Two-storey extension drawings for Dartford homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Dartford Borough Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Dartford Borough Council granted 82% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 5 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. Ebbsfleet Garden City in the Thames Gateway is the dominant strategic growth focus, shaping the borough's housing numbers, 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.
Class A and Class B set the thresholds — a rear dormer to 40m³ on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi or detached, and a single-storey rear extension to 3m on a terrace or 4m on a detached house — beyond which Dartford Borough Council needs a full application. Dartford carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Dartford Town Centre, Greenhithe and Southfleet remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Dartford is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Dartford town centre (Victorian and Edwardian terraces and a commercial core within the largest conservation area), Greenhithe (a historic Thames-side riverside village conservation area), Stone (mixed interwar and postwar residential along the A226 corridor), Wilmington (village-edge conservation character at Church Hill), Southfleet (a rural conservation village of older vernacular stock) and Ebbsfleet (new-build garden-city development of modern estates) — these are the Dartford pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Dartford Town Centre, Greenhithe, Southfleet, Hook Green, Church Hill, Wilmington and Red Street. Dartford Borough Council weighs each proposal against the Dartford Local Plan (adopted April 2024), superseding the 2011 Core Strategy, where the strategically important Thames-side regeneration corridor drives large brownfield allocations near the river. Converted flats are present in the town centre but the borough remains house-dominated; converted flats hold no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is pitched slate and clay-tile roofs on the terraces and low-pitch and hipped roofs on the modern Ebbsfleet estates, over Victorian and Edwardian terraces around the town centre, interwar and postwar semi-detached suburbs, Thames-side estates and large-scale contemporary new-build at Ebbsfleet Garden City.
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. Dartford is largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces around the town centre, interwar and postwar semi-detached suburbs, Thames-side estates and large-scale contemporary new-build at Ebbsfleet Garden City, and pitched slate and clay-tile roofs on the terraces and low-pitch and hipped roofs on the modern Ebbsfleet estates 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.
Ebbsfleet Garden City in the Thames Gateway is the dominant strategic growth focus, shaping the borough's housing numbers. Dartford maintains a formal register of Article 4 directions that withdraw permitted-development rights in parts of its conservation areas where unmanaged alterations would erode local character.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Dartford Borough 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 Dartford Borough Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Dartford Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Dartford grants a slightly-below-average share of householder applications, with flat and HMO conversions treated more restrictively than straightforward house extensions. 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.
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Across Dartford town centre, Greenhithe and Stone, 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 victorian and edwardian terraces around the town centre, 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 strategically important Thames-side regeneration corridor drives large brownfield allocations near the river. 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 Dartford. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Dartford town centre — Victorian and Edwardian terraces and a commercial core within the largest conservation area — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Greenhithe — a historic Thames-side riverside village conservation area — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Stone — mixed interwar and postwar residential along the A226 corridor — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Wilmington — village-edge conservation character at Church Hill — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Southfleet — a rural conservation village of older vernacular stock — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Ebbsfleet — new-build garden-city development of modern estates — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dartford Borough 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 Dartford Borough 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 Dartford Borough Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Dartford postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Dartford Borough 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 Dartford Borough 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 Dartford, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Dartford Borough 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 Dartford gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Dartford Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Dartford Borough 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.
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 Dartford address specifically. Dartford Borough 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 Dartford Borough Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings.
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 Dartford address specifically. Dartford Borough Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Dartford 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 Dartford Borough Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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