Sutton Council granted 589 of the 635 householder applications it decided last year and determined 97% of them within eight weeks. We prepare the drawings that keep an application in that majority.
Sutton refused 46 householder applications all year, and approved 589. The table sets the borough against the England benchmark on the four measures that decide how a householder project goes, all drawn from the same MHCLG return for the same four quarters.
| Measure | Sutton | England |
|---|---|---|
| Householder applications decided | 635 | 151,867 |
| Householder approval rate | 92.8% | 90.3% |
| Determined within 8 weeks | 97.0% | — |
| Householder appeals allowed | 42.5% | 34.4% |
| Large householder extension prior approvals refused | 25.2% | — |
Approval, speed and prior-approval figures: MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1/PS2), financial year 2025-26. Appeal figures: Planning Inspectorate casework, five years to 30 June 2026 — 54 of 127 determined householder appeals allowed. Derived in scripts/aggregate/.
A 92.8% approval rate sounds like a formality, and for a well-drawn rear extension on an interwar semi it very nearly is. But the rate counts decisions, not attempts: applications withdrawn before determination, and schemes an agent quietly redesigns after a case officer's first email, never appear in it.
The more revealing figure sits underneath. Sutton determined 97.0% of its non-agreement householder cases within eight weeks — 578 of 596. A council working that close to the statutory clock has little appetite for chasing missing information, and an invalid submission loses you the whole cycle rather than a week.
The refusal side is small but not empty: 46 householder refusals in the year. Where an application does fail and the applicant appeals, Sutton is a comparatively good place to be. The Planning Inspectorate allowed 42.5% of Sutton householder appeals over the last five years — 54 of 127 — against 34.4% nationally. That gap of 8.1 points suggests refusals here are more often arguable than absolute.
40.8% of Sutton's 85,950 dwellings were built between 1919 and 1939 — a higher concentration of interwar housing than almost any inner-London borough can show. That single fact shapes most householder work here: bay-fronted semis on generous plots, hipped roofs that suit a hip-to-gable conversion, and side gaps wide enough that a two-storey side extension is worth testing before anyone assumes it is not.
Many Sutton projects do not: a single-storey rear extension within the permitted development limits, a rear-dormer loft inside the volume allowance, and most garage conversions proceed without a planning application. You will need one if any of the following applies.
The prior approval route lets a single-storey rear extension run to 6m on an attached house or 8m on a detached one, well beyond the ordinary Class A limits. It is not a planning application: the council notifies your adjoining neighbours, and if none objects within 21 days the extension proceeds.
It is also the route where Sutton says no most often. Of 139 large householder extension prior approvals the council decided in 2025-26, 35 were refused — a refusal rate of 25.2%. That is roughly one in four, against a householder planning refusal rate of one in fourteen.
The reason is structural rather than aesthetic. A prior approval is decided on neighbour amenity alone, so a single sustained objection about light or outlook can end it, where a full application would have allowed the council to negotiate a reduction. Where a plot is tight or a neighbour is likely to object, a full application at a slightly smaller depth is frequently the faster route to a built extension.
Sutton's stock is unusually consistent: two in five homes went up between the wars, and only one in eight predates 1919. That mix decides which permitted development route most Sutton projects take before any design question is asked.
| Build period | Share of Sutton homes | What it usually means for a project |
|---|---|---|
| Before 1919 | 13.2% | Victorian and Edwardian terraces, concentrated in the older centres — the stock most likely to sit inside a conservation area |
| 1919 to 1939 | 40.8% | Bay-fronted interwar semis on wide plots: hipped roofs that suit hip-to-gable lofts, and side gaps worth testing for a two-storey side extension |
| 1945 to 1972 | 14.3% | Post-war semis and terraces, generally with the deepest rear gardens in the borough and the fewest constraints on a rear extension |
| 1973 onwards | 31.7% | Later estates and infill, where plot coverage is tighter and the original-house measurement matters most |
Shares of the 85,950 Sutton dwellings with a known build period. Source: Valuation Office Agency, council tax stock of properties (CTSOP4.1), as at 31 March 2025. The published bands have a genuine gap over 1940-1944.
Every step exists to protect the eight-week clock. Sutton validates quickly and decides quickly; the risk is not refusal, it is a submission that never becomes valid.
We confirm whether the property sits in one of the borough's 15 conservation areas, whether an Article 4 direction has been recorded against it, and which permitted development route your project actually qualifies for — before anything is drawn.
