Side and rear ground floor extension

Two planning routes, used together, to get one bigger extension.

Project type

Planning route

Borough

Side & rear extension

PD plus application

Wandsworth

The decision that mattered

Most homeowners are told they have a choice: build what permitted development allows without applying for anything, or submit a full planning application and wait. It is presented as one or the other.

On this house we used both. We took what permitted development allowed at the rear and applied for planning permission on the side, which produced a wraparound larger than either route would have permitted on its own. It is not a loophole and it is not unusual — it is simply an option most people are never offered, because it takes more work at the drawing stage than defaulting to one route.

What the extra space actually bought

Floor area is not the point. What you do with it is. This wraparound was planned around three things that get squeezed out of most extension designs because they are not glamorous:

— A utility room — which is the single most requested item we hear about after the job is finished and it is too late.

— A pantry — cheaper than the equivalent run of kitchen units and considerably more useful.

— A ground floor WC — the thing that stops a family of five queueing on the landing.

The remaining space runs as one open plan sweep: seating area, kitchen with an island and breakfast bar seating, and a dining area.

Worth knowing if you are planning the same thing

If a builder tells you your extension is limited to what permitted development allows, ask whether a combined approach has been looked at. On a terrace with an original rear outrigger it very often changes what is possible. It also changes the drawings, the timeline before work starts, and who needs to be involved — so it is a conversation to have at survey stage, not after somebody has already submitted something.

Start with a survey, not a guess

If your house is a similar shape, most of the same decisions will apply. We will come and look, and tell you what the building allows before anyone spends anything.

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