Chartered planning drawings prepared for Hillingdon Council — extensions, lofts and conversions on the borough's Metroland semis and suburban avenues, drawn to the council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until you have a decision.
Hillingdon is the second-largest London borough by area — a long ribbon of West London running from Northwood and Harefield in the north, down through the classic Metroland suburbs of Ruislip, Eastcote and Ickenham, past Uxbridge's civic and town centre to Hayes, West Drayton and Heathrow in the south. Much of it was built between the wars, when the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines pushed out from Baker Street and the fields filled with bay-fronted semis on generous plots. That inheritance shapes how the council reads a planning application today: street rhythm, matched pairs of semis and the openness of front gardens all weigh in a case officer's assessment against the Hillingdon Local Plan and its Residential Extensions SPD.
We prepare architectural drawings across Hillingdon regularly, so we know what the council's validation team expects to see and where its officers push back — the 45-degree line to a neighbour's habitable window, the terracing effect on a semi-detached street, an overbearing flank close to a boundary. Every pack is drawn to the borough's design guidance from the first line — existing and proposed floor plans, elevations on all affected sides, a site location plan and block plan, each at a recognised metric scale with a scale bar and paper size stated.
Because we track live decision data for Hillingdon, we can tell you before you spend anything whether your project looks like an approval or needs reshaping. And if the planners push back, revisions are free until you have a decision — you never pay twice to get to yes.
Before you commit to a project, it helps to know how Hillingdon Council actually decides. The figures below come straight from official planning statistics for the borough — and they show why a professionally prepared, policy-compliant drawing pack matters. Most refusals in Hillingdon trace back to design and amenity objections that good drawings anticipate: side extensions that create a terracing effect between detached and semi-detached houses, dormers that dominate a hipped roof, and overbearing two-storey additions close to a boundary. We design against those objections before submission, which is how our clients consistently land on the right side of the numbers.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, rolling year). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
Many home projects in Hillingdon do not need planning permission — the borough's generous interwar plots mean single-storey rear extensions, most loft conversions and outbuildings often fall comfortably within permitted development limits. You will usually need a full application to Hillingdon Council if any of the following apply:
A hip-to-gable loft in Ruislip, a wraparound in Ickenham, a two-storey side extension in Hayes — we draw to the way Hillingdon's case officers actually read a scheme: street pair first, boundary gaps respected, amenity answered on the page.
Hillingdon's validation checklist is strict about scales and completeness. Every pack we prepare for the borough includes:
Every affected floor at 1:100 or 1:50, dimensioned and labelled, so the officer can see exactly what changes and what stays.
All elevations altered by the work, with materials annotated — matching brick, render and tile detail matters on the borough's interwar street pairs.
OS-based, with the site edged red and any other land you control edged blue, on a recognised paper size with a north point.
Showing the proposal against boundaries and neighbouring houses — the key exhibit where side-boundary gaps and the terracing effect are in play.
Loft conversions and dormers in Hillingdon are usually asked for a roof plan and a section showing head heights and dormer set-backs on the hipped interwar roofs.
In conservation areas such as Ruislip Village or Harefield, a short design and heritage statement; in the Green Belt, a proportionality justification for the addition.
The borough's signature project is the interwar-semi makeover: a hip-to-gable and rear-dormer loft conversion upstairs, a wraparound or rear extension downstairs, often with a garage conversion folded in. The generous plots of Ruislip, Eastcote, Ickenham and Northwood make these schemes very achievable — but the council's officers are attentive to the two things that Metroland streets depend on: the matched roofline of a semi-detached pair, and the gaps between houses that stop a street reading as a continuous terrace. In the Ruislip Village conservation area — designated in 1969 as one of the first in the borough and extended in 2009 to take in the High Street and neighbouring suburbs — that scrutiny of materials and roofscape is tighter still.
That is why side extensions in Hillingdon are usually expected to set back from the front elevation and hold a gap to the boundary, and why a hip-to-gable that unbalances its twin will attract comment. We detail set-downs, set-backs and matching materials so the pair still reads as one composition, and run the 45-degree and 25-degree amenity tests against the affected neighbours before submission — answering the objection before it is raised.
Two further constraints are distinctly local. Substantial parts of the borough's north and west — around Harefield, Ruislip and Northwood — lie in the Metropolitan Green Belt, where extensions are judged as proportionate additions to the original house. And in the south, around Heathrow, Hayes and West Drayton, aircraft noise contours can bring sound-insulation expectations for new bedrooms. Neither is a blocker — both are simply things the drawing pack should address on day one rather than in a validation bounce-back.
Tell us your postcode and project. We score the odds against live Hillingdon decision data and flag conservation-area, Article 4 or Green Belt constraints on your street.
We measure the property and produce accurate existing plans and elevations — the baseline Hillingdon's validation team checks first.
Chartered designers draw the scheme to Hillingdon's design guidance, answering terracing-effect, roofline and amenity points on the page.
We submit via the Planning Portal, handle validation queries and liaise with your case officer through the eight-week determination period.
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.
Hillingdon Council decides householder applications for Hillingdon, and its recent record and the permitted-development limits that apply here set out below give Uxbridge homeowners a realistic starting point before any drawing begins.
| Measure | Figure for Hillingdon |
|---|---|
| Hillingdon Council householder approval rate | 84% |
| England-wide householder benchmark | 87% |
| Loft dormer permitted-development limit (Class B) | 40m³ terrace / 50m³ semi or detached |
| Single-storey rear extension depth (Class A) | 3m terrace / 4m detached |
| Dominant housing era | Edwardian (1901–1910), interwar (1918–1939) and postwar (1945–1970) |
| Statutory decision period | 8 weeks |
| Conservation / Article 4 status | Article 4 direction in force; PD removed in Old Uxbridge, Harefield Village and Ickenham Village |
Hillingdon runs 3 points below the national average. Approval rate: MHCLG householder planning statistics for Hillingdon Council; permitted-development limits: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 (Classes A–B).
The statutory period is eight weeks from validation, and most straightforward householder applications in Hillingdon are decided within it. Green Belt or conservation-area cases can take longer, and complex cases may be extended by agreement. We monitor the application throughout and respond quickly to any case-officer queries so the clock keeps moving.
Usually not — most loft conversions on Hillingdon's interwar semis fall under permitted development if the dormer sits on the rear slope, stays within the volume allowance and is set back from the eaves. You will need permission in conservation areas such as Ruislip Village, on flats, or where earlier conditions removed roof PD rights. Hip-to-gable schemes merit careful detailing either way.
Hillingdon's suburban character depends on visible gaps between detached and semi-detached houses. A side extension built hard to the boundary can make a street read as a continuous terrace, so the council typically expects side extensions to hold a gap and set back from the front elevation. We design and draw to those expectations from the start.
Usually yes, within limits. Substantial parts of northern and western Hillingdon lie in the Green Belt, where extensions are assessed as proportionate additions to the original house rather than under standard suburban policy. The drawings need to demonstrate the scale relationship clearly, and we include a short justification with the application where needed.
A householder application in Hillingdon needs existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:100 or 1:50, a site location plan at 1:1250 with the site edged red, and a block plan. Loft schemes usually add a roof plan and section, and Green Belt or conservation-area schemes add a short supporting statement. Our packs include everything the validation checklist asks for.
Most Hillingdon refusals are resolved by targeted amendment — setting a side extension back further, reducing a dormer, holding a wider gap to the boundary. We revise the drawings free of charge and resubmit; a repeat householder application within twelve months of refusal usually attracts no further council fee.
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