Two-storey extension drawings for Southwold homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to East Suffolk Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
East Suffolk Council granted 95% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 8 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Southwold contains Southwold, Walberswick conservation areas (Southwold designated 1996), 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) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.
The permitted-development ceilings are fixed: 40m³ of new roof volume for a terraced loft and 50m³ for a semi or detached house under Class B, plus a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house under Class A. In conservation areas such as Southwold and Walberswick those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Southwold is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Southwold (conservation area designated in 1996), Walberswick (conservation area designated in 1973), Reydon (civil parish within Southwold) and Walberswick (civil parish within Southwold) — these are the Southwold pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Southwold and Walberswick. East Suffolk Council weighs each proposal against the adopted East Suffolk local plan and East Suffolk Council's design guidance for householder work, where the 2,670 homes here are 25% pre-1900, 12% 1973-1982, 9% 2000-2008, 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 (25% of 2,670 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (12%) and 2000s houses and apartments (9%).
Before anything is drawn we check your address against the designations that apply in Southwold: Southwold (conservation area designated in 1996) and Walberswick (conservation area designated in 1973). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and East Suffolk 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, Southwold takes in Reydon and Walberswick. No Article 4 direction is recorded for East Suffolk Council, but Southwold's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
On stock, Southwold is Victorian and earlier houses (25% of 2,670 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (12%) and 2000s houses and apartments (9%) — 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. East Suffolk Council decided 1,008 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 95%, with 60% issued inside the eight-week target. That decision record, not a national figure, is what we design to.
The full build-period split for Southwold runs pre-1900 25% (660 homes), 1900-1918 7% (180 homes), 1919-1929 4% (110 homes), 1930-1939 8% (210 homes), 1945-1954 5% (130 homes), 1955-1964 7% (200 homes), 1965-1972 6% (160 homes), 1973-1982 12% (310 homes), 1983-1992 7% (200 homes), 1993-1999 2% (50 homes) and 2000-2008 9% (240 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.
East Suffolk Council also decides for Beccles & Worlingham, Bungay & Wainford, Carlford & Fynn Valley, Deben, Eastern Felixstowe, Framlingham, Halesworth & Blything and Harbour & Normanston, so a decision in Southwold 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.
Published figures for Southwold and East Suffolk Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | Southwold |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 2,670 |
| Built pre-1900 | 660 (25%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 180 (7%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 110 (4%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 210 (8%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 130 (5%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 200 (7%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 160 (6%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 310 (12%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 200 (7%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 50 (2%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 240 (9%) |
| Built before 1919 | 31% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 12% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 48% |
| Conservation areas in Southwold | 2 (Southwold, Walberswick) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 45 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 0 |
| Householder applications decided | 1,008 |
| Householder applications granted | 95% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 60% |
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 East Suffolk 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. Southwold is largely Victorian and earlier houses (25% of 2,670 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (12%) and 2000s houses and apartments (9%), 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.
Southwold contains Southwold, Walberswick conservation areas (Southwold designated 1996), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal. No Article 4 direction is recorded for East Suffolk Council, but Southwold's 2 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to East Suffolk 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 East Suffolk Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is East Suffolk Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. East Suffolk Council granted 95% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Southwold shapes what is approved here. 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 Southwold, Walberswick and Reydon, 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 (25% of 2,670 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 2,670 homes here are 25% pre-1900, 12% 1973-1982, 9% 2000-2008, 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 Southwold. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Southwold — conservation area designated in 1996 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to East Suffolk Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Walberswick — conservation area designated in 1973 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to East Suffolk Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Reydon — civil parish within Southwold — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to East Suffolk Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Walberswick — civil parish within Southwold — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to East Suffolk 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 East Suffolk 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 East Suffolk Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Southwold postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live East Suffolk 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 East Suffolk 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 Southwold, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to East Suffolk 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 Southwold gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. East Suffolk Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to East Suffolk 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 Southwold 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 Southwold address specifically. East Suffolk 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 East Suffolk Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your Southwold 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 Southwold address specifically. East Suffolk Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Southwold 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 East Suffolk Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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