House extension in Greenwich

Connect the added space to the existing home.

Start with the house extension brief

Begin with how the new space will meet the old rooms, garden and circulation. A measured brief should record boundaries, levels, existing drains, neighbouring windows and the parts of the building you intend to keep.

Develop daylight, structure and services alongside the floor plan. Agree which openings and finishes are included, how the existing home will be protected during construction and which decisions need surveys or approval before a quotation.

The local building context

West Greenwich was designated in March 1968 and stretches from the town centre, the pier, the Thames foreshore and Cutty Sark to the station, the Georgian and Victorian housing and the open heath at the edge of Blackheath. Its appraisal, listed by the council as 2013 but written before summer 2010, divides it into five character areas, from the Thames waterfront to Blackheath and the houses on the hill. Crooms Hill opens with an early Georgian terrace of 1721, and Gloucester Circus, designed by Michael Searles, was completed in 1809.

Westcombe Park was designated on 6 February 2002 and grew piecemeal through speculative building in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, not as a planned estate. Its 2010 appraisal describes two- and three-storey Victorian and Edwardian houses following the contours: late-Victorian detached or paired villas on substantial plots, and Edwardian pairs and terraces with double-height bays, in yellow stock and red brick with slate or clay-tile roofs and terracotta detail. The land falls from about 50 metres above sea level at Westcombe Park Road to 30 metres at the railway.

The council’s own lists head most West Greenwich streets SE10 and most Westcombe Park streets SE3, but they disagree on edge streets such as Point Hill, Maze Hill and Dinsdale Road. Westcombe Park Road, Mycenae Road and Beaconsfield Road are split between conservation areas, and Nos 3, 5 and 7 Westcombe Park Road, though locally listed, lie outside the Westcombe Park conservation area. Ward names such as Greenwich Park or Blackheath Westcombe do not settle it either. For any one property, what counts is the council’s conservation map, the national and local heritage lists, the Article 4 pages, the title or lease and the planning record.

Local design and consent context

The Westcombe Park character appraisal and management strategy were adopted in March 2010, eight years after designation. In 2010 the area held 91 locally listed buildings and 19 tree preservation orders. The strategy recommended redrawing the boundary to leave out Restell Close and its blocks of flats, including Woodland Heights and Norfolk House; whether that change was made is not stated, so check the current map.

No Article 4 direction on householder alterations has been made for Westcombe Park. The 2010 strategy recommended one covering windows, doors, extensions and porches at the front or side, roofing materials, rooflights and dormers, and painting or cladding, but it does not appear on the council’s Article 4 pages. The borough-wide house-to-HMO direction, in force from 27 September 2018, reaches Westcombe Park and West Greenwich alike, and from 8 August 2023 another direction has withdrawn the right to turn commercial (Class E) premises into homes on the red-edged blocks of Greenwich District Centre; it does not concern houses.

Three documents make up the adopted plan: the London Plan 2021; the council’s own Core Strategy with Detailed Policies, which dates from 30 July 2014; and the Lee Neighbourhood Plan 2024 wherever it is relevant. Policy DH4 asks that development in the World Heritage Site buffer zone and setting does not harm the Site’s values, including views to and from it; DH(h) sets the test for conservation areas, that proposals preserve or enhance their character or appearance; and DH(a) applies to rear, side and other additions, including basements. The Urban Design Guide, adopted on 18 October 2023 as a supplementary planning document, adds detailed design advice.

Access and site planning

Royal Greenwich licenses the use of its streets. Skip hire companies, not householders, apply for the licence a skip on the road needs, which normally lasts 30 days; a skip on a driveway or front garden needs no licence. Scaffolding and hoardings on a public street or pavement need licences, usually for one calendar month at a time, and building materials on a street or footpath need a licence of their own. Apply for parking bay suspensions 10 working days ahead. On streets that climb the escarpment, such as Hyde Vale, settle skip and delivery positions early.

Continue planning

The Greenwich area guide · House extension across London · Hampstead Architecture & Planning · Hampstead Chartered Surveyors

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