Side return extension drawings in Hackney from £665
Stoke Newington, Clapton, De Beauvoir and London Fields: Hackney’s new SPD decides by where you live whether you may wrap round the outrigger.
£665 £515 drawings + £150 survey (£665 total), no VAT to add
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The short answer
Hackney’s Residential extensions and alterations SPD, adopted in December 2025, says that outside conservation areas wrap-around extensions on houses with an original outrigger will generally be acceptable subject to depth, scale and form. Inside a conservation area it will usually only be possible to infill the area beside the outrigger, not extend beyond or wrap round it, where that is not the terrace’s established character. Our fee is £515 drawings + £150 survey (£665 total), no VAT to add; the council’s fee is separate.
Side return extension drawings
from £665
- Drawings
- £515
- Measured survey
- £150
- Total you pay
- £665
- VAT
- None to add
- A measured survey of the outrigger, the side return, the neighbour’s wall and the drain beneath
- A check of whether you are inside a conservation area, which decides infill against wrap-around
- A roof two or three brick courses below the first-floor sill and a boundary height suited to the length
- The 45 degree rule from the nearest neighbouring ground-floor habitable window
- Party wall notice advice, plans to the checklist and the route that fits, submitted for you
£515 drawings + £150 survey (£665 total). A starting fee: we confirm one fixed figure after checking your address. The council’s own fee, where there is one, is paid to the council.
Get my fixed feeHow a Hackney side return runs
Area check
We check conservation area and Article 4 status first, because it changes what you can draw.
Survey
We measure the strip, the outrigger and the neighbour’s windows.
Design
You choose infill or wrap-around where allowed, with the party wall and route written down.
Draw and submit
We prepare the pack to the checklist and submit it.
Infill or wrap-around: the conservation area line
The SPD’s section on dwellings with an original outrigger splits on location. Generally outside conservation areas, wrap-around extensions on properties with an original outrigger are acceptable subject to their depth, scale and form in relation to the host building and surroundings. Generally inside conservation areas, it will only be possible to infill the area beside the original outrigger, and not extend beyond it or wrap round it where that is not the established character of the surrounding terrace.
The figures show an infill that stops at the outrigger’s end as acceptable inside a conservation area, and a wrap-around that passes it as unacceptable. For example, a De Beauvoir house can fill its side return but not carry the extension across the back, while an owner two streets away outside the area can.
Depth, height and the 45 degree rule
All single-storey rear extensions must also meet the rear extension principles: no deeper than 3 metres on a terrace and 3.5 on a semi from the original rear elevation, at least 50% of the original garden kept, a roof visibly lower than the first-floor sill, and a boundary height that depends on length, context and neighbour impact. The 45 degree rule is assessed in plan and elevation from the nearest ground-floor habitable window next door.
Some side returns fit permitted development, being single storey, no higher than 4 metres and no wider than half the original house, but not in conservation areas. Hackney has 35 conservation areas and recent Article 4 directions in Brownswood and Well Street.
Validation and CIL
Hackney’s validation checklist asks for elevations, floor plans, site sections and roof plans at 1:50 or 1:100 and a scale bar from 0 to 10 metres. The council aims to decide in 8 weeks from a valid application.
Hackney CIL generally applies from 100 square metres of new floor area, and a liability under £50 is zero, so a side return is outside it. Mayoral CIL is in band 2.
Side returns in Hackney in numbers
223 of 247
Householder decisions by the London Borough of Hackney between July 2025 and June 2026 (prior approvals left out) that were made inside 8 weeks.
Source: MHCLG live table PS2, district planning application statistics, July 2025 to June 2026 (GOV.UK)
Infill only
Inside conservation areas it will usually only be possible to infill beside the original outrigger, not extend beyond it or wrap round it.
Wrap-around
Generally outside conservation areas, wrap-around extensions on properties with an original outrigger will be acceptable subject to depth, scale and form.
3 / 3.5 / 4 m
Maximum depth of a single-storey rear extension from the original rear elevation: terraced, semi-detached, detached.
2 to 3 courses
Brick courses by which the extension roof should sit below the first-floor window sill.
Dec 2025
Date Hackney adopted the SPD, replacing the 2009 guide, in effect from January 2026.
35
Conservation areas across Hackney.
9 May 2025
Date the Brownswood and Well Street Article 4 directions, made in May 2024, took effect.
0 to 10 m
Minimum scale bar Hackney asks for on every plan and drawing.
Source: Planning Application Validation Checklist (Hackney Planning Service)
8 weeks
Time Hackney aims to take to decide a householder application, from the day it is made valid.
Source: Submit your planning application (London Borough of Hackney)
Questions about side returns in Hackney
Can I wrap my extension round the back in a conservation area?
Usually not. You can generally infill beside the outrigger but not extend beyond it or wrap round it where that is not the terrace’s established character.
And outside a conservation area?
Wrap-arounds are generally acceptable subject to depth, scale and form in relation to the house and its surroundings.
How far past the outrigger can I go?
The rear extension depths apply: 3 metres on a terrace and 3.5 on a semi from the original rear elevation, with half the garden kept.
Do I pay CIL on a side return?
No. It is far under the 100 square metre threshold, and the extension creates no dwelling.
See what the side of your Hackney house can take
Send the address and a photo of the back. We reply with the route and a fixed fee, from £515 drawings + £150 survey (£665 total).