the Christchurch conservation area — checked against the Class A limits and drawn to Reading Borough Council's guidance.
Orangery and conservatory drawings for London Road — villas around the university's historic London Road campus — 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 Redlands 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 Redlands you will need an application to Reading Borough Council beyond those limits, and on designated land such as Redlands and Kendrick.
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 Redlands 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 Redlands 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 Redlands 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 Redlands 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 Redlands address specifically.
We quote each Redlands 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.
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.