Side-return infill drawings for Commons terraces — the glazed extension that fills the redundant side alley and opens up the kitchen, drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council granted 88% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 1 point above the 87% England-wide householder average. Commons contains Christchurch Hospital, Hurn conservation areas (Christchurch Hospital designated 1991), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant 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. In conservation areas such as Christchurch Hospital and Hurn those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Commons is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Christchurch Hospital (conservation area designated in 1991), Hurn (conservation area designated in 1991), Christchurch (civil parish within Commons), Hurn (civil parish within Commons) and Throop and Holdenhurst (civil parish within Commons) — these are the Commons pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Christchurch Hospital and Hurn. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council weighs each proposal against Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 4,540 homes here are 22% 1930-1939, 18% 1973-1982, 10% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is hipped roofs with shallow pitches typical of 1930s building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, over 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (22% of 4,540 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (18%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (10%).
Commons's designated heritage is specific, and it is the first thing we check against your address: Christchurch Hospital (conservation area designated in 1991) and Hurn (conservation area designated in 1991). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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.
Beyond the designated areas, Commons takes in Christchurch, Hurn and Throop and Holdenhurst. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, but Commons's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
On stock, Commons is 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (22% of 4,540 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (18%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (10%) — which is why hipped roofs with shallow pitches typical of 1930s building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council decided 1,206 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 88%, with 44% issued inside the eight-week target. Those are the numbers our drawings are prepared against.
The full build-period split for Commons runs pre-1900 2% (110 homes), 1900-1918 3% (130 homes), 1919-1929 6% (260 homes), 1930-1939 22% (1,020 homes), 1945-1954 6% (270 homes), 1955-1964 9% (430 homes), 1965-1972 10% (440 homes), 1973-1982 18% (810 homes), 1983-1992 4% (170 homes), 1993-1999 6% (270 homes) and 2000-2008 4% (180 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.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council also decides for Bearwood & Merley, Boscombe West, Bournemouth Central, Broadstone, Burton & Grange, Canford Cliffs, Christchurch Town and Highcliffe & Walkford, so a decision in Commons sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.
Published figures for Commons and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Commons |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 4,540 |
| Built pre-1900 | 110 (2%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 130 (3%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 260 (6%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 1,020 (22%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 270 (6%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 430 (9%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 440 (10%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 810 (18%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 170 (4%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 270 (6%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 180 (4%) |
| Built before 1919 | 5% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 28% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 57% |
| Conservation areas in Commons | 2 (Christchurch Hospital, Hurn) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 48 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 0 |
| Householder applications decided | 1,206 |
| Householder applications granted | 88% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 44% |
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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
The side return is the classic terrace fix, and Commons has the stock for it — the borough is built largely from 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (22% of 4,540 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (18%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (10%), and the Victorian and Edwardian versions almost all have an L-shaped back addition with a wasted alley beside it. Fill that alley and the dark galley kitchen becomes a bright, square room the full width of the house. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council judges the infill against Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, and because it runs along the party boundary, the neighbour relationship is read before the design.
That boundary is where the drawings earn their keep. We set the infill wall on or up to the line, keep the roof — usually a glazed lantern or a shallow pitch tying into the existing back-addition slope — below the neighbour's first-floor windows, and detail the rainwater and party-wall junction so the build is watertight and the Party Wall Act is satisfied. Commons contains Christchurch Hospital, Hurn conservation areas (Christchurch Hospital designated 1991), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so we resolve it on the section rather than leave it to the case officer.
Many of Commons's terraces sit in conservation areas — Christchurch Hospital and Hurn among them — where a side extension is no longer permitted development. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, but Commons's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets. We confirm the designation before a line is drawn.
Some single-storey side returns in Commons are permitted development, but the width and boundary make an application more likely than for a straight rear extension. You will normally need to apply to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council if any of these apply:
We draw the infill wall on the boundary, the glazed roof below the neighbour's windows and the party-wall junction on the page — the details Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's officers and your neighbour both check — and submit a validation-complete pack, whether that is a lawful development certificate or a full householder application.
