An extension in Weybridge starts with two questions. Whether you need planning permission at all, and what Elmbridge Borough Council will measure the design against if you do. We are the contractor: we build to the architect's drawings and the engineer's calculations, and coordinate building control. Quotations are free and carry no obligation.
Outside the conservation areas, permitted development applies in full
Elmbridge Borough Council has only two Article 4 directions. One is on land off Woodlands Lane, Cobham, the other on land off Pointers Road, Cobham. Neither is in Weybridge, so outside the Weybridge conservation areas the ordinary permitted development rules apply in full.
Both directions remove Class A of Part 2 and Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 of the GPDO 2015. Class A of Part 2 covers gates, fences, walls and other means of enclosure. Class B of Part 4 covers the temporary use of land, the 28 day rule. Neither is a householder extension right. So the designation to check against your address is the conservation area boundary.
At Templemere the council says extending is very difficult
Elmbridge Borough Council states that in practice it will be very difficult to extend the houses within the Templemere estate without compromising the architectural character and quality of the existing building. The estate was designated a conservation area on 13 June 2017, and the council describes it as a 1960s development of 65 houses set in 12 acres of historic grounds. There are no statutory listed buildings and no locally listed buildings inside it. All 65 houses, their boundary walls and their garages are treated as Significant Unlisted Buildings. Take that as the starting position and get planning advice before you pay for a design.
St George's Hill has a second consent to satisfy
The estate is governed by its own private Act of Parliament, the St. George's Hill, Weybridge, Estate Act 1990, cited as 1990 chapter i. Elmbridge Borough Council also states that the estate has established covenants, and that these, together with its special low density designation, leave few opportunities for new development there.
In the council's Weybridge character assessment the estate is sub area WEY16, described as a designated special low density residential area of large gated detached houses, mainly two storey, some with rooms in the roof space. The council records that the houses sit in plots which historically were no less than one acre, with large front and rear gardens. Space is not the constraint on that ground. Consent is, and we would not start on site until both sides of it are settled in writing.
The numbers Elmbridge measures the design against
Three of them shape the drawing. A 45 degree daylight test applies to two storey extensions closer than 15 metres from a neighbour's window, measured along the sight line. It applies to single storey extensions closer than 8 metres, unless they project no more than 3 metres. A minimum of 1 metre is asked for between any extension above ground floor level and the site boundary, to stop side extensions creating a terracing effect.
The third is ours as much as the designer's. Elmbridge advises aiming for a minimum of 300 millimetres between the side wall of a single storey extension and the property boundary, so foundations or guttering do not encroach over the line. That figure decides how we dig, how we scaffold and whether we need your neighbour's cooperation to build the flank wall at all.
- Steel goalpost frames where the rear wall opens up
- Drainage diversion and build-over agreements with the water authority
- First fix and second fix plumbing and electrics throughout
- Building control inspections at foundation, damp course and steel stages
- Single and double storey extensions
Why Choose GS Renovation in Weybridge
We are the builder, not the designer and not the planning consultant. That division is worth being clear about on an extension, because the consents come first and the drawings come second. We build to the architect's drawings and to the structural engineer's calculations, appoint the engineer where you do not already have one, and coordinate the building control application and inspections. Fully insured, registered in England, company number 14611254.
- One point of contact on the phone, not a call centre
- Neighbours given notice before the noisy stages
- Brick and mortar matched to the existing elevation
- A dedicated project manager from first survey to handover
- Fully insured, with cover in place on every site
- Insulation and thermal detailing to current regulations