Daylight and Sunlight Assessments in Newham

With Newham one of the fastest-changing boroughs in London, the effect of new development on a neighbour's light is a frequent issue. Whether you are extending a terraced home in Forest Gate or East Ham, altering a property in Plaistow or Manor Park, or bringing forward a larger residential scheme around Stratford, Canning Town or the Royal Docks, your proposals may reduce the daylight and sunlight reaching surrounding homes and Newham council will expect you to show that any impact is acceptable.

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

When is an assessment needed in Newham?

Not every application requires a formal study, 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.

Newham's planning policy in detail

Newham determines applications against its Newham Local Plan 2018 - a fifteen-year plan looking ahead to 2033 - read together with the Mayor's London Plan. The council has been progressing a review of the Local Plan, but the 2018 plan remains the adopted basis for decisions. A number of its policies bear on residential amenity, including H1, SP1, SP2 and SP3, but the one that speaks most directly to light is SP8.

Policy SP8, 'Ensuring neighbourly development', sets out the range of impacts a proposal must take into account and avoid or minimise for neighbouring occupiers, including loss of daylight and sunlight, overshadowing, loss of outlook and loss of privacy. Most importantly, the policy confirms that the council refers to the BRE guidelines when assessing the daylight and sunlight impacts of development. In practice, this means an applicant is expected to show, with appropriate evidence, that a scheme does not cause an unacceptable decrease in the light enjoyed by surrounding homes and gardens.

For householder schemes, Newham's "Altering and Extending Your Home" SPD provides the detailed design guidance that translates these Local Plan policies into practical expectations for extensions and alterations covering matters such as scale, siting, overshadowing and the relationship to neighbouring windows. This SPD is the main reference point for anyone extending or altering a home in the borough, and is read alongside the Local Plan.

For the numerical assessment, Newham 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 demonstrate whether the amenity protections in Policy SP8 are met.

You can review Newham's adopted Local Plan at newham.gov.uk/planning-development-conservation/planning-policy-local-plan/2 and the guidance and documents that support it, including the "Altering and Extending Your Home" SPD, at newham.gov.uk/planning-development-conservation/planning-policy-local-plan/3.

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 Newham report includes

Our daylight and sunlight assessments for Newham 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 Newham.

Get in touch

If you are planning a development in Newham 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 5 working days of receiving the necessary information.