Two-storey extension drawings for West Downs homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Swale Borough Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Swale Borough Council granted 94% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 7 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. West Downs contains Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead conservation areas (Bexon designated 2026), 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) and postwar (1945–1970) 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. West Downs carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Bexon, Bredgar and Milstead remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in West Downs is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Bexon (conservation area designated in 2026), Bredgar (conservation area designated in 1973), Milstead (conservation area designated in 1973), Rodmersham Church Street (conservation area designated in 2022), Rodmersham Green (conservation area designated in 1974), Tunstall (conservation area designated in 1973), Bapchild (civil parish within West Downs), Bredgar (civil parish within West Downs), Milstead (civil parish within West Downs), Rodmersham (civil parish within West Downs) and Tunstall (civil parish within West Downs) — these are the West Downs pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead, Rodmersham Church Street, Rodmersham Green and Tunstall. Swale Borough Council weighs each proposal against Swale Borough Council's adopted local plan and its householder design guidance, where the 1,410 homes here are 17% pre-1900, 13% 1973-1982, 10% 1955-1964, 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 (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%).
What is permitted in West Downs turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Bexon (conservation area designated in 2026), Bredgar (conservation area designated in 1973), Milstead (conservation area designated in 1973), Rodmersham Church Street (conservation area designated in 2022), Rodmersham Green (conservation area designated in 1974) and Tunstall (conservation area designated in 1973). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Swale Borough 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, West Downs takes in Bapchild, Bredgar, Milstead, Rodmersham and Tunstall. Swale Borough Council has 22 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions — check the address before assuming PD applies in West Downs.
On stock, West Downs is Victorian and earlier houses (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%) — 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. Swale Borough Council decided 329 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 94%, with 37% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.
The full build-period split for West Downs runs pre-1900 17% (240 homes), 1900-1918 2% (30 homes), 1919-1929 3% (40 homes), 1930-1939 7% (100 homes), 1945-1954 7% (100 homes), 1955-1964 10% (140 homes), 1965-1972 4% (60 homes), 1973-1982 13% (180 homes), 1983-1992 1% (20 homes), 1993-1999 3% (40 homes) and 2000-2008 9% (120 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.
Swale Borough Council also decides for Abbey, Borden and Grove Park, Boughton and Courtenay, East Downs, Sheerness, Teynham and Lynsted and Watling, so a decision in West Downs 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.
The Article 4 directions recorded for this council include 1 and 2 Flint Cottages, 20 East Street, 43-47, 49-51, 54, 56, 57, 59-72 Marine Parade and 49, 88, 90, 104, 114-128(evens), 132-140(evens) The Street and 1 & 2 Chapel Cottages. Each removes a specific permitted-development right inside its own boundary, which is why the check is done on the address rather than on the town.
Published figures for West Downs and Swale Borough Council. These are the numbers that decide what is realistic on your street, so we work from them rather than from national averages.
| Measure | West Downs |
|---|---|
| Dwellings recorded | 1,410 |
| Built pre-1900 | 240 (17%) |
| Built 1900-1918 | 30 (2%) |
| Built 1919-1929 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 1930-1939 | 100 (7%) |
| Built 1945-1954 | 100 (7%) |
| Built 1955-1964 | 140 (10%) |
| Built 1965-1972 | 60 (4%) |
| Built 1973-1982 | 180 (13%) |
| Built 1983-1992 | 20 (1%) |
| Built 1993-1999 | 40 (3%) |
| Built 2000-2008 | 120 (9%) |
| Built before 1919 | 19% |
| Built 1919–1939 | 10% |
| Built 1945–2008 | 47% |
| Conservation areas in West Downs | 6 (Bexon, Bredgar…) |
| Conservation areas district-wide | 52 |
| Article 4 directions recorded | 22 |
| Householder applications decided | 329 |
| Householder applications granted | 94% |
| Decided within 8 weeks | 37% |
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 Swale Borough 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. West Downs is largely Victorian and earlier houses (17% of 1,410 homes), 1970s and early-1980s houses (13%) and late-1950s and early-1960s houses (10%), 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.
West Downs contains Bexon, Bredgar, Milstead conservation areas (Bexon designated 2026), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal. Swale Borough Council has 22 recorded Article 4 directions, removing permitted development for rear and side extensions — check the address before assuming PD applies in West Downs.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Swale Borough 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 Swale Borough Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Swale Borough Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Swale Borough Council granted 94% of its householder applications in the year to 31 March 2026, and Bexon 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 Bexon, Bredgar and Milstead, 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 (17% of 1,410 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 1,410 homes here are 17% pre-1900, 13% 1973-1982, 10% 1955-1964, 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 West Downs. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Bexon — conservation area designated in 2026 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Bredgar — conservation area designated in 1973 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Milstead — conservation area designated in 1973 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Rodmersham Church Street — conservation area designated in 2022 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Rodmersham Green — conservation area designated in 1974 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Tunstall — conservation area designated in 1973 — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Swale Borough 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 Swale Borough 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 Swale Borough Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your West Downs postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Swale Borough 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 Swale Borough 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 West Downs, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Swale Borough 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 West Downs gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Swale Borough 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 West Downs 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 West Downs address specifically. Swale Borough 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 Swale Borough Council's planning decision, so we flag the notice period early and detail the junction on the drawings. This applies to your West Downs 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 West Downs address specifically. Swale Borough Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each West Downs 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 Swale Borough Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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