Two-storey extension drawings for Little Chester homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Derby City Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Derby 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. The Scheduled Roman fort beneath Chester Green means groundworks and foundations can trigger archaeological conditions and evaluation, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Georgian (1714–1837) and Victorian (1837–1901) 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. Little Chester carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Little Chester, Strutts Park and Nottingham Road remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Little Chester is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Chester Green (a tight grid of Victorian terraces around a village green on the site of Roman Derventio), City Road (riverside period frontages linking Chester Green to the centre), Old Chester Road (the historic spine of the settlement with mixed period housing), Marcus Street (compact Victorian workers' terraces near the Derwent), Mansfield Road (terraced streets running north-east towards Nottingham Road) and Darley Fields (riverside open land between Little Chester and Darley Abbey) — these are the Little Chester pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Little Chester, Strutts Park and Nottingham Road. Derby City Council weighs each proposal against the Derby City Local Plan Part 1 (Core Strategy) and Part 2, where conservation-area status controls terrace roofscape and frontage detail, so dormers and rear additions are judged against a uniform Victorian grid. Some larger houses near the river have been converted to flats, which carry no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is pitched slate and clay-tile roofs on the Victorian terraces and steeper gabled roofs on the older cottages, over Victorian brick terraces around Chester Green, a Georgian and older core near the church and converted period houses and riverside flats.
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. Little Chester is largely Victorian brick terraces around Chester Green, a Georgian and older core near the church and converted period houses and riverside flats, and pitched slate and clay-tile roofs on the Victorian terraces and steeper gabled roofs on the older cottages 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 Scheduled Roman fort beneath Chester Green means groundworks and foundations can trigger archaeological conditions and evaluation. Little Chester falls within the within-Ring-Road part of Darley Ward, where Derby's HMO Article 4 direction removes small-HMO permitted-development rights, and the Little Chester conservation area protects the streets above the buried Roman fort of Derventio.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Derby 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 Derby City Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Derby City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Derby approves the majority of applications it decides, and in Little Chester the key constraints are buried Roman archaeology, conservation-area roofscape, and HMO Article 4 controls. 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.
Tell us about your project and get a fixed, no-obligation quote back within one working day. If you don't need planning permission at all, we'll tell you that too — for free.
Across Chester Green, City Road and Old Chester Road, 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 brick terraces around chester green, 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.
Conservation-area status controls terrace roofscape and frontage detail, so dormers and rear additions are judged against a uniform Victorian grid. 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 Little Chester. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Chester Green — a tight grid of Victorian terraces around a village green on the site of Roman Derventio — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for City Road — riverside period frontages linking Chester Green to the centre — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Old Chester Road — the historic spine of the settlement with mixed period housing — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Marcus Street — compact Victorian workers' terraces near the Derwent — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Mansfield Road — terraced streets running north-east towards Nottingham Road — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Darley Fields — riverside open land between Little Chester and Darley Abbey — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Derby 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 Derby 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 Derby City Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Little Chester postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Derby 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 Derby 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 Little Chester, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Derby 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 Little Chester gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Derby 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 Little Chester 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 Little Chester address specifically. Derby 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 Derby City Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your Little Chester 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 Little Chester address specifically. Derby City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Little Chester 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 Derby City Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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