Daylight & Sunlight Assessments in Camden

Camden is where the small jobs get complicated. A backland plot behind West End Lane, a mews house in Belsize Park, a raised roof on a Kentish Town rear extension, a loft on a Hampstead semi that is about to acquire two new neighbours: none of these is large, but each sits within a few metres of somebody else's window, and the council expects the effect to be tested rather than asserted. We also see a steady run of house conversions and small new-build houses in West Hampstead, Gospel Oak and Camden Town where the new rooms themselves, not just the neighbours, have to be shown to get adequate daylight.

Camden includes daylight and sunlight assessments in its local validation requirements, works from Policy A1 of the Local Plan and the Amenity planning guidance, and expects reports to follow the BRE guidance while recognising that a dense inner-London context has to be read sensibly. The three jobs below are typical of the borough: a backland house where the neighbours were fine but the new bedrooms were not, a terrace roof change the homeowner wanted checked before applying, and a roof extension assessed with the future neighbours already in the model. Our main daylight and sunlight assessment page explains what a report contains.

Recent daylight and sunlight assessments in Camden

Land adjacent to 5 West End Lane, West Hampstead, NW6: neighbours protected, bedrooms redesigned

A three-storey single-family house replacing a storage unit on a tight backland plot. Two neighbours' windows had to keep their light, and the new house had to show its own bedrooms would be adequately daylit, with the lower floors lit only from a rear courtyard. The neighbour-impact tests all met the BRE guidelines. As drawn, the ground- and first-floor bedrooms received almost no daylight, so we modelled an alternative with the bedroom windows on the street elevation and sent it to the architects as the fix.

The application, 2025/2568/P, was registered in July 2025 and is currently with the council.

15 Montpelier Grove, Kentish Town, NW5: a higher extension roof checked before applying

A rear extension replacing a conservatory, and a pitched roof with two rooflights replacing the flat roof of the existing extension. The neighbours had not infilled their side return, so their outrigger kitchen windows and a middle reception window look straight at the party wall and the higher roof. The homeowner wanted an independent BRE check before applying, so we tested each of those windows for Vertical Sky Component, daylight distribution and sunlight against the BRE guidelines, with the ground levels and party-wall heights modelled exactly.

The application, 2024/4982/P, was granted on 10 January 2025.

Parsifal Road, West Hampstead: a roof extension with the future neighbours in the model

A roof extension to a house on Parsifal Road, where pre-application feedback was positive provided a daylight assessment supported it. Two new semi-detached houses were about to be built next door, which would themselves change the light around the site, and the architect wanted the report to reflect that. We kept the scope to the two tests that mattered, Vertical Sky Component and annual sunlight (APSH), using a 3D context model. The neighbouring windows met the BRE guidelines, and the report was issued ahead of submission.

What Camden planning officers look for

Daylight and sunlight in Camden are governed mainly by Policy A1 (Managing the impact of development) of the Camden Local Plan, adopted in July 2017, which seeks to protect the amenity of neighbouring occupiers and ensure that development does not cause unacceptable reductions in daylight, sunlight or living conditions. Camden Planning Guidance on Amenity explains how officers assess those effects and when a supporting assessment is likely to be required. Camden expects assessments to follow the BRE guidance BR 209: Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight, applied with regard to the site's circumstances in a dense urban setting, but with any shortfalls clearly identified and explained rather than glossed over.

An assessment is a validation requirement for applications of ten or more new homes, to show adequate daylight and sunlight inside them, and for any development that could affect daylight or sunlight to neighbouring homes, gardens or amenity spaces. You can find the Local Plan at camden.gov.uk/camden-local-plan1 and the Amenity guidance among Camden's planning guidance documents at camden.gov.uk/camden-planning-guidance.

When you need an assessment in Camden

• New houses on backland, mews and former storage plots in West Hampstead, Belsize Park and Primrose Hill, which need an internal daylight assessment as well as a neighbour study
• Rear extensions, side-return infills and raised extension roofs on the terraces of Kentish Town, Camden Town, Gospel Oak and Tufnell Park, where the neighbour's outrigger windows face the party wall
• Roof extensions and additional storeys in Hampstead, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead, especially where neighbouring sites are also being developed
• Conversions of houses into flats across the borough, where Camden will want the new rooms tested
• Larger schemes around King's Cross, Euston and Holborn, which Camden will not validate without a full report
• Any scheme where pre-application advice has been given subject to a daylight assessment

How we work

We model your proposal and its surroundings in 3D from your drawings, mapping data and photographs, including consented but unbuilt neighbouring schemes where they matter, run the BRE tests and tell you the results before the report is written. The fee is fixed and agreed up front, and the report usually takes 4–5 working days from final drawings. The four tests are:

• Vertical Sky Component (VSC): how much sky a neighbouring window can see
• No-Sky Line (NSL), or daylight distribution: how far daylight reaches into the room
• Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH): annual and winter sunlight to windows within 90 degrees of south
• Sun on ground: whether at least half of a garden still gets two hours of sun on 21 March

Our VSC, NSL and APSH page explains each test and our BRE guidelines page sets out the thresholds.

Frequently asked questions in Camden

Does Camden need a daylight assessment to validate a householder application?

Only where the scheme could affect a neighbour's daylight or sunlight, which in Camden's terraces is most rear extensions and roof changes that are taller or deeper than the neighbour's. Submitting the report with the application, as the Montpelier Grove homeowner did, avoids a request for further information later.

Will the assessment take account of a neighbouring scheme that has permission but is not yet built?

Yes, if you want it to. On Parsifal Road the two new houses next door were included in the model so the report reflected the site as it will be. We will advise whether including a consented scheme helps or hinders your case.

Does the internal daylight test apply to a single new house?

Camden's validation threshold for internal daylight is ten homes, but officers often ask for it on backland and courtyard plots where the lower floors have limited sky. On West End Lane it found the problem at design stage, when it was still cheap to fix.

Get a fixed-fee quote

Send your drawings through our contact page or get an instant figure from the price calculator. Call Nick on 01962 809155 or email nick@sunlightassessments.co.uk. For sites on the Islington side of the Kentish Town and Holloway borders, see our Islington page.