Daylight and Sunlight Assessments in Hackney

If you are planning a new development or extension in the London Borough of Hackney, a daylight and sunlight assessment is often a key requirement for securing planning permission. Whether you are extending a Victorian terrace in Clapton, adding storeys to a commercial building in Dalston, or developing a new residential scheme near London Fields, your proposals may affect the daylight and sunlight enjoyed by neighbouring properties — and Hackney's planning officers will expect you to demonstrate that any impacts are acceptable.

At Sunlight Assessments, we prepare BRE-compliant daylight and sunlight assessments for planning applications across Hackney and the wider London area. Our reports are clear, technically robust, and written to support a smooth planning process.

When does Hackney require a daylight and sunlight assessment?

Not every application in Hackney will require a formal assessment, but there are common scenarios where one is expected:

• Extensions that extend close to a boundary with a neighbouring property, particularly where habitable rooms face the affected elevation
• New residential developments where neighbouring properties may lose access to natural light
• Applications where the Local Planning Authority has identified daylight and sunlight as a material planning consideration
• Developments in areas of existing dense urban form, where cumulative impacts on natural light can be significant
• Conversions and changes of use where new habitable rooms are proposed

If you are unsure whether your scheme requires an assessment, we are happy to advise on this at no cost.

Hackney's local planning policy

Hackney's approach to daylight and sunlight is set out in its Local Plan 2033 (LP33), adopted in 2020. Policy DM2 - Design and character - sets out the council's expectations for new development, including that proposals should not cause an unacceptable loss of daylight or sunlight to neighbouring properties or to future occupiers of the development itself. The policy makes clear that development should be sensitive to the scale, massing, and character of its surroundings.

In practice, Hackney's planning officers apply the methodology set out in the BRE guidance document BR 209: Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight (2022 edition). This includes the Vertical Sky Component (VSC) test and the No-Sky Line (NSL) test for impacts on neighbours, and the Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH) test for amenity space and sun-on-ground assessments.

Hackney has also produced a range of Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) that provide further detail on design expectations, including the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, which sets out how the council applies daylight and sunlight standards to householder applications. You can find Hackney's planning policies at hackney.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policies-and-local-plan and the Local Plan 2033 at hackney.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning-policies-and-local-plan/local-plan/local-plan-2033-lp33.

How the assessment works

We use the methodology set out in BRE BR 209 to assess the impact of proposed development on daylight and sunlight. The key tests we carry out include:

Vertical Sky Component (VSC): This measures the amount of sky visible from the centre of a window. BRE guidance recommends that a VSC of 27% or more is generally considered adequate. Where a development results in a VSC that is less than 0.8 times its former value, the reduction may be noticeable.

No-Sky Line (NSL): This assesses the distribution of daylight within a room by plotting the line beyond which no sky is visible. Where the area of a room that can receive direct skylight is reduced by more than 20%, occupants are likely to notice a deterioration in the quality of daylight.

Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH): This test is used to assess access to sunlight for windows that face within 90° of due south. It considers both the winter and annual totals to determine whether sunlight losses are likely to be material.

Where appropriate, we also carry out sun-on-ground studies to assess the impact on garden or amenity areas.

What our Hackney report includes

Our daylight and sunlight assessments for Hackney planning applications typically include:

• A clear description of the proposed development and the surrounding context
• Identification of all relevant neighbouring windows and amenity spaces
• VSC and NSL calculations for affected neighbouring properties
• APSH calculations where required
• A comparison of results against BRE BR 209 benchmarks
• A professional assessment of whether any identified impacts are likely to be considered material in planning terms
• Recommendations for design amendments where required, to help reduce impacts and support approval

All reports are produced by qualified consultants with experience of working in Hackney and across the London Borough boundaries.

Our local experience in Hackney

We have extensive experience preparing daylight and sunlight assessments across London and understand the challenges of designing within a dense urban environment. A recent example of our work in Hackney is a neighbours impact assessment we carried out for an approved planning application at 170 Victoria Park Road. Our assessment provided the clear evidence base the applicant needed to demonstrate that impacts on the neighbouring properties remained within acceptable limits under BRE BR 209. You can view the planning record here.

We are familiar with Hackney's planning requirements and provide clear, practical advice to help identify potential issues early in the design process and support a smoother planning application.

Get in touch

If you are planning a development in Hackney and would like to discuss whether you need a daylight and sunlight assessment, please get in touch. We offer a free initial consultation and can usually turn around a report within two weeks of receiving the necessary information.