Side return extension drawings in Sutton SM1
Side return extension drawings for homes in Sutton SM1 start from £745. The council granted 92% of the 601 householder decisions it made in the four quarters to 2026 Q2 (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2). DrawingsDirect, MCIAT chartered architectural technologists, prepares the plans.
Fixed fee from £545 drawings + £200 survey (£745 total) · all prices
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What a side return extension can be without a planning application
A side return fills the strip of garden beside your house, usually next to the back wing. Under permitted development an extension that goes beyond a side wall of the original house must be single storey, and it must not be wider than half the width of the original house (GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A.1(j), on legislation.gov.uk).
A side return that is wider than that, or built with an upper floor, needs a householder application. Either way the drawings need to show the height at the boundary and the neighbour's side windows, because the case officer needs them to judge the effect on neighbours.
Side return, wraparound or two-storey side extension?
Searches for a side return in Sutton often turn out to be about three different projects. A side return alone is the infill beside the house. A wraparound joins that infill to a rear extension, so the drawings cover both parts as one scheme. A two-storey side extension adds rooms upstairs and always needs planning permission.
Our side return versus wraparound guide compares the first two, and the two-storey side extension guide covers the third. If you already know you want both a side and a rear extension, our wraparound extension drawings page is the closer fit.
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 Sutton has been deciding householder applications
Over the four quarters to 2026 Q2 Sutton decided 601 householder applications, including prior approvals, and granted 92% of them (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
Householder refusals can be appealed. Our analysis of the Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (release 2609) counts 139 householder appeals decided for Sutton between 2021 and 2026, with 41% allowed. That is a record of the past and not a forecast for your application, and the council decides each case on its own drawings.
Conservation areas in Sutton
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 own conservation area map for your road before you commit to a side extension.
Inside a conservation area the permitted development rights are narrower and the council looks closely at materials and the street frontage. Our guide to extension rules in conservation areas explains the difference.
Our fees and the council's
Side return extension drawings start from £745, covering the survey and householder planning drawings. An all-inclusive side return package, with planning, Building Regulations and structural calculations, starts from £1,845. The pricing page lists the rest.
The council's fee for a householder application is £548 from 1 April 2026. It is paid to the council, not to us, when the application is submitted.
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 |
| 139 | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 41% | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | 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
How much does a side return extension cost to draw in Sutton?
Can I build a double storey side return in Sutton?
Is a single storey side return always permitted development?
How does a side return differ from a wraparound?
Photographs: Christopher Hilton (CC BY-SA 2.0).
