Larger home extension in Brent: when the council says no, what happens next
In Brent, notifications that need a decision are rarely granted: the council's register for 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2 shows 15 granted and 171 refused, alongside 323 recorded as prior approval not required. That shapes how we plan the work, with a second route costed before you file. Fixed £595, survey included.
Fixed fee from £395 drawings + £200 survey (£595 total) · all prices
Prefer to talk it through?
Brent's register in plain numbers
Across the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2, MHCLG's statistics record 323 Brent notifications as prior approval not required, 15 granted and 171 refused.
A "not required" result is a go-ahead and is the commonest outcome. Where the council did make a decision, 171 of the 186 decided were refused. That is about 92% by our calculation, so a Brent applicant who needs a decision should plan for a refusal as a real possibility, not a remote one.
Prior Approval Extension Brent
from £595
£395 drawings + £200 survey (£595 total)
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- A measured survey visit to the house and garden
- A check of conservation area and Article 4 limits for your address
- Existing and proposed ground floor plan and rear elevation
- Depth, maximum height and eaves height written out for the council
- The list of adjoining addresses the council must notify
- A note of the fallback planning route if a refusal looks likely
- Survey and check
Measure the house and read the constraints for your address.
- Decide the depth
Choose a depth and height you can defend against the nearest neighbour.
- File the notification
We send the set and the council writes to neighbours.
- Read the outcome
Not required means go ahead; a refusal sends you to plan B.
- Plan B
The same survey supports a householder planning application.
Plan B costs less when it is planned early
A refused notification does not end the project. The survey and the existing drawings carry straight into a householder planning application, where the council judges the design as well as the neighbour effect. Knowing that before you file means you can choose a shallower first scheme that is likelier to pass, or go straight to planning.
We give you that choice on the survey day, not after a refusal. Nothing here is a promise of either outcome.
Across the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2, MHCLG's statistics record 323 Brent notifications as prior approval not required, 15 granted and 171 refused.
Conservation areas, and a large Article 4 count
The Planning Data Platform lists 23 live conservation areas in Brent. The 6 m and 8 m depths do not apply inside one.
It also lists 162 Article 4 direction areas covering all classes of development. That figure alone does not say how many remove extension rights; only a direction covering Class A does. We read the direction for your address, as the number cannot do it for us.
The rules we are drawing to
Up to 6 m beyond the original rear wall for a house other than a detached one, 8 m for a detached house, never above 4 m high. The council has 42 days from a complete notification, and its own fee is £249. Our prior approval page has the detail, and building regulations and any party wall notices follow separately.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 6 metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(g): larger single-storey rear extension, maximum depth beyond the rear wall for a house other than detached, subject to prior approval under A.4 (source wording: "6 metres") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 8 metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(g): larger single-storey rear extension, maximum depth beyond the rear wall for a detached house (source wording: "8 metres") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 4 metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(f)-(g): a single-storey rear extension may not exceed 4 metres in height (source wording: "exceed 4 metres in height") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 42 days | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.4(10)(c): work may start if the council has not notified a decision within 42 days of receiving the information (source wording: "the expiry of 42 days") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| £249 | Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: prior approval for a householder larger rear extension (GPDO Part 1 Class A) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| 323 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 15 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 171 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 23 | Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area register (extracted 19 Oct 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
| 162 | Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform article-4-direction-area register (extracted 19 Oct 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
How many Brent notifications were refused?
What if Brent refuses mine?
Can I extend 6 m in a Brent conservation area?
Do Brent's 162 Article 4 areas stop me?
How long before I can start?
Photographs: David Howard (CC BY-SA 2.0).
