Can I extend my house in DA3?

One outward code, two planning authorities

DA3 is split. Fawkham, Hartley and New Ash Green are in Sevenoaks. Longfield is in Dartford. The report uses the full postcode to pick the authority. Anything you read about “DA3” as a single policy area is too coarse to price a house with.

Our sample for DA3 8NA, on Valley Road in Fawkham, is Sevenoaks and is inside the Metropolitan Green Belt. The postcode point itself falls in the Green Belt. Nearby, the 50% floorspace test in Sevenoaks policy GB1 explained the pattern: refusals where the house would have been 123–169% over its original size, approvals where the uplift was about 19–40%. A porch appeal in the same postcode was dismissed because the house was already about 86% over the original. A garage conversion certificate was refused because a 1990 condition required the garage to be kept for parking.

Permitted development still exists in the Green Belt

Green Belt is not Article 2(3) land. It does not, by itself, remove permitted development rights. In the sample, a rear extension refused planning permission was later certified as permitted development on more than one site. Councils then often remove those rights by condition when they do grant permission. The report flags that as a property-specific check.