Below is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council granted 88% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Christchurch Hospital shapes what is approved here. Side returns hinge on width, roof glazing and the party boundary, so a pack that resolves those details 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 Christchurch Hospital, Hurn and Christchurch, the approved side return is a single-storey infill roofed with a glazed lantern or roof light to pull daylight deep into the plan, its flank wall built on the boundary and finished to match the host brick. On the borough's 1930s semi-detached and detached houses (22% of 4,540 homes), this is frequently the single biggest gain in usable ground-floor space, and where it stays within the width and height limits it can proceed under permitted development or a lawful development certificate.
The 4,540 homes here are 22% 1930-1939, 18% 1973-1982, 10% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. We keep the glazed roof below the neighbour's cill line, set the gutter and the party-wall flashing so water and maintenance are designed in, and — where owners want the full open-plan room — pair the infill with a rear extension as a single wraparound application. That way Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council sees one coherent scheme rather than two overlapping ones.
We draw side-return infills on every terraced street in the borough. A few of the neighbourhoods where Commons side returns come up most often:
Side return extension drawings for Christchurch Hospital's conservation area designated in 1991 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Hurn's conservation area designated in 1991 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Christchurch's civil parish within Commons — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Hurn's civil parish within Commons — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Throop and Holdenhurst's civil parish within Commons — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's guidance.
Whether a side return in Commons needs permission comes down to width, storeys and whether the street is designated. This is how the cases compare.
| Side return type | Permitted development? | What it gains | What Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-storey infill, within limits | Often yes, if under half the house width | Full-width kitchen-diner | Width, 4m height, roof glazing |
| Single-storey, over half width | No — full application | Wider room, more light | Boundary treatment, neighbour amenity |
| Two-storey side return | No — full application | Room above as well as below | Bulk, overlooking, terrace rhythm |
| Wraparound (side + rear) | No — full application | L-shaped open-plan ground floor | Combined footprint, garden retained |
In conservation areas such as Christchurch Hospital and Hurn, side extensions are not permitted development and always need a full application.
A fixed process built around how Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council validates and decides side-return applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Commons postcode and terrace type. We confirm your conservation and Article 4 status, whether the infill stays within the side-extension width limit, and score your odds against live Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council decisions.
We measure the side alley, the back-addition wall, floor and eaves levels and the neighbour's window heights — the numbers the width limit, roof pitch and party-wall detailing depend on.
Chartered designers develop the infill and its glazed roof to your brief, drawn inside the permitted-development limits or to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's extension guidance, with the boundary and party-wall junction detailed.
We submit the certificate or application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council issues its decision.
Sometimes not. A single-storey side-return infill can be permitted development if it is no wider than half the original house, no higher than 4 metres, and the property is not on designated land. In Commons you will need a full application to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council for anything wider or taller, for a two-storey side return, and for any side extension in a conservation area such as Christchurch Hospital and Hurn, where those rights are removed.
It is an infill that fills the narrow open alley running alongside the rear back-addition of a Victorian or Edwardian terrace — the strip of ground that is usually too small to use. Building over it squares off the ground floor, so a cramped galley kitchen becomes a full-width room. Commons's period terraces are ideally suited to it, which is why the side return is one of the borough's most common extensions. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is the decision-maker.
Almost always. A side return is built on or up to the boundary with your neighbour, so the Party Wall etc. Act applies and you must serve notice before work starts — this is entirely separate from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council's planning decision. We detail the party-wall junction on the drawings and flag the notice early so a surveyor can be appointed without delaying the build. This applies to your Commons address specifically.
Yes, and it is common — the combined L-shape is a wraparound extension. Once the side infill joins a rear projection beyond the permitted-development depth, the whole thing needs a full householder application to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council rather than qualifying as permitted development. We draw it as one coherent scheme so the council assesses a single footprint, which reads more clearly than two overlapping proposals. This applies to your Commons address specifically.
A householder planning application in Commons runs to a statutory eight-week target, and a lawful development certificate to eight weeks as well, though an incomplete pack can stall at validation. Because a side return involves the boundary and roof glazing, a complete, well-detailed submission matters — we prepare it validation-complete and manage officer queries to keep the decision on track. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is the decision-maker.
We price each Commons side return individually, because alley width and roof form vary house to house, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the full drawing pack with free revisions until Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council approves, and we confirm at the outset whether your infill is permitted development or needs an application. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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