Side-return infill drawings for Higham & Shorne terraces — the glazed extension that fills the redundant side alley and opens up the kitchen, drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision, with a free approval-odds check first.
Gravesham Borough Council granted 78% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 9 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Higham & Shorne contains Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, Lower Higham Conservation Area conservation areas (Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area designated 1976), 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 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 Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area and Lower Higham Conservation Area those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Higham & Shorne is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Chestnut Green, Shorne (conservation area designated in 1976), Church Street, Higham (conservation area designated in 1979), Lower Higham (conservation area designated in 2008), Queen's Farm, Shorne (conservation area designated in 2001), Shorne Village (conservation area designated in 1975), Thong, Shorne (conservation area designated in 1980), Higham (civil parish within Higham & Shorne) and Shorne (civil parish within Higham & Shorne) — these are the Higham & Shorne pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, Lower Higham Conservation Area, Queen's Farm, Shorne Conservation Area, Shorne Village Conservation Area and Thong, Shorne Conservation Area. Gravesham Borough Council weighs each proposal against Gravesham Borough Council's development plan and the design policies it applies to householder applications, where the 2,800 homes here are 36% 1955-1964, 14% pre-1900, 9% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building, over late-1950s and early-1960s houses (36% of 2,800 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (14%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%).
Higham & Shorne's designated heritage is specific, and it is the first thing we check against your address: Chestnut Green, Shorne (conservation area designated in 1976), Church Street, Higham (conservation area designated in 1979), Lower Higham (conservation area designated in 2008), Queen's Farm, Shorne (conservation area designated in 2001), Shorne Village (conservation area designated in 1975) and Thong, Shorne (conservation area designated in 1980). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Gravesham 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.
Beyond the designated areas, Higham & Shorne takes in Higham and Shorne. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Gravesham Borough Council, but Higham & Shorne's 6 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
On stock, Higham & Shorne is late-1950s and early-1960s houses (36% of 2,800 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (14%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%) — which is why shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's 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. Gravesham Borough Council decided 400 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 78%, with 72% issued inside the eight-week target. Those are the numbers our drawings are prepared against.
The full build-period split for Higham & Shorne runs pre-1900 14% (380 homes), 1900-1918 5% (130 homes), 1919-1929 4% (100 homes), 1930-1939 7% (190 homes), 1945-1954 8% (220 homes), 1955-1964 36% (1,010 homes), 1965-1972 9% (260 homes), 1973-1982 7% (190 homes), 1983-1992 3% (80 homes), 1993-1999 5% (140 homes) and 2000-2008 1% (40 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.
Gravesham Borough Council also decides for Meopham North, Meopham South & Vigo, Pelham and Town, so a decision in Higham & Shorne 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 Higham & Shorne and Gravesham 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 | Higham & Shorne |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 2,800 |
| Built pre-1900 | 380 (14%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 130 (5%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 100 (4%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 190 (7%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 220 (8%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 1,010 (36%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 260 (9%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 190 (7%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 80 (3%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 140 (5%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 40 (1%) |
| Built before 1919 | 18% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 10% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 69% |
| Conservation areas in Higham & Shorne | 6 (Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 23 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 0 |
| Householder applications decided | 400 |
| Householder applications granted | 78% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 72% |
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 Gravesham Borough Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
The side return is the classic terrace fix, and Higham & Shorne has the stock for it — the borough is built largely from late-1950s and early-1960s houses (36% of 2,800 homes), Victorian and earlier houses (14%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (9%), 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. Gravesham Borough Council judges the infill against Gravesham Borough 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. Higham & Shorne contains Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, Lower Higham Conservation Area conservation areas (Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area designated 1976), 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 Higham & Shorne's terraces sit in conservation areas — Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area, Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, Lower Higham Conservation Area, Queen's Farm, Shorne Conservation Area, Shorne Village Conservation Area and Thong, Shorne Conservation Area among them — where a side extension is no longer permitted development. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Gravesham Borough Council, but Higham & Shorne's 6 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets. We confirm the designation before a line is drawn.
Some single-storey side returns in Higham & Shorne 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Gravesham Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Gravesham Borough Council granted 78% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area 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 Chestnut Green, Shorne, Church Street, Higham and Lower Higham, 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 late-1950s and early-1960s houses (36% of 2,800 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 2,800 homes here are 36% 1955-1964, 14% pre-1900, 9% 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Higham & Shorne side returns come up most often:
Side return extension drawings for Chestnut Green, Shorne's conservation area designated in 1976 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Church Street, Higham's conservation area designated in 1979 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Lower Higham's conservation area designated in 2008 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Queen's Farm, Shorne's conservation area designated in 2001 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Shorne Village's conservation area designated in 1975 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Side return extension drawings for Thong, Shorne's conservation area designated in 1980 — width-checked, party-wall detailed and drawn to Gravesham Borough Council's guidance.
Whether a side return in Higham & Shorne 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area and Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, side extensions are not permitted development and always need a full application.
A fixed process built around how Gravesham Borough Council validates and decides side-return applications — most drawings are submission-ready within seven days of survey.
Send us your Higham & Shorne 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Higham & Shorne you will need a full application to Gravesham Borough Council for anything wider or taller, for a two-storey side return, and for any side extension in a conservation area such as Chestnut Green, Shorne Conservation Area and Church Street, Higham Conservation Area, 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. Higham & Shorne's period terraces are ideally suited to it, which is why the side return is one of the borough's most common extensions. Gravesham Borough 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Higham & Shorne 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 Gravesham Borough 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 Higham & Shorne address specifically.
A householder planning application in Higham & Shorne 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. Gravesham Borough Council is the decision-maker.
We price each Higham & Shorne 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 Gravesham Borough 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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