Elmbridge · Surrey
Extensions, loft and basement conversions and whole-house refurbishment in Elmbridge, from survey to handover, run by our team at Finchley Road.
This is the reference page for Elmbridge policy that our town pages point back to: the plan that decides an application, the Green Belt test in the council's own words, heritage controls, the 2024 flood and basement guidance, the Design Code and building control, each with its source.
Serving Elmbridge from our Hampstead studio · NW3 6DN
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Elmbridge towns
01 Six services
The Cobham page applies the borough policy below to the town's own conservation areas, houses and flood position, with a section on Stoke d'Abernon. It links our Cobham pages for whole-house refurbishment, extensions, kitchens, bathrooms, lofts and basements.
02 Six services
Esher's hub takes the Elmbridge rules down to the town's conservation areas, building types and flood position. From there you can reach the same six services we offer in Cobham, each written for Esher houses.
03 Seven services
Weybridge is the one Elmbridge town in this guide with a flat refurbishment page alongside its house services. The hub explains how district policy and the town's designations bear on each kind of project.
04 Four services
The Oxshott page covers house refurbishment, extensions, kitchens and basements. It reads the guidance on this page against Oxshott's houses, conservation status and flood position.
05 Four services
Claygate's hub links house refurbishment, extensions, kitchens and loft conversions. It reads the borough guidance here against the houses and designations in Claygate itself.
06 Two services
The St George's Hill page covers house refurbishment and extensions, using only what council policy and council sources say about the area. Planning there is decided under the same Elmbridge plan set out below.
The plan in force
The council's adopted development plan is made up of two documents, the Development Management Plan and the Core Strategy. Together they hold the policies used to assess planning applications and make decisions about development in the borough.
The Core Strategy, adopted in July 2011, contains the strategic policies, and its 15-year plan period came to an end in July 2026, and the council's page still lists it as part of the adopted plan, which covers the period from 2011 to 2026. The Development Management Plan, adopted at a meeting of the council on 15 April 2015 and covering the whole borough, holds the detailed policies an application is assessed against, including the Green Belt and heritage policies quoted below.
A draft replacement, the Elmbridge Local Plan 2037, was submitted for examination on 10 August 2023 but never adopted. Full Council resolved on 26 February 2025 to withdraw it, and the statement of withdrawal is dated 27 February 2025. Because it was withdrawn, we never cite it as policy.
Its successor, the Elmbridge Local Plan 2039, is being prepared under the reformed plan-making system introduced in March 2026. The council published its notice of intention to commence on 16 October 2026. Its timetable puts the scoping stage from 4 November 2026 to 9 December 2026, Gateway 1 and the formal start of plan-making on 16 February 2027, and adoption under Regulation 39 on 16 August 2029. The council reviews that timetable monthly and records any change on the same page.
Until the 2039 plan is adopted, an Elmbridge application is decided on the Core Strategy and Development Management Plan, read with national planning policy, which the council must take into account.
How decisions are taken is changing too. From 31 October 2026 a National Scheme of Delegation sets out which applications planning officers must decide and which can go to a planning committee. The council notes that most Elmbridge applications are already decided by officers, and that residents can still comment, with their comments taken into account.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Current adopted development plan; Elmbridge Borough Council: Core Strategy; Elmbridge Borough Council: Development Management Plan Adoption Statement; Elmbridge Borough Council: Withdrawal of Local Plan; Elmbridge Borough Council: Statement of Withdrawal (27 February 2025); Elmbridge Borough Council: Notice of intention to commence Elmbridge Local Plan 2039; Elmbridge Borough Council: New Local Plan (overview); Elmbridge Borough Council: Timetable for our new Local Plan; Elmbridge Borough Council: Changes to the planning system
Green Belt
Extensions, replacement buildings, outbuildings and basements in the Elmbridge Green Belt are assessed under policy DM18 of the Development Management Plan, “Green Belt (development of existing buildings)”. Its tests for an extension and for a basement are reproduced here word for word.
