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Residential Alterations and Retrofit Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
What is the document about?
In Waltham Forest we are committed to exemplar design quality at all scales. The new Residential Alterations and Retrofit Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) provides clear guidance for achieving exemplar design quality throughout the planning process for making changes to your home.
The SPD provides easy‑to‑understand guidance to help residents make well‑designed, sustainable changes to their homes. Building on the borough’s adopted Local Plan Part 1, it explains how household extensions, alterations, and retrofit can enhance character, improve energy efficiency, potentially reduce bills, and support Waltham Forest’s response to the climate emergency.
This document also provides guidance on how home alterations can incorporate retrofit measures which are changes to the existing building fabric aimed at reducing heat-loss, increasing ventilation, and using greener forms of energy. Not only can these changes make your home more comfortable, they also can reduce carbon emissions, improve energy performance and reduce your utility bills.
A statutory consultation for the draft SPD ran from 2 February 2026 to 16 March 2026. Your thoughts and feedback directly shaped refinements and amendments made to the SPD, ahead of adoption. Read the consultation report and find further information here.
The Residential Alterations and Retrofit SPD was formally adopted on 11 June 2026. This SPD supersedes the previous Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, which was adopted in 2010.
This rear extension to a semi-detached house in Walthamstow, by Mike Tuck Studio, improved the quality of space for occupants, while improving the air tightness of the home (Mike Tuck Studio. Photography: Luca Piffaretti)
What is the document about?
In Waltham Forest we are committed to exemplar design quality at all scales. The new Residential Alterations and Retrofit Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) provides clear guidance for achieving exemplar design quality throughout the planning process for making changes to your home.
The SPD provides easy‑to‑understand guidance to help residents make well‑designed, sustainable changes to their homes. Building on the borough’s adopted Local Plan Part 1, it explains how household extensions, alterations, and retrofit can enhance character, improve energy efficiency, potentially reduce bills, and support Waltham Forest’s response to the climate emergency.
This document also provides guidance on how home alterations can incorporate retrofit measures which are changes to the existing building fabric aimed at reducing heat-loss, increasing ventilation, and using greener forms of energy. Not only can these changes make your home more comfortable, they also can reduce carbon emissions, improve energy performance and reduce your utility bills.
A statutory consultation for the draft SPD ran from 2 February 2026 to 16 March 2026. Your thoughts and feedback directly shaped refinements and amendments made to the SPD, ahead of adoption. Read the consultation report and find further information here.
The Residential Alterations and Retrofit SPD was formally adopted on 11 June 2026. This SPD supersedes the previous Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, which was adopted in 2010.
This rear extension to a semi-detached house in Walthamstow, by Mike Tuck Studio, improved the quality of space for occupants, while improving the air tightness of the home (Mike Tuck Studio. Photography: Luca Piffaretti)
This rear extension to a semi-detached house in Walthamstow, by Mike Tuck Studio, improved the quality of space for occupants, while improving the air tightness of the home (Mike Tuck Studio. Photography: Luca Piffaretti) 