Daylight and Sunlight Assessments in Haringey

In a borough as tightly built as Haringey, the effect of a new extension or development on a neighbour's light is one of the first things planning officers and objectors look at. If you are extending a Victorian terrace in Crouch End or Harringay, adding to a family home in Muswell Hill or Hornsey, or promoting a larger residential scheme around Wood Green, Tottenham Hale or Seven Sisters, you may well need to show that your proposals do not unacceptably reduce the daylight and sunlight reaching nearby homes.

At Sunlight Assessments, we prepare BRE-compliant daylight and sunlight assessments for planning applications across the London Borough of Haringey. Our reports are clear, robust, and can be framed around the specific policy tests Haringey uses to determine applications.

When is an assessment needed in Haringey?

Not every application calls for an official assessment, but one is commonly expected where:

• 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
• Side and rear extensions or loft conversions in tightly built Victorian and Edwardian terraces, where neighbouring windows may be particularly close to the proposed works
• 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.

Haringey's planning policy in detail

Haringey determines applications against its Local Plan, which comprises the Strategic Policies (adopted March 2013) and the Development Management DPD (adopted July 2017), alongside the Mayor's London Plan. The council has been progressing a review of its Development Management policies, but the 2017 DPD remains the adopted basis for decisions.

The policy that most directly governs daylight and sunlight is DM1, 'Delivering High Quality Design'. Among its requirements, DM1 expects development to secure a high standard of amenity for both future occupiers and neighbours - including providing appropriate sunlight, daylight and open aspect to all parts of the development and to adjacent buildings and land, and protecting neighbouring properties from overlooking, loss of privacy and other harm to amenity. In practice this means an applicant is expected to demonstrate that a scheme does not significantly worsen the light already enjoyed by surrounding homes and their gardens.

Rather than a single borough-wide extensions SPD, Haringey embeds much of its householder design guidance within the Development Management DPD itself and supplements it with area-specific documents, for example, the House Extensions in South Tottenham SPD and the numerous conservation area character appraisals that apply across the borough. Where a property sits within a conservation area, that additional guidance is read together with DM1.

For the technical assessment, Haringey relies on the Building Research Establishment's guidance, BR 209: Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight (2022 edition), the nationally recognised benchmark. This provides the measurable tests - VSC, NSL and APSH - used to judge whether the amenity protections in DM1 are met.

You can review Haringey's Local Plan at haringey.gov.uk/planning-building-control/planning/planning-policy/local-plan, the Development Management DPD at haringey.gov.uk/.../local-plan-development-management-dpd, and the borough's supplementary planning documents at haringey.gov.uk/.../supplementary-planning-documents-spds.

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 to occupants.

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 spaces.

What our Haringey report includes

Our daylight and sunlight assessments for Haringey 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 across the London Borough of Haringey.

Get in touch

If you are planning a development in Haringey 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 turn around a report within 5 working days of receiving the necessary information.