An extension is a planning question, a structural question and a drainage question at the same time. We build it, coordinate the structural engineer, and arrange the building control applications and inspections. We can work alongside your architect or planning consultant, and we do not draw the scheme or write the calculations ourselves. This page sets out what governs an extension in Royston and what the ground under it is.
North Hertfordshire District Council decides your extension, against a plan adopted in November 2022
The local planning authority for Royston is North Hertfordshire District Council, and the development plan is the North Hertfordshire Local Plan 2011 to 2031, adopted on 8 November 2022. That plan is the document your application is judged against.
The council also adopted the North Herts Design Code as a supplementary planning document on 29 June 2026, supporting Local Plan policies SP9 and D1. A design drawn up before that date is worth checking against it before it is submitted. We build to the drawings and the conditions as approved, and we raise anything on site that would depart from them.
Royston has no Article 4 direction, so householder permitted development rights are intact
There is no Article 4 direction anywhere in Royston. North Hertfordshire has only two, both made on 9 October 2012, covering Hitchin Conservation Area and Stockens Green Conservation Area.
The rights those directions remove elsewhere, enlargement or alteration of a house, roof alterations, porches, hard surfaces, chimneys and flues, gates, walls and fences fronting a highway, and exterior painting, are not removed anywhere in Royston. Permitted development still has its own size and position limits, and a listed building or a conservation area address changes what is available. We check the status of the property before the design is fixed.
Two things to settle before the drawings: your neighbours' light and any protected tree
Local Plan Policy D3, Protecting living conditions, is the policy an objection from a neighbour will be tested against, and it names loss of daylight and sunlight, overlooking and dominance among the harms the council will consider. Designing against those three at the start costs less than answering them once an application is in.
On trees, the 2007 conservation area plan for Royston does not show every tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order and does not constitute a tree survey. Protection has to be checked with the council rather than read off the map. A protected tree near the foundation line affects the consent and the foundation design together.
What your foundations meet depends on which part of Royston you are in
The bedrock is not the same across the town. Royston sits about 200 feet above sea level in a shallow bowl in the East Anglian Heights chalk escarpment, a continuation of the Chilterns. British Geological Survey mapping puts New Pit Chalk Formation under the higher ground south towards Therfield Heath and Sun Hill, and under the built up area south of the town centre. The older Holywell Nodular Chalk is confined to the northern part of the town.
The superficial cover changes as well. The same mapping shows dry valley deposits of clay, silt, sand and gravel on the ground south west of Royston towards Therfield Heath, and glacial till of the Lowestoft Formation on the higher ground due south. Foundation depth follows the trial hole rather than the map, and we dig before the engineer fixes the design.
- Planning applications and permitted development assessments
- Flat and pitched roofs with rooflights or lanterns
- Roof works and structural alterations at roof level
- First fix and second fix plumbing and electrics throughout
- Trial holes to set foundation depth near drains and trees
Trusted House Extensions in Royston
An extension has two approval routes running in parallel, and confusing them is what causes delay. Planning permission, or a lawful development certificate, is decided by North Hertfordshire District Council. Building regulations approval and inspection are separate from it. We build the scheme, appoint and coordinate the structural engineer, arrange the building control applications and inspections, and keep the foundation design tied to what the trial holes actually show. You deal with one point of contact for the groundworks, the structure, the roof, the services and the finishes. GS Renovation Ltd is fully insured, registered in England, company number 14611254, and rated 4.9 from 31 reviews on MyBuilder.
- Weathertight shell reached before the fit-out begins
- One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
- Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
- Building control inspected at foundation, damp course and steel stages
- Site left safe and secure at the end of every day
- Party Wall notices served for excavation near a neighbour's wall