Side single storey extension drawings in Sutton
A single storey side extension in Sutton can avoid a planning application if it is no wider than half the width of the original house. A second storey, or a wider build, needs a householder application. DrawingsDirect draws side extensions in Sutton from £745, with a fixed fee agreed first.
Fixed fee from £545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total) · all prices
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Single storey and half the width: the two limits that matter
The General Permitted Development Order sets the test for any extension that goes beyond a side wall of the original house. It must have no more than a single storey, and its width must not be greater than half the width of the original house (GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A.1(j), on legislation.gov.uk).
Those are two of the conditions in Class A, not the whole list, so a drawing that looks small can still need an application. Our guide to planning permission for a side return goes through the checks.
When Sutton will expect a full application
A double storey side extension, and a single storey one wider than half the house, both fall outside permitted development and go to the council as a householder application. If you want rooms upstairs, read our note on two-storey side extensions before choosing a design.
A side extension that links up with a rear extension is a larger project again, and our wraparound drawings cover that combined scheme. For the narrow infill strip on its own, the side return page for Sutton SM1 is written for that case.
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform finds 15 live conservation-area entries on the national register for Sutton (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026).
How quickly and how often Sutton decides yes
In the four quarters to 2026 Q2 Sutton decided 601 householder applications and granted 92% of them. Excluding prior approvals, 95% were decided within 8 weeks (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
Both figures describe the council's past record across every kind of householder scheme. They do not predict your application, which the case officer judges on its own drawings, and we make no promise about the outcome.
Prior approval is a rear extension route
People searching for a side extension sometimes end up reading about prior approval for larger home extensions. That process applies to deeper rear extensions, not to a side extension. Sutton determined 98 of those notifications in the eight quarters to 2026 Q2 (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1).
If your plan has a deep rear part as well as a side part, the two are assessed against different rules, and we sort out which route each part takes before the drawings begin.
Conservation areas and what the extension will cost to draw
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform finds 15 live conservation-area entries on the national register for Sutton (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026). The register may be incomplete, so check Sutton Council's conservation area map for your street. Inside a conservation area the permitted development rights are narrower, so confirm before assuming a side extension needs no application.
Our fees start from £745 for survey and householder planning drawings, and from £1,845 for the all-inclusive package that adds Building Regulations and structural calculations. Sutton's own fee for a householder application, £548 from 1 April 2026, is separate. See the side return cost guide for build costs and the pricing page for our fees.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| £745 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for side return extension drawings (survey and householder planning drawings), from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
| £1,845 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for an all-inclusive side return package (planning, building regulations and structural calculations), from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
| half the width | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(j)(iii): an extension beyond a side elevation wall must not have a width greater than half the width of the original house (source wording: "have a width greater than half the width of the original dwellinghouse") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| single storey | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(j)(ii): an extension beyond a side elevation wall must not have more than a single storey (source wording: "have more than a single storey") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 601 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 92% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 95% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 98 | 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 Data Platform conservation-area and article-4-direction datasets (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
| £548 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed), category 6(1): householder application for the enlargement, improvement or alteration of a single dwellinghouse (source wording: £548) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
Do I need planning permission for a single storey side extension in Sutton?
Can I add a second floor to a side extension in Sutton?
What does a side extension drawing set cost in Sutton?
Is a wraparound extension the same as a side extension?
Photographs: Christopher Hilton (CC BY-SA 2.0); David Hawgood (CC BY-SA 2.0).
