Back-of-house extension drawings for Hackney homes — the glazed kitchen-diner across the rear, drawn to Hackney Council's depth and daylight limits, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Hackney Council granted 89% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 2 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Parapet-fronted terraces mean rear roof extensions are scrutinised harder than the concealed front slope suggests, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837) and Victorian (1837–1901) 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. Hackney carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square and Stoke Newington Church Street remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Hackney is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
De Beauvoir Town (grid of early-Victorian villas inside a tightly protected conservation area), Stoke Newington (Georgian and Victorian frontages along Church Street with heavy heritage control), Clapton (Victorian terraces and squares around Clapton Square), London Fields (dense Victorian terraces framing the park), Dalston (mixed Victorian stock with warehouse conversions off the high street) and Shoreditch (former industrial and warehouse buildings turned residential) — these are the Hackney pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square, Stoke Newington Church Street, London Fields and Well Street Common. Hackney Council weighs each proposal against Hackney Local Plan 2033 (LP33) and the Development Management supplementary guidance, where warehouse conversions are read against the borough's employment-floorspace and character policies before residential gains are weighed. A large share of Hackney's terraces and warehouses are split into flats and maisonettes, none of which carry householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is London butterfly / valley roofs behind parapets and pitched slate roofs on the villas, over Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, later Victorian terraces and villas and warehouse and industrial conversions.
The rear extension is the workhorse of Hackney home improvement — it is how a dark back kitchen becomes an open family room facing the garden. Because the borough is built largely from Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, later Victorian terraces and villas and warehouse and industrial conversions, most back walls sit close to a neighbour on at least one side, and that proximity, not the design, is what Hackney Council scrutinises. The council reads the proposal against Hackney Local Plan 2033 (LP33) and the Development Management supplementary guidance, and the first line an officer draws is the 45-degree splay from the neighbour's nearest window.
So the drawings live or die on geometry. We set the depth against the exact permitted-development figure, hold the eaves and the flat-roof or lantern build-up under the 4-metre height ceiling, and show the projection tested against both the 45-degree plan angle and the 25-degree section angle to the neighbouring windows. Parapet-fronted terraces mean rear roof extensions are scrutinised harder than the concealed front slope suggests, so the rear elevation is composed around it rather than corrected after an objection.
Where the property sits in a conservation area — De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square, Stoke Newington Church Street, London Fields and Well Street Common among Hackney's — the larger-home extension route is switched off and even a modest rear addition needs consent. Hackney is one of London's most conservation-dense boroughs, and directions such as the one covering Stoke Newington strip out permitted-development rights for shopfronts, roof alterations and frontages, so nothing on those streets is automatic. We confirm the designation before the survey.
Many single-storey rear extensions in Hackney are permitted development and need no application. You will normally need to apply to Hackney Council, or use the larger-home prior-approval route, if any of these apply:
We draw the depth, the roof build-up and the daylight splays to each neighbour on the page — the tests Hackney Council's officers apply first — and submit a validation-complete pack, whether that is a lawful development certificate, a larger-home prior-approval notice or a full householder application.
Below is Hackney Council's real householder decision record, taken from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Hackney approves the large majority of householder applications, but the borough's dense web of conservation areas is the single biggest factor shaping what design will pass. Rear extensions turn most often on neighbour daylight and depth, so a drawing pack that proves those tests upfront is decided faster and refused less often than a DIY submission.
Source: MHCLG planning application statistics (householder decisions, rolling year). 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 De Beauvoir Town, Stoke Newington and Clapton, the approved rear extension is typically a single-storey glazed box within the depth limit, roofed either flat with a lantern or in a shallow mono-pitch, and finished in brick or render to match the host wall. On the borough's georgian and early-victorian terraces, keeping the projection to the permitted-development figure often avoids an application entirely; where owners want the full 6 metres, the larger-home route succeeds when the neighbour-consultation period passes without a sustained objection.
