Two Victorian terraced houses on a London street, one painted white and one in yellow stock brick, with bay windows
Floor plan drawings, pencil sketches of a house, a scale rule and a protractor spread across a desk
Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels

Loft conversion drawings · London Borough of Hackney

Loft conversion drawings in Hackney, £895 fixed

Hackney's Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD says rear dormers should sit within the plane of the roof, at least 0.5m below the ridge, no more than half the height of the roof and, in total, no more than half its width. Along an unaltered roofline in a conservation area, a roof extension will not generally be acceptable.

Planning drawings£895
Building regs£795
Lawfulnessfrom £950
Council fee£548
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Boroughs33/33
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Photo: Huy Phan / Pexels

Dormer loft conversions clad in dark tiles on the backs of yellow-brick London terraced houses at sunset
A dormer loft conversion on a London terrace. Photo: Daniel Sikpi / Pexels.

What Hackney Council asks of a loft conversion

From the council's Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD (December 2025) (adopted 19 January 2026, per the council’s adoption statement).

  • Rear dormers should sit within the plane of the roof, at least 0.5m below the ridge, no more than half the height of the roof and, in total, no more than half its width. (source, checked 14 October 2026)
  • Dormers will not normally be acceptable anywhere on the front roof slope, unless front dormers are an original feature of the street or many front box dormers have already changed it. Side dormers are rarely acceptable. (source, checked 14 October 2026)
  • Where a number of larger rear box dormers already exist nearby, a larger rear dormer might be considered, still within the plane of the roof. (source, checked 14 October 2026)
  • In a conservation area, a roof extension anywhere along an unaltered roofline will not generally be acceptable. (source, checked 14 October 2026)
  • Outside conservation areas a roof extension or mansard has the potential to be acceptable; on a Victorian butterfly roof the most appropriate form is a mansard, with lower faces pitched no steeper than 70 degrees. (source, checked 14 October 2026)
  • Altering traditional roof forms to make a roof terrace is not acceptable, including 'hidden' terraces in butterfly roofs and inverted dormers. (source, checked 14 October 2026)

What Hackney loft conversion drawings have to show

Every limit in the Hackney SPD is a fraction of the existing roof, so the drawings dimension that roof first: its ridge, its height and its width. A rear dormer then has to sit within the plane of the roof, at least 0.5m below the ridge and within half the height and half the width. Where the house has a Victorian butterfly roof outside a conservation area, the SPD points to a mansard with lower faces no steeper than 70 degrees, and does not accept a roof terrace made by altering it.

Which side of a conservation area boundary the house sits decides much of this. Hackney has 35 conservation areas, and in one the SPD says a roof extension anywhere along an unaltered roofline will not generally be acceptable. Article 4 directions for Brownswood, Well Street and Beck Road took effect in May 2025, and a householder application in a conservation area needs a design and access statement and photographs.

The national permitted development volume limits (40 cubic metres on a terrace, 50 on a semi-detached or detached house: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class B) and the fire escape rules for a new second floor are the same in every borough. They are set out with diagrams on our loft conversion drawings page.

PS2 · at a glance

Hackney: 415 householder decisions

Hackney
Approvals, prior approvals included84.6%

351 of 415 granted. London: 85.8%.

Decided within 8 weeks90.3%

223 of 247 applications, prior approvals excluded.

Source: MHCLG PS2, 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. Dark tick: London.
A finished loft room with a sloping ceiling, two roof windows and a light wood floor
A finished loft room: the headroom, the roof windows and the stair opening are all set out on the drawings. Photo: Liam Gillan / Pexels.

What it costs in Hackney

  • Planning drawings: £895, plus £548 to Hackney Council.
  • Certificate of lawfulness where the loft is permitted development: from £950, plus £274 to the council.
  • Building regulations drawings: £795.

Loft conversion drawings across London · Hackney planning rules · every price

Answers

Hackney loft conversion questions

How big can a rear dormer be in Hackney?
The SPD says a rear dormer should sit within the plane of the roof, at least 0.5m below the ridge, no more than half the height of the roof and, in total, no more than half its width. Where a number of larger rear box dormers already exist nearby, a larger rear dormer might be considered.
Can I add a mansard to a butterfly roof in Hackney?
Outside conservation areas, a roof extension or mansard has the potential to be acceptable. On a Victorian butterfly roof the SPD says the most appropriate form is a mansard, with lower faces pitched no steeper than 70 degrees. Altering a butterfly roof to make a roof terrace, including a hidden one, is not acceptable.
Can I build a loft extension on an unaltered roofline in a Hackney conservation area?
The SPD says a roof extension anywhere along an unaltered roofline in a conservation area will not generally be acceptable. Hackney has 35 conservation areas, and Article 4 directions for Brownswood, Well Street and Beck Road took effect in May 2025, so check your address before designing.
Can I put a dormer on the front roof slope in Hackney?
Dormers will not normally be acceptable anywhere on the front roof slope, the SPD says, unless front dormers are an original feature of the street or many front box dormers have already changed it. Side dormers are rarely acceptable. What the rest of your street looks like therefore decides the question.

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