Two-storey extension drawings for Darley Abbey homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Derby City Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Derby City Council granted 93% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 6 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Darley Abbey lies within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, so alterations are tested against WHS Outstanding Universal Value and its setting, not ordinary householder policy alone, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) and interwar (1918–1939) 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. In conservation areas such as Darley Abbey, Allestree and Strutts Park those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Darley Abbey is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Darley Abbey village (the most complete 18th-century mill village in the world, built around the Boar's Head Mills), Darley Abbey Mills (the restored Evans cotton-mill complex, now workspace and event venues, dating 1782-1830), Darley Park (riverside parkland and larger houses on the west bank of the Derwent), Old Lane (terraced and detached mill-era cottages climbing from the river), Abbey Lane (the historic approach past St Matthew's Church) and Broadway (interwar and later houses on the northern edge of the village) — these are the Darley Abbey pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Darley Abbey, Allestree and Strutts Park. Derby City Council weighs each proposal against the Derby City Local Plan Part 1 (Core Strategy) and Part 2, where the village holds a dense concentration of listed mill and cottage buildings, so many works need listed building consent alongside planning permission. On roofs the borough is steep gabled roofs on the Georgian mill cottages and pitched roofs on the later village houses, over late-18th and early-19th-century mill-workers' housing built by the Evans family, the Boar's Head cotton mill complex and associated buildings and later Victorian and interwar houses on the village fringe.
Adding at first floor changes the question the case officer asks. A single-storey extension is judged mostly on daylight and garden loss; a two-storey extension is judged on overlooking, bulk against the neighbouring roofline, and whether it reads as part of the house or bolted onto it. Darley Abbey is largely late-18th and early-19th-century mill-workers' housing built by the Evans family, the Boar's Head cotton mill complex and associated buildings and later Victorian and interwar houses on the village fringe, and steep gabled roofs on the Georgian mill cottages and pitched roofs on the later village houses set what a matching roof actually means here.
The permitted-development route exists but is narrow: 3 metres of rear projection, a 7-metre stand-off from the rear boundary, eaves and ridge no higher than the original, and side-facing upper windows obscure-glazed and non-opening below 1.7 metres above floor level. Most two-storey schemes fail one of those, usually the 7-metre boundary rule on a shorter garden, and go in as a full application instead. We establish which route applies before designing, because it changes the drawing set.
Darley Abbey lies within the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, so alterations are tested against WHS Outstanding Universal Value and its setting, not ordinary householder policy alone. Darley Abbey village sits north of the Ring Road, so it is outside the inner-city area covered by Derby's HMO Article 4 direction; instead its permitted-development freedoms are constrained by conservation-area status and its position inside the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Derby City Council if any of these apply:
We set the projection and boundary distance on the site plan, prove the roof-pitch match on the elevations, and specify obscure glazing on the side windows — the three things Derby City Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Derby City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Derby approves most applications it determines, but in Darley Abbey World Heritage Site status, listed mill-village buildings and conservation detail make design and heritage justification the decisive factors. Two-storey schemes attract more neighbour comment than any other householder work, so the overlooking and daylight case has to be made on the drawings.
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 Darley Abbey village, Darley Abbey Mills and Darley Park, the schemes that succeed set the first floor back from the ground floor, keep the ridge below the original, and treat the flank wall as blank or obscure-glazed. On late-18th and early-19th-century mill-workers' housing built by the evans family, matching the eaves line matters more than matching the brick: an extension that carries the existing eaves through reads as original even in a different material.
The village holds a dense concentration of listed mill and cottage buildings, so many works need listed building consent alongside planning permission. We draw the 45-degree daylight test from the neighbour's nearest habitable window, show the window positions in section, and set out the steel and foundation implications early — a two-storey extension changes the load path, so the structural design and the planning design have to be developed together rather than in sequence.
We draw two-storey extensions across Darley Abbey. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Darley Abbey village — the most complete 18th-century mill village in the world, built around the Boar's Head Mills — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Darley Abbey Mills — the restored Evans cotton-mill complex, now workspace and event venues, dating 1782-1830 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Darley Park — riverside parkland and larger houses on the west bank of the Derwent — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Old Lane — terraced and detached mill-era cottages climbing from the river — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Abbey Lane — the historic approach past St Matthew's Church — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Broadway — interwar and later houses on the northern edge of the village — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
The first-floor limits are tighter than the ground-floor ones. This is how the common cases compare.
| Scheme | Permitted development? | Deciding limit | What Derby City Council checks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-storey rear, 3m projection, 7m+ to boundary | Often yes | 3m projection / 7m boundary | Roof match, side-window glazing |
| Two-storey rear, under 7m to boundary | No — full application | Rear-boundary distance | Overlooking, daylight, garden loss |
| Two-storey side extension | No — full application | Side elevation | Gap to boundary, street rhythm |
| Two-storey wraparound | No — full application | Combined footprint | Bulk, massing, neighbour amenity |
| Any two-storey on designated land | No — full application | Designation | Character and appearance |
Limits from the GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A — two-storey rear extension conditions.
A fixed process built around how Derby City Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Darley Abbey postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Derby City Council decisions.
We measure the original rear wall, eaves and ridge heights, garden depth and every neighbouring window that faces the site — the inputs the daylight and overlooking case is built from.
Chartered designers develop the two-storey addition to your brief with the roof and eaves resolved, and we coordinate the load path so the structural scheme and the planning scheme are the same building.
We submit the application, manage validation and case-officer queries, and revise the drawings free until Derby City Council issues its decision.
Often, but not always. A two-storey rear extension can be permitted development if it projects no more than 3 metres, sits at least 7 metres from the rear boundary, does not exceed the existing eaves and ridge, and has obscure-glazed non-opening side windows below 1.7 metres. In Darley Abbey, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Derby City Council.
No part of a permitted-development two-storey rear extension may come within 7 metres of the boundary opposite the rear wall of the house. It exists to protect the neighbour behind you from being overlooked at first floor. On shorter Darley Abbey gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Derby City Council. They are assessed on the gap to the boundary, whether the street's rhythm of spaces between houses survives, and whether the extension is subordinate to the original. Setting the first floor back from the front building line and down from the ridge is what usually makes the difference. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically.
Overlooking is the most common objection, and it is answerable on the drawings. We position habitable-room windows away from neighbouring gardens, obscure-glaze and fix shut anything on the flank below 1.7 metres, and show the sight lines in section. Where the geometry is tight, a rooflight or a high-level window gives the same daylight without the mutual overlooking that draws objections. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
Almost certainly. Excavating within 3 metres of a neighbouring structure and building on or up to the boundary both trigger the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and a two-storey extension usually does both. It is entirely separate from Derby City Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically.
Yes. Adding a floor changes the load path from roof to foundation, so beams, padstones and foundation depths all need designing and calculating for building control. Planning and building regulations are separate consents, and the structural set is what building control assesses — we prepare both so the approved scheme is the buildable one. This applies to your Darley Abbey address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Darley Abbey two-storey extension individually, because plot depth, roof form and structural complexity vary house to house, and send a fixed, no-obligation quote within one working day. It covers the drawing pack with free revisions until Derby City Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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