Extension plans for a Bedmond house cost £645 drawings + £250 survey (£895 total) with us, fixed. That covers the measured survey, the drawings, the floorspace comparison, the forms and checklists, submission to Three Rivers District Council and our replies to the case officer. The council's householder fee is £548 on top. Before we draw anything in Bedmond, we read the planning history of the house, because here the size of every earlier extension counts.
On this page
Why is Bedmond different from Abbots Langley?
Bedmond is a village in Abbots Langley parish, about a mile north of Abbots Langley itself, along Bedmond Road, the High Street and East Lane. Both share a council and a neighbourhood plan, but not a Green Belt status. The independent examiner's report on the Abbots Langley Neighbourhood Plan puts it plainly: the parish falls within the Green Belt apart from the Key Centres, but including Bedmond, which is currently washed over (Examiner's Report).
"Washed over" means the Green Belt runs across the village, houses and all, rather than stopping at its edge. In Abbots Langley a rear extension is judged on design and its effect on neighbours. In Bedmond the same extension also has to pass a Green Belt test, even on a street of houses.
Three Rivers' Core Strategy says the same in its own terms. Policy PSP4 groups Bedmond with Sarratt as the district's villages, where development will be strictly controlled to protect the character, landscape, heritage and wildlife of the countryside and the openness of the Green Belt (Core Strategy, 2011).
How big can a Bedmond extension be?
There is no fixed percentage. Three Rivers' Policy DM2 says extensions in the Green Belt that are disproportionate in size to the original building, individually or cumulatively, will not be permitted (DM Policies LDD, 2013). National policy allows the extension of a building only where it does not result in a disproportionate increase over the original building, which means the house as it stood on 1 July 1948, or as first built if later (NPPF chapter 13, GB7(1)(b)).
Two words decide most Bedmond cases:
- "Original". A cottage on the High Street that stood in 1948 is measured from its 1948 form. A house built in the 1960s is measured as first built. A porch, a conservatory or a garage conversion added since has already used some of the allowance.
- "Cumulatively". A modest kitchen extension can be refused if the house was extended twice before. We set out a table of the original, existing and proposed floorspace and volume, so the case officer sees the figures we used.
Openness matters too. DM2 also looks at whether the house is, or would become, prominent, and how close it is to other buildings. A single-storey rear extension tucked behind the house usually fares better than a two-storey side extension that closes a gap in the street.
Some owners of small Bedmond cottages ask whether knocking down and rebuilding would be simpler. DM2 has a separate test for replacement dwellings in the Green Belt: in general the new house must not materially exceed the size of the original one. That is a full planning application rather than a householder one, so we would quote it separately.
What does the neighbourhood plan add for Bedmond?
The Abbots Langley Neighbourhood Plan passed its referendum in May 2026 and was adopted in June 2026, so its policies now carry full weight in decisions (Three Rivers, Development Plan). Three parts of it reach Bedmond directly, according to the examiner's report:
- Local views. Policy AL12 protects locally significant views, and the report lists Views 1, 2, 3, 4 and 15 in the plan's Bedmond appendix. An extension visible from one of those viewpoints, such as a raised roof on an edge-of-village house, needs to show it does not spoil the view.
- The Holy Well. The plan designates the Holy Well in Bedmond as a non-designated heritage asset. A house next to it should consider its setting.
- A Bedmond vision. The plan includes a "Bedmond Vision and Aspirations" document of May 2025, drawn from a survey that Bedmond residents designed for their own village.
The plan's design policies, AL3 and AL4, also apply here. The examiner notes that building in each character area is generally two storeys. Our Abbots Langley extension plans post explains how those character areas work in the larger village.
Can I use permitted development instead?
Possibly. Being in the Green Belt does not remove permitted development rights on its own, so many Bedmond houses can still add a single-storey rear extension within the national limits, or use prior approval for a larger one. Our guide to larger home extensions explains how that route works. Permitted development is not tested for Green Belt proportion, which is why it can be worth more here than in Abbots Langley. We check whether your house's rights have been removed by a condition or an Article 4 direction before we recommend it.
Question 1 of up to 4
What type of property is it?
- Property
- Not answered yet
- Area
- Not answered yet
- Work
- Not answered yet
- Route
- Not answered yet
What does Three Rivers ask for with the application?
Its validation checklist, adopted on 1 August 2024, requires the Local Biodiversity Checklist with every application, including householder ones, and a street scene elevation where the ridge rises. With open farmland on all sides of the village, the biodiversity questions are rarely a formality here.
How long and how much in total?
Three Rivers decided 494 of 503 householder applications, without an agreed extension of time, within 8 weeks in the year to 30 June 2026 (MHCLG live table PS2).
- Our planning drawings, floorspace table and submission: £645 drawings + £250 survey (£895 total).
- Three Rivers' householder fee: £548.
- After approval, our planning and building regulations package is from £1,245 drawings + £250 survey (£1,495 total) for one extension.
Our Three Rivers page sets out the council's validation rules, and the Hertfordshire page covers the county. For another Three Rivers village with a full Green Belt test, see extension plans in Sarratt.
Work out your fee
FFP-01 · Rev AHouseholder application fee, paid to your council at submission.
Prices include one measured survey of a house of up to two storeys (£250). A flat or maisonette is £50 less; a house of three storeys or more is £50 more. One survey covers every service on the same job.
Plus the Planning Portal's own charge if the application goes through the Portal: up to £149 including VAT, depending on the application type, and some types have none (source).
Get this fee in writingor email hello@fixedfeeplans.co.uk
No obligation. Nothing is sent until you ask; your enquiry comes to us and nowhere else.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bedmond in the Green Belt? Yes. The examiner's report on the neighbourhood plan says Bedmond is washed over, so the whole village, not just its edges, is in the Green Belt.
What percentage can I extend by in Bedmond? Three Rivers sets no percentage. It asks whether the extension, added to any earlier ones, is disproportionate to the original 1948 or as-built house.
Does the Abbots Langley Neighbourhood Plan apply in Bedmond? Yes. Bedmond is in the parish, and the plan names local views and the Holy Well in the village.
Can permitted development avoid the Green Belt test? A permitted development extension is not tested for Green Belt proportion, if the house still has its rights. We check that first.
If the application goes through the Planning Portal, the Portal adds its own service charge: nothing, £99 or £149 including VAT, depending on the application type and complexity, paid to the Portal at submission and not normally refunded with a council fee (Ashford Borough Council, Planning Portal service charges, 11 September 2026). It is not ours and not the council's. Other submission routes exist; where your council accepts one without a charge, we can use it.
