Rear extensions in Ealing: most notifications go through, so check you need one
Ealing's register for the eight quarters to 2026 Q2 is dominated by one outcome: 401 larger home extension notifications recorded as prior approval not required, against 38 granted and 155 refused. Before you pay for a notification, we check whether your extension needs it at all. Fixed £595 when it does.
Fixed fee from £395 drawings + £200 survey (£595 total) · all prices
Prefer to talk it through?
Ealing's outcomes, counted
MHCLG's quarterly statistics show Ealing recording 401 larger home extension notifications as prior approval not required between 2024 Q3 and 2026 Q2. The council granted 38 and refused 155 where it had to decide.
A "not required" result means the council saw nothing to decide and the work may go ahead. Of the 193 that needed a decision, 155 were refused: about 80% by our calculation. These are Ealing's own counts and we do not set them against any other borough's.
Prior Approval Extension Ealing
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 whether your depth needs notification at all
- 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
- Submission as your agent, with replies to the council's questions
- Measure the depth
Decide how far the extension goes beyond the original rear wall.
- Within the standard depth?
Then a certificate of lawfulness may be all you need.
- Deeper, up to 6 m or 8 m?
Then a prior approval notification is the route.
- Beyond that or in a conservation area?
Then a householder planning application.
Do you need a notification at all?
The notification route exists for extensions deeper than the ordinary permitted depth. Our parent prior approval page gives the ordinary depths as 3 m on a terraced or semi-detached house and 4 m on a detached one. An extension within those depths needs no notification, though a lawful development certificate is a useful document to hold when you sell.
We would rather tell you that on the survey day than draw a notification you did not need. If you do want the 6 m or 8 m depth, the notification is the route, with a council fee of £249.
MHCLG's quarterly statistics show Ealing recording 401 larger home extension notifications as prior approval not required between 2024 Q3 and 2026 Q2.
Thirty-one conservation areas
The Planning Data Platform lists 31 live conservation areas in Ealing. Inside one, the 6 m and 8 m depths do not apply and a deeper extension needs a planning application.
We check the council's map for Article 4 directions at your address before drawing, rather than assuming either way.
What the council reads
The council writes to the neighbours and has 42 days from a complete notification. If it has not notified a decision by then, work may start. We state the depth, maximum height (never above 4 m) and eaves height as the order requires, and show the boundary heights on the elevation. If a refusal comes, the same survey supports a householder application.
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 |
| 401 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 38 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 155 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 31 | Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area register (extracted 19 Oct 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
Do most Ealing notifications go through?
Do I need prior approval for a 3 m extension?
Can I extend 6 m in an Ealing conservation area?
Is there an Article 4 direction on my street?
What does the council charge?
Photographs: Michael Dibb (CC BY-SA 2.0).
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