Two-storey extension drawings for Dorset homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Dorset Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Dorset Council granted 95% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Dorset contains Abbotsbury Conservation Area, Acton Conservation Area 1, Acton Conservation Area 2 conservation areas (Abbotsbury Conservation Area designated 1971), 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.
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. Dorset carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Abbotsbury Conservation Area, Acton Conservation Area 1 and Acton Conservation Area 2 remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Dorset is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Abbotsbury (conservation area designated in 1971), Acton Conservation Area 1 (conservation area designated in 1975), Acton Conservation Area 2 (conservation area designated in 1975), Almer (conservation area designated in 1992), Alton Pancras (conservation area designated in 1990), Ashmore (conservation area designated in 1993), Beaminster Conservation Area 1 (conservation area designated in 1969), Beaminster Conservation Area 2 (conservation area designated in 1994), Beacon (ward of Dorset), Beaminster (ward of Dorset), Blackmore Vale (ward of Dorset), Blandford (ward of Dorset), Chalk Valleys (ward of Dorset), Charminster St Mary's (ward of Dorset), Chickerell (ward of Dorset) and Cranborne & Alderholt (ward of Dorset) — these are the Dorset pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Abbotsbury Conservation Area, Acton Conservation Area 1, Acton Conservation Area 2, Almer Conservation Area, Alton Pancras Conservation Area, Ashmore Conservation Area, Beaminster Conservation Area 1 and Beaminster Conservation Area 2. Dorset Council weighs each proposal against Dorset Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 138,990 homes here are 21% pre-1900, 7% 1973-1982, 7% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building, over Victorian and earlier houses (21% of 138,990 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (7%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (7%).
What is permitted in Dorset turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Abbotsbury (conservation area designated in 1971), Acton Conservation Area 1 (conservation area designated in 1975), Acton Conservation Area 2 (conservation area designated in 1975), Almer (conservation area designated in 1992), Alton Pancras (conservation area designated in 1990), Ashmore (conservation area designated in 1993), Beaminster Conservation Area 1 (conservation area designated in 1969) and Beaminster Conservation Area 2 (conservation area designated in 1994). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Dorset 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, Dorset takes in Beacon, Beaminster, Blackmore Vale, Blandford, Chalk Valleys, Charminster St Mary's, Chickerell and Cranborne & Alderholt. Dorset Council has 77 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in the district.
On stock, Dorset is Victorian and earlier houses (21% of 138,990 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (7%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (7%) — which is why steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Dorset Council decided 1,261 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 95%, with 78% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for Dorset runs pre-1900 3% (190 homes), 1900-1918 0% (30 homes), 1919-1929 0% (10 homes), 1930-1939 6% (350 homes), 1945-1954 3% (170 homes), 1955-1964 30% (1,850 homes), 1965-1972 33% (1,990 homes), 1973-1982 4% (260 homes), 1983-1992 5% (310 homes), 1993-1999 4% (220 homes) and 2000-2008 3% (170 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.
Dorset Council also decides for Beacon, Beaminster, Blackmore Vale, Blandford, Chalk Valleys, Charminster St Mary's, Chickerell and Cranborne & Alderholt, so a decision in Dorset 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.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1-3 The Lane, Kingston, Corfe Castle, 10 Cornwall Road, Swanage, 6 Burlington Road, Swanage and Avon Castle & Matchams Park Estate. Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for Dorset and Dorset Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Dorset |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 138,990 |
| Built pre-1900 | 190 (3%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 30 (0%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 10 (0%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 350 (6%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 170 (3%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 1,850 (30%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 1,990 (33%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 260 (4%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 310 (5%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 220 (4%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 170 (3%) |
| Built before 1919 | 24% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 7% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 57% |
| Conservation areas in Dorset | 8 (Abbotsbury Conservation Area, Acton Conservation Area 1…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 311 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 77 |
| Householder applications decided | 1,261 |
| Householder applications granted | 95% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 78% |
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 Dorset Council's own, from MHCLG live table PS2 for the year to 31 March 2026.
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. Dorset is largely Victorian and earlier houses (21% of 138,990 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (7%) and late-1960s and early-1970s houses (7%), and steeply pitched slate roofs, valley gutters and party parapets typical of pre-1900 building and shallow trussed roofs typical of 1970s building 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.
Dorset contains Abbotsbury Conservation Area, Acton Conservation Area 1, Acton Conservation Area 2 conservation areas (Abbotsbury Conservation Area designated 1971), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal. Dorset Council has 77 recorded Article 4 directions — check the address before assuming PD applies in the district.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Dorset 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 Dorset Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Dorset Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Dorset Council granted 95% of 1,261 householder decisions in the year to 31 March 2026, 78% of them inside eight weeks. 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 Abbotsbury, Acton Conservation Area 1 and Acton Conservation Area 2, 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 earlier houses (21% of 138,990 homes), 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 138,990 homes here are 21% pre-1900, 7% 1973-1982, 7% 1965-1972, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. 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 Dorset. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Abbotsbury — conservation area designated in 1971 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Acton Conservation Area 1 — conservation area designated in 1975 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Acton Conservation Area 2 — conservation area designated in 1975 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Almer — conservation area designated in 1992 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Alton Pancras — conservation area designated in 1990 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Ashmore — conservation area designated in 1993 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Dorset 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 Dorset 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 Dorset Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Dorset postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Dorset 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 Dorset 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 Dorset, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Dorset 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 Dorset gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Dorset Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Dorset 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 Dorset address specifically. Dorset 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 Dorset 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 Dorset address specifically. Dorset Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Dorset 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 Dorset Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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