Back-of-house extension drawings for Old Town homes — the glazed kitchen-diner across the rear, drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's depth and daylight limits, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Stevenage Borough Council granted 96% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 9 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Old Town contains Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area conservation areas (Old Town High Street Conservation Area 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 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. Old Town carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Old Town is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Old Town High Street (conservation area designated in 1969) and Orchard Road (conservation area designated in 2007) — these are the Old Town pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area. Stevenage Borough Council weighs each proposal against Stevenage Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 2,090 homes here are 21% 2000-2008, 11% pre-1900, 11% 1900-1918, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building, over 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%).
What is permitted in Old Town turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Old Town High Street (conservation area designated in 1969) and Orchard Road (conservation area designated in 2007). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Stevenage Borough 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.
Stevenage Borough Council has 127 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Town.
On stock, Old Town is 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%) — which is why trussed-rafter roofs typical of 2000s building and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Stevenage Borough Council decided 133 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 96%, with 81% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Old Town runs pre-1900 11% (230 homes), 1900-1918 11% (230 homes), 1919-1929 6% (120 homes), 1930-1939 4% (80 homes), 1945-1954 1% (20 homes), 1955-1964 9% (180 homes), 1965-1972 11% (230 homes), 1973-1982 7% (140 homes), 1983-1992 3% (70 homes), 1993-1999 4% (90 homes) and 2000-2008 21% (440 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.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1 VIEWPOINT Babbage Road Stevenage SG1 2EQ, 10 Eastman Way SG1 4SZ, 2 Viewpoint Babbage Road Stevenage SG1 2EQ and 3 Parsons Green Estate Boulton Road Stevenage SG1 4QG. 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 Town and Stevenage Borough 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 Town |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 2,090 |
| Built pre-1900 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 120 (6%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 80 (4%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 180 (9%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 230 (11%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 140 (7%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 70 (3%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 90 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 440 (21%) |
| Built before 1919 | 22% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 10% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 56% |
| Conservation areas in Old Town | 2 (Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 7 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 127 |
| Householder applications decided | 133 |
| Householder applications granted | 96% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 81% |
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 Stevenage Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
The rear extension is the workhorse of Old Town home improvement — it is how a dark back kitchen becomes an open family room facing the garden. Because the borough is built largely from 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (11%) and Edwardian houses (11%), most back walls sit close to a neighbour on at least one side, and that proximity, not the design, is what Stevenage Borough Council scrutinises. The council reads the proposal against Stevenage Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, 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. Old Town contains Old Town High Street Conservation Area, Orchard Road Conservation Area conservation areas (Old Town High Street Conservation Area designated 1969), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so the rear elevation is composed around it rather than corrected after an objection.
Where the property sits in a conservation area — Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area among Old Town's — the larger-home extension route is switched off and even a modest rear addition needs consent. Stevenage Borough Council has 127 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in Old Town. We confirm the designation before the survey.
Many single-storey rear extensions in Old Town are permitted development and need no application. You will normally need to apply to Stevenage Borough 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 Stevenage Borough 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 Stevenage Borough Council's real householder decision record, taken from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Stevenage Borough Council granted 96% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Old Town High Street Conservation Area shapes what is approved here. 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, 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 Old Town High Street and Orchard Road, 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 2000s houses and apartments (21% of 2,090 homes), 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.
The 2,090 homes here are 21% 2000-2008, 11% pre-1900, 11% 1900-1918, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. We keep the extension inside the daylight splays, set any glazed roof below the first-floor cill, and retain the garden depth Stevenage Borough 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 Old Town back-of-house projects come up most often:
Rear extension drawings for Old Town High Street's conservation area designated in 1969 — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Orchard Road's conservation area designated in 2007 — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Stevenage Borough Council's guidance.
How far you can extend at the back in Old Town depends on your house type and the route you take. This is how the options compare.
| Route | Depth allowed | Consent needed | What Stevenage Borough 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 Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area and Article 4 streets need a full application.
A fixed process built around how Stevenage Borough Council validates and decides rear-extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Old Town 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 Stevenage Borough 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 Stevenage Borough 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 Stevenage Borough 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 Old Town. You will need to involve Stevenage Borough 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 Old Town High Street Conservation Area and Orchard Road Conservation Area, 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 Stevenage Borough 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 Old Town's conservation areas.
It is the daylight test Stevenage Borough 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. This applies to your Old Town address specifically.
A two-storey rear extension almost always needs a full householder application to Stevenage Borough 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. This applies to your Old Town address specifically.
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 Stevenage Borough Council's planning decision. We flag it early and can prepare the drawings a party-wall surveyor needs alongside the planning set. This applies to your Old Town address specifically.
We price each Old Town 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 Stevenage Borough 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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