“Extensions and alterations to a building will be permitted provided they do not result in disproportionate additions over and above the size of the original building, either individually or cumulatively. Support will be given to proposals that do not have a materially greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt and, in particular:
“Proposals for a basement will be permitted provided it is wholly subterranean, does not generate significant additional activity on the site as a whole, does not exceed the footprint of the existing building (including as extended or replaced) and is served only by discreet light wells, ventilation systems or means of escape. Basements that do not comply with these provisions will be regarded as contributing to the increase in volume and footprint under (a) and (b) above.”
The policy's footnote adds that this “does not preclude features such as internal connections to the rest of the house”.
The plan's footnote to part (a)(ii) says the volume and footprint figures are “to be calculated based on external dimensions”.
Part (b) deals with a replacement building in the same use, which “will be permitted provided that the new building is not materially larger than the one it replaces”, with support for proposals that “do not result in an increase beyond 10% in volume and 10% in footprint”.
Part (c) says the volume and footprint of existing buildings to be demolished on the site “may be included in the increase in volume and footprint under (a) and (b) above, taking into account their size, permanence, design and proximity to the building to be extended or replaced”, and warns that “Conditions may be used to remove permitted development rights for further outbuildings and extensions.” Part (d) brings garden buildings into the same sum: “Proposals to erect, extend or replace an ancillary building within 5 metres of the main building will be treated as an extension to the main building, under (a) above.”
The supporting text fixes the baseline: “The original building will be determined based on its size as existing on 1 July 1948 or as first built if later than this date.” It adds that “The amount of enlargement is not dependent on the size of the plot or the general size of buildings in the area but rather the size of the original building”, and that “a significantly lower figure” may be more appropriate “based on the specifics of the site, such as in open and prominent locations where environmental constraints are a factor, including flood risk”.
For a Green Belt house our first task is to establish the original building: old plans, the planning history and every later extension and outbuilding, measured externally. The scheme is tested against DM18 before anyone becomes attached to a design, and the planning statement sets the calculation out line by line.
National policy applies alongside DM18. The government published an updated National Planning Policy Framework on 17 August 2026, and the council must take national policy into account when it determines applications.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Development Management Plan (April 2015); Elmbridge Borough Council: Changes to the planning system
Heritage
Elmbridge has 26 designated conservation areas covering more than 2,000 properties. They include historic town centres, village greens, a philanthropic retirement village, a 1920s motor racing circuit and river navigation channels.
The council's conservation area pages cover Brooklands; Claygate Village and Foley Estate; Cobham and Cobham (Plough Corner); Downside Village; Bridge Road and Old Village in East Molesey; Esher; Lakeside Drive; Hersham Village; Kent Town; Long Ditton; Stoke d'Abernon; Templemere, Weybridge; Thames Ditton and Giggs Hill Green; The Tilt; the Walton conservation areas; West End; Weston Green; Weybridge Town Centre and Monument Green; Wey Navigation; and Whiteley Village.
The council's My Neighbourhood map shows whether a property is in one, and most applications inside a conservation area need a Heritage Statement. Nine Conservation Area Advisory Committees, covering 19 of the 26 areas, give the council feedback on applications in their areas.
Policy DM12 sets the standard. Alterations and extensions “must have a sensitive and appropriate response to context and good attention to detail”, and development within or affecting the setting of a conservation area should preserve or enhance its character and appearance, “taking account of the streetscape, plot and frontage sizes, materials and relationships between existing buildings and spaces”.
A conservation area is also Article 2(3) land, which narrows householder permitted development for roof additions, side extensions and cladding; the Surrey page explains how.
Where an Article 4 direction removes a permitted development right, an application is needed for work that would otherwise be permitted. The council's Article 4 page lists two directions, both in Cobham. Land off Woodlands Lane: made on 7 March 2024 and confirmed, as modified, on 3 September 2024. Land off Pointers Road: made on 17 September 2019 and confirmed on 16 March 2020. Each withdraws rights under Class A of Part 2 and Class B of Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO 2015, not the Part 1 householder rights.
