MCIAT chartered drawings · Fixed fees across all 33 London boroughs and Essex
[email protected]020 7864 7245WhatsApp

Free 2026 London Planning Report — East Dulwich SE22

A single-storey rear extension opening onto a narrow London garden, with bifold doors and a paved patio.
SE22 · East Dulwich · Southwark

Planning and building regulation drawings in East Dulwich (SE22)

Walk down Lordship Lane on a Saturday and you'll pass more building skips than you can count. East Dulwich is a district of terraces, mostly, and terraces mean a fairly predictable set of jobs: a side return filled in, a loft turned into a bedroom, a kitchen pushed out into the garden. The houses off the 'Derbyshire colony' streets, Melbourne Grove among them, keep a consistent late-Victorian and Edwardian frontage, and that consistency is exactly what shapes what you're allowed to change and how.

  • MCIAT chartered technologists
  • London Borough of Southwark granted 95% of 612 householder applications
  • Drawings in about 7 days

Free East Dulwich planning assessment

Tell us your SE22 address and project. A fixed quote and a route answer within one working day.

No obligation · No spam · Reply within 1 working day

Not every street here sits inside a conservation area, and that matters more than people expect. The Gardens, tucked west of Peckham Rye Common off East Dulwich Road and built around a central green, holds tighter control over what a homeowner can alter at the front. Head south toward the district boundary and the character shifts again near Dulwich Village, with its older street pattern and mature greenery setting a different tone for design decisions. Elsewhere, the terraces along Lordship Lane, North Cross Road and Barry Road are the streets where most of that rear-extension and loft-conversion work actually happens.

We draw for East Dulwich the way we draw everywhere: survey the house first, understand what the street actually looks like, then work out whether a project needs full planning permission or can go ahead under permitted development. The grander villas near Dulwich Village and the houses fronting Peckham Rye tend to invite more scrutiny on massing and materials than the plainer colony terraces further north, and we say so plainly before anyone commits to a design.

Planning in East Dulwich: what to know before you apply

Southwark assesses most East Dulwich householder applications against the established terrace character rather than a single borough-wide rulebook, so a dormer or side infill on Melbourne Grove gets judged on how it sits against its immediate neighbours, not just the district as a whole. Because Southwark publishes its Article 4 directions and none currently removes permitted-development rights across these streets, many East Dulwich houses can still extend to the rear or convert a loft without a full planning application, provided the scheme stays within the usual size and height limits. Inside The Gardens or Dulwich Village conservation areas, a single-storey rear extension within those standard limits can still go ahead as permitted development, but the designation withdraws the broader toolkit: side extensions, cladding, roof enlargements and the larger-home-extension route all need full planning permission instead. We check a property's exact designation against Southwark's records before we draw a line, because getting that wrong wastes a homeowner's time at the validation stage.

Applications are decided by London Borough of Southwark — its planning pages.

Check your route

Does your East Dulwich project need planning permission?

Route check · East Dulwich (SE22)

Listed building?
Conservation area?
Likely permitted development — no planning applicationNeeds checking
  • A single-storey rear extension up to 4 m deep on a detached house, or 3 m on any other house, is Class A permitted development subject to the height and materials conditions.
  • An Article 4 direction applies here and may withdraw this freedom — the schedule must be checked before relying on it.
  • One or more constraints are unknown — we check the council's registers as part of the free appraisal.
  • Where permitted development applies, a lawful development certificate proves it for lenders and buyers.

Sources: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 · Planning Portal — common projects · Building Regulations 2010 — when approval is needed

This is a first-pass indication from the national rules, not planning advice for your property. Your council's registers, any Article 4 schedule and the exact dimensions decide it — the free appraisal checks all three before we recommend a route.

Confirm it with a free appraisal

East Dulwich (SE22) in numbers

What London Borough of Southwark has decided, and what SE22 is built of — the two facts that shape every job here.

Householder planning decisions — London Borough of Southwark

East Dulwich (SE22) applications are decided by London Borough of Southwark; these are its published householder figures for the last four quarters.

Householder applications decided2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1612
Granted580
Refused32
Grantedof 612 decisions · England 90%95%
Decided within 8 weeksof 492, excluding prior approvals97%

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS2 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Permitted development prior approvals — London Borough of Southwark

How the larger-home-extension route has fared with London Borough of Southwark, which decides SE22 notifications.

Larger home extension prior approvals — not required2024 Q2 to 2026 Q119
Prior approval granted9
Prior approval refused4

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS1 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Planning appeals — London Borough of Southwark

Refusals in SE22 can be appealed to the Planning Inspectorate; this is London Borough of Southwark's householder appeal record.

Householder appeals determined2021–202673
Allowed20
Allowedof 73 · England 36%27%

Source: Planning Inspectorate appeals casework. Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Conservation areas and Article 4 directions — London Borough of Southwark

Register counts for London Borough of Southwark. A count describes what the council has published, never a rank against another council.

Conservation areas in the register47 dated, 1968–201656
Article 4 directions in the register480
Areas covered by an Article 4 direction480

Source: MHCLG Planning Data Platform. Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

What SE22 is built of

Residential building form across East Dulwich (SE22), from 359 classified buildings — the fact that decides party walls, side returns and loft headroom before any policy does.

Attached on more than one side54%
Attached on one side40%
Detached6%
Median building footprint66 m²
Addresses per buildingAbove about 2 means flats and maisonettes dominate1.6
Buildings classified359

Source: Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (derived statistics). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Extracted 2026-09-22.

  1. Day 0Measured survey of your East Dulwich property — or your existing plans if you have them.
  2. About 7 daysDrawings issued for your approval. Free redraws until you are happy.
  3. SubmissionWe validate against London Borough of Southwark’s checklist and submit on your behalf.
  4. Council: 8-week targetHouseholder applications carry an 8-week statutory target. London Borough of Southwark decided 97% of 492 recent householder applications inside it.

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS2 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Neighbourhoods

Streets and neighbourhoods in SE22

East Dulwichpredominantly late-Victorian and Edwardian
Nearby

Nearby postcode districts

Dulwich SE21Forest Hill SE23Penge SE20Herne Hill SE24Upper Norwood SE19South Norwood SE25Woolwich SE18Sydenham SE26
FAQ

East Dulwich (SE22) — FAQs

Do I need planning permission for a side return extension in East Dulwich?+
It depends on the street. Many of the terraces off Lordship Lane sit outside a conservation area, so a single-storey rear or side return extension can often proceed under permitted development if it keeps within the standard depth and height limits. Properties inside The Gardens or close to Dulwich Village keep that same permitted-development route for a modest single-storey rear extension, but the conservation area withdraws it for side extensions, cladding and roof enlargements, so we check the designation on a property's specific address before assuming what's allowed.
Can I convert my house into flats near Melbourne Grove?+
Converting a house into separate flats needs planning permission wherever it's proposed, including on the colony streets around Melbourne Grove, because a change of use like that isn't covered by permitted development rights. Southwark will look at how the conversion affects parking, amenity space and the external appearance of a terrace that currently reads as a single dwelling, and a property inside The Gardens or Dulwich Village conservation area faces closer design scrutiny on top of that.
Free Fixed Quote

Get your free East Dulwich planning assessment

Tell us your SE22 address and ambition — feasibility, constraints and a fixed fee within one working day.