Two-storey extension drawings for Lewisham homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Lewisham Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Lewisham Council granted 90% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 3 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Policies resist the loss of family-sized houses, so conversions to flats face an added hurdle, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837), Victorian (1837–1901) and Edwardian (1901–1910) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
Under Class B, a rear dormer stays permitted development up to 40m³ of added roof volume on a terrace or 50m³ on a semi-detached or detached house, while Class A allows a single-storey rear extension of 3m beyond the original rear wall on a terrace and 4m on a detached house before a full application is needed. Lewisham carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Blackheath, Telegraph Hill and Brockley remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Lewisham is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Blackheath (grand villas and terraces on the Lewisham side of the heath), Brockley (long Victorian terraces within one of London's largest conservation areas), Telegraph Hill (hilly Victorian terraces framing the two parks), Deptford (Georgian survivals like Albury Street amid dense terraced streets), Forest Hill (Victorian villas and terraces stepping up the slopes) and Sydenham (Victorian terraces and semis toward the Crystal Palace ridge) — these are the Lewisham pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Blackheath, Telegraph Hill, Brockley, Deptford High Street and Sydenham. Lewisham Council weighs each proposal against the Lewisham Local Plan and the borough's Alterations and Extensions SPD, where in the Brockley and Telegraph Hill conservation areas original slate roofs and front elevations are closely guarded. Brockley, Forest Hill and Deptford hold large numbers of houses long ago converted into flats and maisonettes, which carry no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is London butterfly roofs on the Victorian terraces and gabled roofs on the villas, over Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and converted flats and maisonettes.
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. Lewisham is largely Victorian terraces, Victorian and Edwardian villas and converted flats and maisonettes, and London butterfly roofs on the Victorian terraces and gabled 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.
Policies resist the loss of family-sized houses, so conversions to flats face an added hurdle. Lewisham operates Article 4 directions in conservation areas such as Brockley alongside controls resisting the conversion of family houses into flats, so works that are permitted development elsewhere routinely need an application here.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Lewisham 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 Lewisham Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Lewisham Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Lewisham grants the large majority of householder applications, though its policy shielding family houses from conversion and its Victorian conservation areas shape roof and rear works street by street. 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 Blackheath, Brockley and Telegraph Hill, 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 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.
In the Brockley and Telegraph Hill conservation areas original slate roofs and front elevations are closely guarded. 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 Lewisham. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Blackheath — grand villas and terraces on the Lewisham side of the heath — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Brockley — long Victorian terraces within one of London's largest conservation areas — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Telegraph Hill — hilly Victorian terraces framing the two parks — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Deptford — Georgian survivals like Albury Street amid dense terraced streets — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Forest Hill — Victorian villas and terraces stepping up the slopes — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Sydenham — Victorian terraces and semis toward the Crystal Palace ridge — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Lewisham 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 Lewisham 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 Lewisham Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Lewisham postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Lewisham 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 Lewisham 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 Lewisham, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Lewisham 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 Lewisham gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Lewisham Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Lewisham 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 Lewisham address specifically. Lewisham 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 Lewisham 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 Lewisham address specifically. Lewisham Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Lewisham 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 Lewisham Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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