We read the council's Article 4 page and the property's planning history for every address at the outset, rather than relying on a summary that may have changed since it was written.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: About conservation areas; Elmbridge Borough Council: Conservation areas (index); Elmbridge Borough Council: Conservation Area Advisory Committees; Elmbridge Borough Council: Development Management Plan (April 2015); legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): GPDO 2015, Schedule 1, Part 1 - Article 2(3) land; legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 (development within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse) - latest available (revised); Elmbridge Borough Council: Permitted development and article 4 directions
Listed and locally listed
Approximately 750 buildings in Elmbridge are statutorily listed. The council's Explore Elmbridge map and Historic England's National Heritage List for England both show whether a particular building is one of them.
Listing covers “both external and internal features”, as well as curtilage listed buildings and boundary walls and fences. Altering, extending or demolishing a listed building in a way that affects its character needs Listed Building Consent first, every such application needs a Heritage Statement, and maintenance and like for like repairs do not need consent. If it is unclear whether consent is needed, the council's Heritage team can be asked online.
Under policy DM12, development to a listed building, or within its curtilage or vicinity, “should preserve or enhance its setting and any features of special architectural or historical interest which it possesses”. Nationally, a garden building inside the curtilage of a listed building is outside Class E permitted development.
Alongside the statutory list the council keeps a Local Heritage Asset List, agreed on 5 July 2023. Local listing “does not give any additional legal protection”, but the council applies national and local conservation policies through the planning process, and DM12 says it will seek to retain such buildings where possible and assess proposals “in the light of their significance and the degree of harm or loss”.
With a listed or locally listed house we record the historic fabric before drawing, keep repairs and new work in separate parts of the specification so it is clear which items need consent, and agree the scope with the council before work starts.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Listed and locally listed buildings; Elmbridge Borough Council: Development Management Plan (April 2015); legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 (development within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse) - latest available (revised)
Flood risk
A significant proportion of Elmbridge lies within areas at risk of river flooding from the Thames, Mole, Dead River, Rythe and Wey. The council's Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, published in April 2024 to replace the 2019 version, covers flood risk from all sources, including rivers, surface water, groundwater, sewers and reservoirs.
It includes a schedule for each of the eight Settlement Areas in the borough, and the council describes it as a “living” document, updated as the Environment Agency and others change their flood mapping.
For householder development in Flood Zone 3, the assessment asks for evidence either that floor levels will be no lower than existing, with flood proofing where appropriate, or that floor levels in the extension will be 300mm above the known or modelled 1 in 100 year river flood level including climate change, shown on a plan with levels stated in relation to Ordnance Datum. In Flood Zone 2 it asks for the first of those: floor levels no lower than existing, with flood proofing where appropriate.
The assessment recognises that raising the floor can be impractical for an extension to a building with a lower floor level, and in that case it points applicants to the Environment Agency or the council to discuss a reduced level with flood resistance measures.
Basements, basement extensions, conversions of basements to a higher vulnerability classification and self-contained units “are not to be permitted in Flood Zone 3b. Nor should they be permitted in areas prone to groundwater flooding.”
“Self-contained residential basements and bedrooms at basement level are not permitted in Flood Zone 3a.”
“All basements, basement extensions and conversions must have internal access to a higher floor situated 300mm above the 1 in 100 year (1% AEP) flood level including climate change.”
Groundwater runs through the advice. The assessment says the superficial geology under Elmbridge is predominantly permeable and connected to the Thames and other watercourses. It says a preliminary Hydrogeological Risk Assessment should be undertaken for all proposed developments, and that where the preliminary one identifies works below ground or changes in drainage, a further assessment, “sometimes called a Basement Impact Assessment”, will be required.
The council's Flood Risk SPD, adopted on 3 May 2016, provides a flood risk assessment template for small scale development including householder extensions, and a user guide for extensions in Flood Zone 2 and areas of medium to high surface water risk. A completed assessment “does not automatically mean that the development is acceptable in flood risk terms”.
We print the Environment Agency map, read the Settlement Area schedule and fix floor levels before the layout is settled. For a basement, the groundwater assessment is commissioned before design, so the scheme is drawn around its findings rather than revised after them.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Flood Risk SPD page; Elmbridge Borough Council: Evidence page (SFRA, Green Belt reviews); Elmbridge Borough Council: Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, April 2024 (AECOM)
Design guidance
The council adopted the Elmbridge Design Code as a Supplementary Planning Document on 17 April 2024. It replaces the 2012 Design and Character SPD for every application submitted after 6 January 2025, and the council's Local Validation Checklist requires a Design Code Checklist with a householder application.
