Two-storey extension drawings for Greenwich homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
the Royal Borough of Greenwich granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its buffer zone add height and setting tests near the town centre, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910) and interwar (1918–1939) 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich needs a full application. Greenwich carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including West Greenwich, Blackheath Park and Ashburnham Triangle remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Greenwich is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Greenwich (Georgian and early-Victorian terraces inside the West Greenwich conservation area), Blackheath (villas and terraces around the Cator Estate and Blackheath Park), Westcombe Park (Edwardian and Victorian villas climbing the hill above the river), Charlton (the older cottages and interwar streets around Charlton Village), Eltham (interwar semis including the Well Hall Progress Estate) and Woolwich (denser Victorian terraces amid riverside regeneration) — these are the Greenwich pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include West Greenwich, Blackheath Park, Ashburnham Triangle, Westcombe Park and Charlton Village. the Royal Borough of Greenwich weighs each proposal against the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies and the borough's residential extensions design guidance, where protected Thames-side views shape what roof additions are acceptable on the borough's northern edge. On roofs the borough is parapet and butterfly roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched and hipped roofs on the villas, over Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and riverside and interwar housing.
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. Greenwich is largely Georgian and early-Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and riverside and interwar housing, and parapet and butterfly roofs on the Georgian terraces and pitched and hipped roofs on the villas 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.
The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its buffer zone add height and setting tests near the town centre. Article 4 directions strip out permitted-development rights across Greenwich's conservation areas such as West Greenwich and Westcombe Park, so front-facing and roof alterations there need a full application.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is the Royal Borough of Greenwich's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Greenwich approves most householder applications, but the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its dense conservation coverage set the terms for what works near the town centre and the river. 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, rolling year). Compare every borough on our London approval-rate league table.
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Across Greenwich, Blackheath and Westcombe 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 georgian and early-victorian terraces, 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.
Protected Thames-side views shape what roof additions are acceptable on the borough's northern edge. 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 Greenwich. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Greenwich — Georgian and early-Victorian terraces inside the West Greenwich conservation area — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Blackheath — villas and terraces around the Cator Estate and Blackheath Park — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Westcombe Park — Edwardian and Victorian villas climbing the hill above the river — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Charlton — the older cottages and interwar streets around Charlton Village — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Eltham — interwar semis including the Well Hall Progress Estate — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Woolwich — denser Victorian terraces amid riverside regeneration — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to the Royal Borough of Greenwich'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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Greenwich postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 Greenwich, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
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 Greenwich gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. the Royal Borough of Greenwich is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to the Royal Borough of Greenwich. 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 Greenwich address specifically. the Royal Borough of Greenwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich'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 Greenwich address specifically. the Royal Borough of Greenwich is the decision-maker.
We quote each Greenwich 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 the Royal Borough of Greenwich approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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