Two-storey extension drawings for Westminster homes — bedroom above, living space below, drawn against the 3-metre projection and 7-metre boundary rules and to Westminster City Council's design guidance, delivered in days and revised free until your decision.
Westminster City Council granted 87% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — level with the 87% England-wide householder average. Basement excavation is tightly policed on depth, garden coverage and construction impact given the density of listed and stucco stock, 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.
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. Westminster carries at least one Article 4 direction, and conservation areas including Bayswater, Maida Vale and Pimlico remove those rights outright, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Westminster is determined against an 8-week statutory target.
Bayswater (stucco terraces around leafy garden squares), Maida Vale (red-brick and stucco mansion blocks along wide avenues), Pimlico (Thomas Cubitt's uniform white stucco terraces), Marylebone (Georgian and Victorian terraces mixed with mansion flats), Belgravia (grand stucco terraces served by their own mews) and Queen's Park (the model-cottage streets of the Queen's Park Estate on the Westminster side) — these are the Westminster pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Bayswater, Maida Vale, Pimlico, Marylebone and Queen's Park. Westminster City Council weighs each proposal against the Westminster City Plan and the Basements SPD, where mansard and roof extensions are steered by the roof-extension policy to sit within an unbroken terrace profile. Larger stucco houses in Bayswater and Marylebone are widely converted into flats, which carry no householder permitted-development rights.. On roofs the borough is mansard roofs to the stucco terraces and concealed butterfly roofs behind parapets, over stucco-fronted Georgian and Victorian terraces, purpose-built mansion flats and mews houses to the rear of the grand streets.
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. Westminster is largely stucco-fronted Georgian and Victorian terraces, purpose-built mansion flats and mews houses to the rear of the grand streets, and mansard roofs to the stucco terraces and concealed butterfly roofs behind parapets 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.
Basement excavation is tightly policed on depth, garden coverage and construction impact given the density of listed and stucco stock. The overwhelming majority of Westminster lies within a conservation area, and Article 4 directions across districts like Bayswater and Pimlico remove permitted-development rights on facades, roofs and windows.
Some two-storey rear extensions are permitted development. You will need a full application to Westminster 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 Westminster City Council checks first — then submit a validation-complete pack.
Below is Westminster City Council's real householder decision record, drawn from official planning statistics and refreshed as new data lands. Westminster grants a high share of householder applications, though near-total conservation-area coverage and a restrictive basement regime are the constraints behind most refusals. 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 Bayswater, Maida Vale and Pimlico, 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 stucco-fronted georgian and 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.
Mansard and roof extensions are steered by the roof-extension policy to sit within an unbroken terrace profile. 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 Westminster. A few of the areas where they come up most often:
Two storey extension drawings for Bayswater — stucco terraces around leafy garden squares — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Maida Vale — red-brick and stucco mansion blocks along wide avenues — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Pimlico — Thomas Cubitt's uniform white stucco terraces — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Marylebone — Georgian and Victorian terraces mixed with mansion flats — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Belgravia — grand stucco terraces served by their own mews — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster City Council's guidance.
Two storey extension drawings for Queen's Park — the model-cottage streets of the Queen's Park Estate on the Westminster side — dimensioned against the 3m and 7m limits and drawn to Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster City Council validates and decides two-storey applications.
Send us your Westminster postcode and garden depth. We measure the 7-metre boundary rule against your plot, confirm designation status, and score your odds against live Westminster 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 Westminster 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 Westminster, the 7-metre rule is what most commonly forces a full application to Westminster 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 Westminster gardens this is decisive, and we measure it on survey before any design work rather than discovering it at validation. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.
Not under permitted development — two-storey side extensions always need a full application to Westminster 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.
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 Westminster address specifically. Westminster 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 Westminster City 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 Westminster address specifically. Westminster City Council is the decision-maker.
We quote each Westminster 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 Westminster City Council approves. Call 020 7864 7245 to start.
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