The Code's householder category takes in “single and two-storey extensions, loft conversions, conservatories, raised patios, fences, outbuildings, porches and similar”.
“A minimum of 1 metre should be maintained between any extension above ground floor level and the boundary.” Single storey extensions too close to the boundary can cause problems with foundations or guttering.
An extension's roof “should be similar to that of the existing house, in scale, design and the angle of the pitch”, and the eaves of a two-storey extension should line through from the host building and sit no higher. Roof extensions and dormers should avoid dominating the roofscape.
Materials and detailing should match the existing building in design, colour and texture, and an extension should not cause any significant loss of privacy to adjoining houses and gardens.
We complete the Design Code Checklist from the drawings as the scheme develops, so each answer points to a dimension, a roof pitch or a material shown on the plans rather than a general statement.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Design Code SPD page; Elmbridge Borough Council: Elmbridge Design Code 2024 (SPD)
Sign-off
Building control for Elmbridge addresses is provided by Elmbridge Building Control Services (EBCS), for Elmbridge Borough Council, until 31 March 2027, and from 1 April 2027 the provider named by East Surrey Council. EBCS describes itself as the official building control authority for Elmbridge and for Epsom & Ewell, and as an independent building control mutual.
Approval may be needed for extending a home or making structural alterations, and the council is clear that building work must comply with the national Building Regulations “regardless of whether planning permission is required”. A rear extension or loft built under permitted development still has to meet them.
We submit the building regulations application with the structural engineer's calculations, book each inspection the surveyor asks for, and hand over the completion certificate with the house. Party wall notices run on their own track and are served before work near a shared wall begins.
East Surrey Council takes on responsibility for all local council services from 1 April 2027, so it will name the provider from that date. For any Elmbridge project that will still be on site then, we confirm the provider before vesting day.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Building control; Elmbridge Building Control Services Ltd: Elmbridge Building Control Services Ltd (EBCS) - Elmbridge and Epsom & Ewell; Surrey councils (Future Surrey hub, linked from Elmbridge home page): East Surrey Council (Future Surrey LGR hub)
Private estates
The Core Strategy describes Elmbridge as “well known for its extensive private residential estates”.
Its policy for Weybridge, CS4, covers an area that “also includes Oatlands and St George's Hill”. Policy CS17, Local Character, Density and Design, names the St George's Hill Estate and the Crown Estate, Oxshott, among the places excepted from the minimum density it sets for new housing.
That density rule concerns new housing. An extension or refurbishment on an estate is assessed under the same Development Management Plan as anywhere else, since the plan covers the whole of the borough. Our St George's Hill page applies the council's policies there.
These pages describe council policy only and say nothing about any estate's own arrangements. If the house is on a private estate, tell us at the first visit, so the brief can allow for anything you need to agree beyond the council's consents.
Sources: Elmbridge Borough Council: Elmbridge Core Strategy; Elmbridge Borough Council: Development Management Plan Adoption Statement
Our Hampstead base, serving Elmbridge
Our studio is in Hampstead on Finchley Road, at NW3 6DN. We serve Elmbridge from this office. Bring us the practical questions about your house, flat or bathroom and the result you want to achieve.
Contact the studio to discuss your brief and arrange the next step. If you already have drawings, a lease or planning correspondence, tell us what is available.
Book a free feasibility visitFrom 1 April 2027
Elmbridge is one of the five districts that make up East Surrey under the Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026. Planning decisions rest with Elmbridge Borough Council until 31 March 2027; East Surrey Council from 1 April 2027. On 1 April 2027 the outgoing councils are wound up and the new council becomes the sole principal authority for East Surrey.
The Core Strategy and Development Management Plan do not lapse. Regulation 19 of the 2008 transitional regulations gives a local plan or local development document adopted by a predecessor council before the reorganisation date effect on and after that date as if it had been adopted by that council's related planning successor, for the part of its area that corresponds to the area the plan relates to, so DM18 and the other policies on this page go on applying to Elmbridge addresses.
