Looking for an architect in Rochester to draw up plans for a house extension, a loft conversion or a change you need planning permission for? Arkiplan designs planning and building-regs drawings for homeowners across Kent, and we work remotely, so you get a full design service without paying traditional architect fees. We've designed more than 1,500 homes over 20 years, with a 94% planning approval rate, and our customers save an average of £2,284 on drawings compared with a traditional architect.
From Price confirmed in your proposalwith monthly payment options
Medway Council
Planning permission in Rochester
Planning permission in Rochester: who decides, and the local quirks
Rochester doesn't have its own planning department. It sits within Medway, a unitary authority, so your application goes to Medway Council. That matters locally for a few reasons worth knowing before you start.
The Historic Rochester Conservation Area. Much of the old town — around the High Street, the castle and the cathedral — falls inside a designated conservation area, with a management plan adopted in September 2010. Inside it, the council pays close attention to materials, rooflines and anything visible from the street, and some permitted development rights are tighter than usual.
Article 4 directions and listed buildings. Rochester has a high concentration of listed buildings and Article 4 controls, which remove certain permitted development rights (in England) so that changes normally allowed without an application need one here. If your home is listed or in a controlled area, you may need consent for work you'd expect to be automatic elsewhere.
Timescales. Medway aims to decide most householder applications within about eight weeks. Getting the drawings and supporting information right first time is the surest way to avoid delays and re-submissions.
The bigger picture. Medway's emerging Local Plan (to 2041) is at examination, shaping where and how growth happens across the area — another reason to have drawings that clearly show your proposal fits its surroundings.
We check the constraints on your specific address before we design, so your plans are built around Rochester's rules rather than tripped up by them.
Extensions & loft conversions
House extension plans in Rochester
Rochester's housing stock leans heavily on Victorian and Edwardian terraces and period cottages near the historic core, alongside post-war and newer suburban homes further out. That mix shapes the extensions we're asked to plan: rear and side-return kitchen-diner extensions on terraces, wrap-arounds where there's a side return, and single or double-storey rear extensions on suburban semis and detached homes. On period properties, and especially inside the conservation area, matching brick, keeping proportions and choosing sympathetic glazing all make the difference between an easy approval and a refusal. We produce the planning drawings, building-regulations drawings and structural calculations you need to get from idea to a build-ready extension.
Loft conversions in Rochester
A loft conversion is often the most cost-effective way to add a bedroom or a home office in Rochester's terraces and semis, where garden space is at a premium. Common routes are a rear dormer to gain head height and floor area, or a hip-to-gable plus dormer on end-of-terrace and semi-detached homes. On homes in the conservation area or under Article 4 controls, dormers and rooflights are exactly the sort of change the council scrutinises, so it pays to design with local guidance in mind from the start. We handle the full drawing set — planning, building regs and structural — so your loft is designed to be approved and to be built.
Fixed price, no surprises
Fixed price, no surprises
Our packages start from Price confirmed in your proposal, with monthly payment options over three instalments with no credit checks and no interest. It's a fixed price with VAT and council submission included, so you know the cost before you commit — no hourly billing and no open-ended fees. Seven in ten of our customers choose our Standard package, which covers most extensions and loft conversions: 3D home scan, planning drawings, building-regulations drawings and structural engineer's calculations, plus we submit to Medway Council and handle their queries for you.
Homeowners rate us 4.9 from 114 Google reviews and 4.7 from 460 Trustpilot reviews, and we've served more than 2,000 families across England and Wales.
If you're planning an extension or loft conversion in Rochester, or you just need to know whether you need planning permission, we can help. Use our 45-second tool to get an instant idea of what your project involves and what it costs, then book a call to talk it through. Fixed price, clear drawings, and a team that knows how Medway Council decides.