An accurate survey of the existing building, because Class A and Class B allowances are measured from the original house. On an interwar Sutton semi that has already gained a small rear addition, this is usually the step that decides which route is open.
Floor plans, elevations, sections, a site plan and a location plan at the scales Sutton's validation list requires — the pack the case officer needs in order to say yes without coming back to you.
We submit, answer the officer's questions, and revise the drawings free of charge until Sutton issues its decision.
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.
Sutton's householder approval rate as MHCLG publishes it, quarter by quarter, next to the figure for England as a whole.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, England, 1 April 2025 - 31 March 2026). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
Sutton Council granted 92.8% of the householder planning applications it decided in the 2025-26 financial year — 589 of 635 — against an England-wide average of 90.3%. Only 46 householder applications were refused in the whole year. The figure covers decisions on extensions, loft conversions and other alterations to houses, and comes from the MHCLG district planning application statistics that every English council reports quarterly.
The statutory period for a householder application is eight weeks from validation, and Sutton meets it more reliably than most: 97.0% of its householder decisions in 2025-26 landed inside eight weeks, 578 of 596 cases once planning performance agreements and extensions of time are set aside. In practice the clock starts only when the application is valid, so an incomplete drawing pack costs you more time than the council's own processing ever will.
Often not. A single-storey rear extension on a house — not a flat — can be built under permitted development if it projects no more than 3m from the original rear wall on a semi-detached or terraced property, or 4m on a detached one, stays within 4m in height, and uses materials similar to the existing house. Going deeper than that, up to 6m or 8m, needs prior approval rather than full permission. Conservation-area properties and homes that have already been extended are the two cases where the answer most often changes.
Fifteen conservation areas are recorded for the London Borough of Sutton in the national planning data register. Inside one, the council's control tightens considerably: side and front extensions, roof alterations, new windows and cladding that would be permitted development elsewhere may all require an application, and the design will be assessed against the character of the area rather than against the house alone. Checking your specific address is the only reliable way to know, because boundaries frequently run down the middle of a street.
No Article 4 direction has been recorded for Sutton in the national planning data register. That is not the same as a guarantee that none exists — the register depends on each council uploading its own directions, and absence there means not recorded rather than not in force. Because an Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights outright, we verify the position with Sutton Council for your specific address before advising that a project can proceed without an application.
Better than average. The Planning Inspectorate allowed 42.5% of householder appeals against Sutton decisions over the five years to 30 June 2026 — 54 appeals allowed of 127 determined — compared with 34.4% across England. An appeal takes several months and is decided on the same policies the council applied, so it is not a way around a genuinely unacceptable scheme. But a Sutton refusal is more often arguable than a refusal elsewhere, and it is usually worth a considered second look before redesigning.
Because the larger home extension route is decided on one thing only. Sutton refused 35 of the 139 large householder extension prior approvals it determined in 2025-26 — 25.2%, about one in four, against roughly one in fourteen for ordinary householder applications. Prior approval turns entirely on the impact on neighbouring amenity, so a single sustained objection about loss of light or outlook can end it, where a full planning application would have given the council room to negotiate. On a tight plot, a slightly shallower full application is often the faster path to a built extension.
Usually yes, on a house. A rear dormer or hip-to-gable conversion falls under permitted development if the added volume stays within 40m³ on a terraced house or 50m³ on a semi-detached or detached one, no part rises above the existing ridge, and the dormer sits on the rear or side roof slope rather than the front. Sutton's interwar semis, which make up much of the borough's stock, tend to suit hip-to-gable work particularly well. Flats have no such rights and always need an application.
The whole borough — Sutton town centre, Carshalton, Cheam, Wallington, Worcester Park, Belmont, Beddington, Hackbridge and the surrounding streets. Every householder application in the borough is decided by the same authority against the same local plan, so the process is identical wherever you are; what changes street by street is conservation-area status and how much a neighbour's outlook constrains a rear extension.
A householder application needs existing and proposed floor plans and elevations, a site or block plan showing the property in its plot, and a location plan at 1:1250 with the site outlined in red. Sections are usually needed for loft conversions and anything altering roof height. Every drawing must be to a stated metric scale and carry a north point on the plans. Sutton publishes its own validation list, and a pack that misses an item on it is not refused — it simply never becomes valid, which is the slower and more expensive outcome.
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