East Surrey Council must adopt a local plan for the whole of East Surrey within five years starting with the reorganisation date. Until then it may revise or replace an inherited plan for part of its area, and it may adopt, with or without modification, a plan that a predecessor prepared but did not adopt before the reorganisation date.
Dropped kerbs and other highway consents change hands on that date too: Surrey County Council until 31 March 2027; East Surrey Council from 1 April 2027. The new council takes over the services the county council provides now, as well as those of Elmbridge Borough Council.
A project that straddles vesting day needs one extra step: for any Elmbridge job still in planning or on site in March 2027, we confirm with the council which body will issue the decision, the building control completion and any highways consent, and keep the paperwork addressed accordingly.
Outside Elmbridge, and in London rather than Surrey: Holland Avenue, Wimbledon SW20. That completed project of ours combined a loft conversion, a double-storey extension to the rear and side, and a whole-home refurbishment, as its case study describes.
Sources: legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives): The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026 (S.I. 2026/264); The Surrey (Structural Changes) Order 2026 (S.I. 2026/264), article 3; The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Transitional Arrangements) (No.2) Regulations 2008 (S.I. 2008/2867), regulation 19, as amended (text at 1 November 2026); Surrey County Council: Vehicle crossovers or dropped kerbs (Surrey County Council); Surrey councils (Future Surrey hub, linked from Elmbridge home page): East Surrey Council (Future Surrey LGR hub); Hampstead Renovations: Holland Avenue, Wimbledon SW20 case study
Elmbridge questions
Elmbridge Borough Council until 31 March 2027; East Surrey Council from 1 April 2027. The new council takes over all local council services for Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge, including those the county council provides today, so dropped kerbs and highways move as well: Surrey County Council until 31 March 2027; East Surrey Council from 1 April 2027. Until vesting day the existing councils operate as normal, and the adopted Elmbridge plan carries over to the new council afterwards.
The adopted development plan: the Core Strategy, adopted in July 2011, and the Development Management Plan, adopted on 15 April 2015. The Core Strategy's 15-year plan period came to an end in July 2026, but the council still lists both documents as its adopted plan. The draft Elmbridge Local Plan 2037 was withdrawn in February 2025 and is not policy. Its successor, the Elmbridge Local Plan 2039, has a timetabled adoption date of 16 August 2029.
Policy DM18(a) of the Development Management Plan answers in its own words: extensions will be permitted provided they "do not result in disproportionate additions over and above the size of the original building, either individually or cumulatively", and support is given to proposals that, among other things, "Do not result in an increase beyond 25% in volume and 25% in footprint" and "Do not materially increase the overall height of the building." The original building is the house as it stood on 1 July 1948, or as first built if later, and the figures are calculated on external dimensions. Outbuildings within 5 metres of the house count as extensions, and part (e) covers basements.
Elmbridge has 26 conservation areas, and the council's My Neighbourhood map will show whether your address is in one; most applications inside one need a Heritage Statement. The council's Article 4 page lists two directions, for land off Woodlands Lane and land off Pointers Road in Cobham, which withdraw rights under Part 2 Class A and Part 4 Class B of the GPDO rather than householder rights. A conservation area is also Article 2(3) land, which on its own limits permitted development for roof additions, side extensions and cladding.
Elmbridge Building Control Services (EBCS), for Elmbridge Borough Council, until 31 March 2027, and from 1 April 2027 the provider named by East Surrey Council. Building work has to meet the Building Regulations whether or not it needs planning permission, so an extension built under permitted development still has to comply. For any project that will run past vesting day, we confirm the provider with the council beforehand.
Start with the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning, which tells you whether an application needs a flood risk assessment. Then read the council's Level 1 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment of April 2024 for your Settlement Area: it covers rivers, surface water, groundwater, sewers and reservoirs, and sets the basement rules, including that basements are not to be permitted in Flood Zone 3b and should not be permitted in areas prone to groundwater flooding. The council's Flood Risk SPD has an assessment template for householder extensions.
Every town page we publish for Elmbridge.