London borough brings in new rules to make house extensions and alterations easier

Building work, extension
-Credit:Andrew_Howe/Getty Images


New guidelines will come into force later this month in a North London borough that will allow people to build extensions and adapt homes more easily. It is hoped the new guidelines will remove the need for many people to buy larger homes, and reduce overcrowding by making it simpler for major alterations and extensions to be built.

From January 25, homeowners across Brent will see red tape cut for home alterations, after the council adopted new planning guidelines via the Residential Extensions and Alterations Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).

Brent Council suggests the new guidelines will allow for 'better use of existing housing stock', as well as allowing residents to adapt their homes to the changing needs of the household. Moving forward, the SPD will be used when determining applications where planning permission is required.

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Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way
The new guidelines will be coming into force from January 25 -Credit:Google Maps

A document brought before the Cabinet last year (September 23), which has now been approved by the council, said: "The ability of occupiers to more easily extend their homes should reduce the potential for overcrowding. It will allow for the opportunity for children to have separate bedrooms, with the associated benefits to sleep, health and educational attainment."

Under the new guidelines, attached homes - such as terraced or semi-detached - can have single storey rear extensions up to six metres in depth from the original rear wall of the home, whilst detached homes can extend to depths of up to eight metres. However, the depth of the extensions must not be more than half the length of the garden.

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Single storey rear extensions up to three metres in depth for an attached home, or up to four metres in depth for a detached home, can be built up to four metres in height - as long as they have an eaves height of no more than three metres.

Single storey rear extensions of more than three metres in depth for an attached home, or more than four metres in depth for a detached home, could also be up to four metres in height as long as the property has an eaves height of no more than 2.5 metres along the boundary to any neighbouring properties.

For attached homes, two-storey rear extensions must not be more than three metres in depth from the original rear wall. For detached homes, two-storey rear extensions must not be more than four metres in depth from the original rear wall. The height of two-storey rear extensions must not be more than the roof ridgeline of the original home, with the eaves height no more than that of the home.

Brent Council's new guidelines allow for a single storey rear extensions to attached homes up to 3 metres in depth and 4 metres in height with a mono-pitched roof
Brent Council suggests the new guidelines will allow for 'better use of existing housing stock', as well as allowing residents to adapt their homes to the changing needs of the household -Credit:Brent Council

The new SPD also contains recommendations on flooding and biodiversity, with applicants encouraged to increase the biodiversity of their property by planting trees and flowering plants, retaining areas of long grass, nettles or overgrowth, introducing water features, and creating a compost heap.

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It also encourages applicants to address surface water flooding issues by introducing natural features, such as rain gardens or green roofs, as well as by not connecting the drainage of any new hard landscaping to the existing sewer network. If the extension or outbuilding is within an area of surface water flooding, the applicant will have to amend the planning application accordingly.

The council document states: "[The guidelines seek] to ensure that existing green space, trees, plants and biodiversity is retained as much as possible in development and where possible additional provision is made. It is supportive of incorporation of renewable energy and low carbon space heating sources [and] it seeks to ensure development avoids areas of flood risk and addresses any additional surface water run-off created by retaining it on site."

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