Warehouse conversions are read against the borough's employment-floorspace and character policies before residential gains are weighed. We keep the extension inside the daylight splays, set any glazed roof below the first-floor cill, and retain the garden depth Hackney Council expects — so the back elevation answers the amenity case before a neighbour can lodge one. Two-storey rear extensions we draw with the 7-metre boundary gap and privacy screening resolved on the plan.
We draw rear extensions on every street in the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where Hackney back-of-house projects come up most often:
Rear extension drawings for De Beauvoir Town's grid of early-Victorian villas inside a tightly protected conservation area — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Stoke Newington's Georgian and Victorian frontages along Church Street with heavy heritage control — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Clapton's Victorian terraces and squares around Clapton Square — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for London Fields's dense Victorian terraces framing the park — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Dalston's mixed Victorian stock with warehouse conversions off the high street — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Shoreditch's former industrial and warehouse buildings turned residential — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Hackney Council's guidance.
How far you can extend at the back in Hackney depends on your house type and the route you take. This is how the options compare.
| Route | Depth allowed | Consent needed | What Hackney Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard permitted development | 3m terrace/semi · 4m detached | Lawful development certificate (optional) | Depth, 4m height, materials |
| Larger-home prior approval | 6m terrace/semi · 8m detached | Prior-approval notice + neighbour consultation | Neighbour objections on amenity |
| Full householder application | Beyond the above, or two-storey | Full planning permission | Daylight (45°/25°), bulk, garden retained |
| Conservation area | Case by case | Full planning permission | Character, roof form, boundary treatment |
The larger-home route is switched off on designated land — conservation areas such as De Beauvoir Town and Clapton Square and Article 4 streets need a full application.
A fixed process built around how Hackney Council validates and decides rear-extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Hackney postcode and house type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, how much rear-extension depth you have under permitted development, and score your odds against live Hackney Council decisions.
We measure the original rear wall, floor and eaves levels, side and rear boundary distances and the neighbours' window positions — the numbers the depth limit and daylight splays depend on.
Chartered designers develop the single or two-storey rear extension to your brief, drawn inside the permitted-development limits or to Hackney Council's extension design guidance, with the daylight angles shown.
We submit the certificate, prior-approval notice or application, handle validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Hackney Council issues its decision.
Often not. A single-storey rear extension up to 3 metres deep on a terrace or semi, or 4 metres on a detached house, and no higher than 4 metres, is usually permitted development in Hackney. You will need to involve Hackney Council for anything deeper via the larger-home route, for two-storey rear extensions, and for any rear extension in a conservation area such as De Beauvoir Town and Clapton Square, where those permitted-development rights fall away.
The larger-home extension scheme lets a single-storey rear extension reach 6 metres on a terrace or semi, or 8 metres on a detached house — double the standard allowance. It is not automatic: you submit a prior-approval notification to Hackney Council, neighbours are consulted, and if one objects on amenity grounds the council rules on it. It also does not apply on designated land such as Hackney's conservation areas.
It is the daylight test Hackney Council applies to protect neighbours. Drawn on plan, a line at 45 degrees from the midpoint of the neighbour's nearest ground-floor window should not be crossed by your extension; a companion 25-degree line is checked in section. If the projection breaches it, the extension is likely to be shortened or refused, so we test and prove it on the drawings before submission.
A two-storey rear extension almost always needs a full householder application to Hackney Council, as it sits outside permitted development on most homes. The council checks that it stays at least 7 metres from the rear boundary, does not overbear the neighbours and avoids new overlooking. We resolve the boundary gap, privacy and daylight on the plans so the application is decided on its merits.
Frequently, yes. If the rear extension involves work to a shared wall, building up to the boundary, or excavating foundations near a neighbour's structure, the Party Wall etc. Act applies and you must serve notice — this is separate from Hackney Council's planning decision. We flag it early and can prepare the drawings a party-wall surveyor needs alongside the planning set.
We price each Hackney rear extension on its own footprint and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Hackney Council approves, and we confirm at the outset whether your extension is permitted development, needs prior approval, or a full application. Call 020 7864 7245 to begin.
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Same fixed quotes, same fast drawings — wherever your project is.