Daylight and Sunlight Assessments in Havering

Havering is the one London borough where the need for a BRE daylight and sunlight report is written into the Local Plan itself, so our Havering enquiries tend to come with a specific officer request attached. The typical scheme is a new house on a subdivided plot in Hornchurch, Upminster or Gidea Park, where the old garden is big enough for another home but the neighbours' flank windows and rear gardens are close, and the second is the side and rear extension to a 1930s semi in Elm Park, Harold Wood or Romford where a hedge or a garage currently does the screening.

Havering officers ask about the new occupants as well as the neighbours. The Local Plan's emphasis on dual-aspect homes and good internal daylight means that on a new dwelling they may ask for both a neighbour study and an internal and garden study, and mature trees on the plot are often the reason. Our daylight and sunlight assessments in Havering are scoped from the officer's own wording so they answer the point actually raised.

Recent daylight and sunlight assessments in Havering

Scotts School House, Bonington Road, Hornchurch, RM12 6TH: a new house among mature trees

A new three-bedroom house on a sub-divided plot with several mature trees. The officer needed to know that future occupants would have an acceptable living environment, as a large tree would cut sunlight in midsummer, and that the houses on Upney Close would not be harmed. We tested both in summer and winter, with the trees in leaf and bare. Every neighbouring window and garden met the BRE guidelines, and the new house's rooms and garden met the targets in both seasons.

Havering approved the application with conditions on 13 June 2025 under reference P0759.24.

10 Parkland Avenue, Upminster, RM14 2HA: modelling the hedge that is about to go

A new house replacing a double garage, beside a neighbour whose flank windows are screened by a 5.5 metre laurel hedge and the garage, both removed by the scheme. With the hedge modelled in the existing condition, as BRE 209 allows for established evergreen screening, two small windows fell short. As the room is lit by more than one window, they were assessed together on the weighted basis, and the rooms met the guidelines.

An earlier application for the site, reference P0722.25, was refused in July 2025; the revised scheme for a three-bedroom detached house was approved with conditions on 17 July 2026 under reference P0608.26.

What Havering planning officers look for

Havering determines applications against the Havering Local Plan 2016-2031, adopted November 2021, read with the London Plan. The Local Plan treats the effect on neighbours' amenity, including loss of daylight, sunlight and privacy, as a key consideration, and it is unusually explicit about method: it states that the council will expect the impact of development to be assessed following the most recent version of the BRE's Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight, and that, depending on scale, a daylight and sunlight report may be required. The requirement is in policy, not just officer discretion.

The Local Plan also promotes good internal daylight in new homes and encourages dual-aspect accommodation for its daylight, direct sunlight and cross-ventilation, which is why officers ask about future occupants on new-build plots, particularly where trees will shade the garden. For householder schemes the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD sets out the council's expectations on the depth, boundary set-in and roof form of rear extensions. The technical benchmark is BRE 209 (2022 edition). The Local Plan is at havering.gov.uk/localplan and the supplementary planning documents, including the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, at havering.gov.uk/downloads/download/567/supplementary_planning_documents.

When you need an assessment in Havering

• A new house on a subdivided garden or garage plot in Hornchurch, Upminster, Emerson Park or Gidea Park, where the neighbour's flank windows and rear garden are close to the new building
• A plot with mature or protected trees, where the officer wants to know the new rooms and garden will have acceptable light in summer and winter
• A side or rear extension to a semi in Elm Park, Harold Wood, Collier Row or Rainham, where a hedge, fence or garage currently screens the neighbour's windows and the baseline needs modelling carefully
• A resubmission after an earlier application was refused, where the revised design needs its light position set out clearly
• Additional storeys or a flatted scheme in Romford town centre, Hornchurch or Upminster, where both neighbours and the new homes are tested
• Any application where a Havering officer has cited the Local Plan's BRE requirement in a validation or consultation letter

How we work

Nick Maslen scopes the job from the officer's letter or your drawings, agrees a fixed fee up front and confirms which neighbours, rooms, gardens and seasons need testing. Milica or Ana builds the 3D model, including hedges and trees where they are part of the baseline, and runs the BRE 209 tests, usually within 4–5 working days of receiving the information we need. If you or the council have questions on the draft, we answer them point by point and re-issue quickly. The four neighbour tests are:

• VSC (Vertical Sky Component): the sky still visible from each neighbouring window
• NSL (No-Sky Line): daylight distribution within each neighbouring room
• APSH (Annual Probable Sunlight Hours): annual and winter sunlight to windows within 90 degrees of south
• Sun on ground: the share of a garden receiving two hours of sun on 21 March

New homes are tested on the daylight provision method in BRE 209 (2022). The tests are explained on our VSC, NSL and APSH page and the thresholds on our BRE guidelines page.

Frequently asked questions in Havering

Does Havering require a BRE report for a new house on a garden plot?

The Local Plan says the council will expect the impact to be assessed using the BRE guidance and that a report may be required depending on scale; for a new dwelling close to neighbours, officers usually ask for one, and often for an internal and garden study of the new home as well.

Can an existing hedge be included in the baseline?

Where it is established evergreen screening, BRE 209 allows it to be taken into account in the existing condition, and we show it in a 3D view so the officer can see why. We will tell you honestly if the hedge does not change the result.

The officer has asked about trees shading the new garden. Can that be tested?

Yes. We model the retained trees and run the internal and sun-on-ground tests for summer and winter, as at Bonington Road, so the officer can see the living conditions in both seasons.

Get a fixed-fee quote

Send the officer's letter and your drawings through our contact page or use the price calculator for an instant figure; Nick is on 01962 809155 and nick@sunlightassessments.co.uk. For sites west of the A12, see our Barking and Dagenham page.