Two-storey extension drawings for Selly Oak homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Birmingham City Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Birmingham City Council granted 84% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 3 points below the 87% England-wide householder average. The HMO concentration policy — refusing conversions where 10% or more of homes within 100m are already non-family — bites hardest in Bournbrook, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant Victorian (1837–1901), Edwardian (1901–1910) and interwar (1918–1939) 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. Selly Oak carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Selly Park and Selly Park Avenues remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Selly Oak is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Bournbrook (dense Victorian terraces beside the university, largely student HMOs), Selly Park (a conservation area of spacious plots and architect-designed houses), Selly Park Avenues (a distinct conservation area of Edwardian avenue housing), Tiverton Road (terraced streets in the thick of the student lettings market), Weoley Castle edge (interwar council-built semis to the west) and Ten Acres (terraces and light-industrial frontages towards Stirchley) — these are the Selly Oak pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Selly Park and Selly Park Avenues. Birmingham City Council weighs each proposal against Birmingham Development Plan (2017) and the Birmingham Design Guide / relevant SPDs, where the Selly Park conservation-area appraisal protects mature planting, front-boundary walls and generous plot spacing. Much of the Bournbrook terraced stock operates as HMOs and converted flats, none of which hold householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is gabled roofs on the terraced streets and hipped roofs on the Selly Park villas and interwar semis, over Victorian and Edwardian terraces across Bournbrook and the student core, larger architect-designed villas in Selly Park and interwar semi-detached houses on the outer estates.
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. Selly Oak is largely Victorian and Edwardian terraces across Bournbrook and the student core, larger architect-designed villas in Selly Park and interwar semi-detached houses on the outer estates, and gabled roofs on the terraced streets and hipped roofs on the Selly Park villas and interwar semis 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 HMO concentration policy — refusing conversions where 10% or more of homes within 100m are already non-family — bites hardest in Bournbrook. Selly Oak sits at the heart of Birmingham's student belt, where the city-wide Article 4 direction requires planning permission for any C3-to-C4 HMO conversion, while the Selly Park and Selly Park Avenues conservation areas protect the leafier residential streets to the east.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Birmingham 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 Birmingham City Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Birmingham City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Birmingham grants a high share of householder applications overall, but Selly Oak is defined by HMO-concentration control in the student core set against conservation protection in Selly Park. 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 Bournbrook, Selly Park and Selly Park Avenues, 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 edwardian terraces across bournbrook and the student core, 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 Selly Park conservation-area appraisal protects mature planting, front-boundary walls and generous plot spacing. 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 Selly Oak. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Bournbrook — dense Victorian terraces beside the university, largely student HMOs — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Selly Park — a conservation area of spacious plots and architect-designed houses — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Selly Park Avenues — a distinct conservation area of Edwardian avenue housing — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Tiverton Road — terraced streets in the thick of the student lettings market — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Weoley Castle edge — interwar council-built semis to the west — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Ten Acres — terraces and light-industrial frontages towards Stirchley — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Birmingham 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 Birmingham 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 Birmingham City Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Selly Oak postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Birmingham 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 Birmingham 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 Selly Oak, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Birmingham 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 Selly Oak gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Birmingham City Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Birmingham 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 Selly Oak 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 Selly Oak address specifically. Birmingham 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 Birmingham City Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your Selly Oak 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 Selly Oak address specifically. Birmingham City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Selly Oak 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 Birmingham City Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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