Two-storey extension drawings for Devonport homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Plymouth City Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Plymouth 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. Devonport grew as the Royal Navy's dockyard town, and Foulston's Ker Street civic buildings anchor a heritage assessment on any nearby scheme, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) and postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
The permitted-development ceilings are fixed: 40m³ of new roof volume for a terraced loft and 50m³ for a semi or detached house under Class B, plus a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house under Class A. In conservation areas such as Devonport and Stoke those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Devonport is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Ker Street (John Foulston's Georgian civic set-piece, with its Egyptian House and Doric column), Mount Wise (elevated former naval quarters overlooking the Hamoaze), Morice Town (dense terraced streets serving the dockyard workforce), Stoke Damerel (the historic parish core on the rising ground toward Stoke), Devonport Park (Victorian villas and terraces around the People's Park) and Mutton Cove (the old landing point below Mount Wise) — these are the Devonport pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Devonport and Stoke. Plymouth City Council weighs each proposal against the Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan (2019), where the district was among the most heavily bombed in the country and was largely rebuilt, so post-war and regeneration-era housing sits alongside the surviving Georgian fabric and both are read together. Parts of Morice Town and the regeneration areas include flats and maisonettes that sit outside householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is parapet and pitched roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched and hipped roofs on the Victorian and post-war housing, over Georgian dockyard terraces around Ker Street and Mount Wise, post-war and regeneration-era housing on the war-cleared plots and Victorian terraces on the higher ground toward Stoke.
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. Devonport is largely Georgian dockyard terraces around Ker Street and Mount Wise, post-war and regeneration-era housing on the war-cleared plots and Victorian terraces on the higher ground toward Stoke, and parapet and pitched roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched and hipped roofs on the Victorian and post-war housing 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.
Devonport grew as the Royal Navy's dockyard town, and Foulston's Ker Street civic buildings anchor a heritage assessment on any nearby scheme. Devonport lies outside the city's HMO Article 4 area, which is focused on Mutley, Greenbank and the city centre, so a small house-in-multiple-occupation conversion can still fall under permitted development here — but works in the Devonport and neighbouring Stoke conservation areas need consent.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Plymouth 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 Plymouth City Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Plymouth City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Plymouth approves a high share of householder applications in Devonport, where the naval-dockyard heritage around Ker Street and Mount Wise, rather than density, is what most often shapes the design conditions attached to a consent. 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 Ker Street, Mount Wise and Morice Town, 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 georgian dockyard terraces around ker street and mount wise, 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 district was among the most heavily bombed in the country and was largely rebuilt, so post-war and regeneration-era housing sits alongside the surviving Georgian fabric and both are read together. 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 Devonport. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Ker Street — John Foulston's Georgian civic set-piece, with its Egyptian House and Doric column — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Mount Wise — elevated former naval quarters overlooking the Hamoaze — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Morice Town — dense terraced streets serving the dockyard workforce — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Stoke Damerel — the historic parish core on the rising ground toward Stoke — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Devonport Park — Victorian villas and terraces around the People's Park — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Mutton Cove — the old landing point below Mount Wise — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Plymouth 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 Plymouth 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 Plymouth City Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Devonport postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Plymouth 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 Plymouth 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 Devonport, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Plymouth 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 Devonport gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Plymouth City Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Plymouth 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 Devonport 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 Devonport address specifically. Plymouth 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 Plymouth City Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your Devonport 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 Devonport address specifically. Plymouth City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Devonport 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 Plymouth City Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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