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Bright finished basement room with a glass-balustrade staircase, high windows and a built-in desk
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01Brent, London

Basement conversion drawings for Brent houses

Brent publishes a dedicated Basement SPD, so a basement here is drawn to written limits on width, rear projection, depth and front lightwells. We draw to them from £1,995 including VAT, and flag early where a conservation area or listing adds a second test.

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    02The brief

    The limits in Brent's Basement SPD

    The Basement Supplementary Planning Document sets the scale rule: 3m from rear; 1 storey. A basement should not be wider than the original house, should not reach further than the figure given from the rear wall, and should excavate no more than one storey, with a higher floor-to-ceiling allowance for a detached house than for other types.

    Front lightwells are limited too. The external-elements rule pairs a projection with a landscaping share: 800mm; 50% soft landscaping. The first figure is the most a lightwell may project, or half the front garden length if that is less, and the second is the least share of the remaining front garden left as soft landscaping.

    Brick house being extended, with a wide new opening supported over the ground floor
    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London
    Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

    03The record

    Local figures for Brent

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Basements should not be wider than the original house, extend more than 3m from the rear, or excavate more than 1 storey (4m floor to ceiling for a detached house, 3m otherwise).3m from rear; 1 storeyNo periodbrent.gov.uk, Basement SPD 2017, p.9, Scale
    Front light wells should project no more than 800mm or half the front garden length, whichever is less, and at least 50% of the remaining front garden must be soft landscaping.800mm; 50% soft landscapingNo periodbrent.gov.uk, Basement SPD 2017, p.9 (External Elements); p.12
    Supplementary planning documentBasement Supplementary Planning Document2017brent.gov.uk
    Households living in a house43.3 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)30.3 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Conservation areas23 named conservation areas published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions39 Article 4 directions published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 direction areas162 Article 4 direction area polygons published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries93 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)No periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Owner-occupied households38.4 % of households owner-occupied (owned outright or with mortgage/loan)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Party Wall etc. Act 1996 s6(1), s6(2), s6(5)Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundationsNo periodlegislation.gov.uk
    Approved Document B Vol 1, para 2.16Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exitNo periodgov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    Brent7 neighbouring councils
    Councils bordering Brent

    04The drawing

    A basement in sectionA, Brent: depth and garden share: 800mm; 50% soft landscaping. B, Brent: excavation depth: 3m from rear; 1 storey. C, Party wall notice for excavation: Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations. D, Escape from basement rooms: Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exitABCD

    A basement in section

    A house and garden over a single-storey basement. The lettered marks show the limits the legend gives.

    A Brent: depth and garden share
    800mm; 50% soft landscaping
    B Brent: excavation depth
    3m from rear; 1 storey
    C Party wall notice for excavation
    Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations
    D Escape from basement rooms
    Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exit
    The basement in three dimensions3D
    Scroll the page: the model turns with it.

    05The detail

    Gardens, houses and what sits above the slab

    Houses and bungalows are home to 43.3% of Brent households, and domestic gardens cover 30.3% of the borough's land in the GLUD land-use dataset. The garden you have is the space the rear-projection limit works from.

    Garden depth and house footprint therefore decide how far a basement can go. Our survey records both before the design is fixed, so the first option is already inside the SPD.

    Article 4 directions and the front lightwell

    Brent publishes 23 conservation areas and has 39 Article 4 directions on its register, mapped as 162 separate areas. A direction removes permitted development rights, so work that would otherwise pass without an application may need one, and the front lightwell is the part of a basement the street can see.

    We read the maps for your address before drawing the lightwell, and set its projection and planting against the SPD figures above. Historic England lists 93 entries in the borough, and a listed house needs consent for the basement as well as permission. The application is covered in listed building consent drawings in Brent.

    Rented homes, party walls and the way out

    Only 38.4% of Brent households own their home, so it is worth confirming early who holds the freehold and who may apply. Next door matters as well: Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations. A bedroom below ground also needs a way out, and the rule is plain: Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exit.

    If the same house is also being considered for a roof storey, mansard roof drawings in Brent shows how that application is built.

    Planning sheet for a single-storey rear extension: proposed ground floor plan and rear elevation, with the Property Architecture title block
    Sample drawing. Proposed plan and rear elevation from a planning application set, sheet 03 at 1:50.

    06The papers

    What the drawings rest on

    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared rooflineParty wall services
    Photograph: Ben Hadfield
    Structural calculation sheet for a steel beam over a new rear opening, with the load diagram, loading table and section checks
    Sample drawing. Beam B1 over a new rear opening: loading, bending moment and section checks.

    07Correspondence

    Questions

    Does Brent publish basement rules?

    Yes, in its Basement Supplementary Planning Document, whose limits are summarised above. It predates the current Local Plan, so we check it against that plan before we draw.

    How far back from the rear wall can a Brent basement reach?

    The SPD's scale rule reads: 3m from rear; 1 storey. We measure the rear distance on the survey, so the first option already respects it.

    Can I put a lightwell in my front garden in Brent?

    The SPD allows it within limits: 800mm; 50% soft landscaping. A conservation area or Article 4 direction can add further tests, which the constraints check reports before we quote.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    43.3%

    of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)

    Households living in a house, Brent, Census 2021. Source: nomisweb.co.uk

    Photograph: Altaf Shah

    08Further reading

    Other services in Brent

    Basement conversion drawings nearby

    09Sources

    Sources and dates

    Licences

    Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

    Send us the address of your house.

    We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.

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    Basement conversion drawings in Brent