Back-of-house extension drawings for Tandridge homes — the glazed kitchen-diner across the rear, drawn to Tandridge District Council's depth and daylight limits, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Tandridge District Council granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. Metropolitan Green Belt covers around 94% of the district, one of the highest proportions in England, so the presumption against inappropriate development dominates decisions, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910), interwar (1918–1939) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Under Class B, a rear dormer stays permitted development up to 40m³ of added roof volume on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi-detached or detached house, while Class A allows a single-storey rear extension of 3m beyond the original rear wall on a terrace and 4m on a detached house before a full application is needed. Tandridge carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Oxted, Limpsfield and Godstone remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Tandridge is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Oxted (the principal town with railway-era Victorian and Edwardian housing, twentieth-century growth and a conservation area), Caterham (the district's largest settlement, dense Victorian-to-postwar housing across Caterham-on-the-Hill and the Valley), Warlingham (a hilltop commuter village of largely interwar and postwar detached houses and semis), Godstone (a historic green-belt village around a pond and green with a conservation area), Limpsfield (an affluent AONB-edge village of period and large detached stock with a conservation area) and Lingfield (a historic rural village with a medieval core and a conservation area) — these are the Tandridge pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Oxted, Limpsfield, Godstone, Bletchingley, Lingfield and Chaldon. Tandridge District Council weighs each proposal against the Tandridge District Core Strategy (adopted 2008) and Local Plan Part 2: Detailed Policies (adopted July 2014), where the Surrey Hills and High Weald National Landscapes (AONBs) affect the district around Limpsfield, Oxted and the south, adding national landscape protection. Converted flats appear around Oxted and Caterham, and none of them hold householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is dual-pitch tiled roofs on the railway-era terraces and villas and hipped roofs on the interwar and postwar semis, over Victorian and Edwardian and interwar railway-era housing in Oxted and Caterham, postwar suburban semis and detached houses, large detached houses on generous plots at Woldingham and Limpsfield and historic vernacular cottages in the green-belt villages of Godstone, Bletchingley and Lingfield.
The rear extension is the workhorse of Tandridge home improvement — it is how a dark back kitchen becomes an open family room facing the garden. Because the borough is built largely from Victorian and Edwardian and interwar railway-era housing in Oxted and Caterham, postwar suburban semis and detached houses, large detached houses on generous plots at Woldingham and Limpsfield and historic vernacular cottages in the green-belt villages of Godstone, Bletchingley and Lingfield, most back walls sit close to a neighbour on at least one side, and that proximity, not the design, is what Tandridge District Council scrutinises. The council reads the proposal against the Tandridge District Core Strategy (adopted 2008) and Local Plan Part 2: Detailed Policies (adopted July 2014), 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. Metropolitan Green Belt covers around 94% of the district, one of the highest proportions in England, so the presumption against inappropriate development dominates decisions, so the rear elevation is composed around it rather than corrected after an objection.
Where the property sits in a conservation area — Oxted, Limpsfield, Godstone, Bletchingley, Lingfield and Chaldon among Tandridge's — the larger-home extension route is switched off and even a modest rear addition needs consent. Tandridge has Article 4 directions removing permitted-development rights in parts of the district, which owners can check against the council's constraints map before assuming suburban PD rights, and its conservation areas such as Oxted, Limpsfield and Godstone add further character controls. We confirm the designation before the survey.
Many single-storey rear extensions in Tandridge are permitted development and need no application. You will normally need to apply to Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District Council's real householder decision record, taken from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Tandridge grants a fair share of applications broadly in line with the national picture, with overwhelming Green Belt coverage and AONB protection the pressures on anything beyond modest householder work. 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 Oxted, Caterham and Warlingham, 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 victorian and edwardian and interwar railway-era housing in oxted and caterham, 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 Surrey Hills and High Weald National Landscapes (AONBs) affect the district around Limpsfield, Oxted and the south, adding national landscape protection. We keep the extension inside the daylight splays, set any glazed roof below the first-floor cill, and retain the garden depth Tandridge District 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 Tandridge back-of-house projects come up most often:
Rear extension drawings for Oxted's the principal town with railway-era Victorian and Edwardian housing, twentieth-century growth and a conservation area — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Caterham's the district's largest settlement, dense Victorian-to-postwar housing across Caterham-on-the-Hill and the Valley — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Warlingham's a hilltop commuter village of largely interwar and postwar detached houses and semis — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Godstone's a historic green-belt village around a pond and green with a conservation area — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Limpsfield's an affluent AONB-edge village of period and large detached stock with a conservation area — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
Rear extension drawings for Lingfield's a historic rural village with a medieval core and a conservation area — depth-checked, daylight-tested and drawn to Tandridge District Council's guidance.
How far you can extend at the back in Tandridge depends on your house type and the route you take. This is how the options compare.
| Route | Depth allowed | Consent needed | What Tandridge District 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 Oxted and Limpsfield and Article 4 streets need a full application.
A fixed process built around how Tandridge District Council validates and decides rear-extension applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Tandridge 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge. You will need to involve Tandridge District 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 Oxted and Limpsfield, 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge's conservation areas.
It is the daylight test Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge District 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 Tandridge 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 Tandridge District 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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