Rear extension in Wandsworth

Often yes without an application — Wandsworth's Victorian terraces largely retain the standard permitted development rights for single-storey rear extensions: up to 3m on attached houses, 4m on detached, or 6m/8m via the larger-home-extension prior approval route outside conservation areas. Inside one of the borough's conservation areas the single-storey rear allowance usually survives too, though two-storey and side extensions do not. Because the national Article 4 dataset holds no geometry for Wandsworth, check the council's own register before assuming those rights are intact at your specific address.

The 'between the commons' terraces extend routinely; scale against the neighbour's daylight to clear the 45-degree test.

Rear extensions are the default move on Wandsworth's dense Victorian terrace belt, from the streets between the commons to the villa stock nearer Putney and Battersea, and the borough has one of London's deepest precedent records for the project. That volume cuts both ways: officers know exactly what a consented extension on your street looks like, so a scheme that matches the established depth and brickwork tends to move quickly, while one that pushes past it invites direct comparison with what's already been refused nearby.

Permitted development (GPDO Class A) covers single-storey rear extensions up to 3m beyond the original rear wall on attached houses and 4m on detached, with a maximum height of 4m. The 'larger home extension' route extends this to 6m/8m through prior approval with neighbour consultation — but that larger route is not available in conservation areas.

In conservation areas, the basic 3m/4m single-storey rear PD allowance usually survives — what conservation-area status removes is side extensions and two-storey rear extensions. An Article 4 direction can remove more, but Camden's directions in Hampstead and Belsize target front-and-side appearance (solar panels, window changes, boundary treatments), not the single-storey rear allowance. Flats have no PD rights at all. Two-storey rear extensions in conservation areas always need full permission.

Practical rule across London: check the address first. If a conservation area or Article 4 direction applies, budget for a full householder application decided on design, neighbour daylight (the 45-degree test) and materials.