Understanding the daylight requirements in Causeway Coast and Glens is essential for anyone designing an extension, infill dwelling or larger residential scheme across Coleraine, Ballymoney, Limavady and the surrounding glens and coast. Since planning powers transferred from central government to the eleven Northern Ireland councils in 2015, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has been the local planning authority, determining the majority of applications under the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. Daylight, sunlight and the protection of residential amenity are recurring themes in how the Council weighs proposals against neighbouring properties.
This guide explains which documents govern daylight and sunlight here, how separation distances and overshadowing are treated, and how a professional report demonstrates compliance.
The planning policy framework in Causeway Coast and Glens
Causeway Coast and Glens is preparing a new Local Development Plan (LDP) under the two-stage process set out in the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, comprising a Plan Strategy followed by a Local Policies Plan. As at June 2026 the LDP has not yet been adopted. The Council has progressed through its Preferred Options Paper and is working towards publishing its draft Plan Strategy for consultation, with adoption of the Plan Strategy not anticipated until later this decade. Until the new LDP is adopted, the operative development plan for the Borough remains the Northern Area Plan 2016, which was adopted in September 2015 and which the new LDP will eventually replace.
Alongside the development plan, two layers of regional policy are decisive for daylight matters:
- The Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (SPPS), 2015, which sets the overarching policy on creating quality, sustainable places and protecting amenity.
- Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS 7): Quality Residential Environments and its Addendum, together with the companion design guide "Creating Places". These remain retained policy in Northern Ireland and contain the specific tests on privacy, overlooking, overshadowing and separation distances that the Council applies.
PPS 7 Policy QD1 requires new residential development to respect the amenity of existing and future residents. "Creating Places" then translates this into measurable design expectations.
Separation distances and overshadowing under Creating Places
"Creating Places" is the principal reference used by Causeway Coast and Glens planning officers when assessing privacy and daylight impacts. Its key benchmarks include:
- Around 20m between opposing rear first-floor windows of new houses on green-field and lower-density sites is generally acceptable (paragraph 7.15).
- Where development abuts the private gardens of existing properties, a separation distance greater than 20m is generally appropriate, with a minimum of around 10m between the rear of new houses and the common boundary (paragraph 7.16).
- For apartments with upper-floor living rooms or balconies, good practice indicates a separation of around 30m, or a minimum of around 15m to a common boundary where private gardens abut (paragraph 7.17).
- An above-eye-level boundary treatment for a distance of around 3m from the back of the house to protect privacy (paragraph 7.19).
On daylight and sunlight specifically, "Creating Places" advises at paragraph 7.21 that "layouts and dwellings should be planned to provide acceptable levels of daylight into interiors" and notes that the building spacing required for privacy will normally also secure satisfactory daylight and an acceptable minimum of sunlight. At the site-appraisal stage (paragraph 2.26) it requires the orientation and sun paths to be plotted so that overshadowing is alleviated and "unreasonable obstructions to daylight and sunlight for existing buildings and spaces" are avoided.
These distances are starting points rather than rigid rules: the guide expressly allows a more flexible approach where it is necessary to reflect traditional building forms or to protect heritage and landscape features. That flexibility matters greatly in this Borough.
Local context: the Giant's Causeway and a sensitive coast
Few council areas in the UK carry the landscape sensitivity of Causeway Coast and Glens. The Giant's Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site, inscribed by UNESCO in 1986, covers roughly 70 hectares of land with a further 160 hectares of sea, and its setting is protected through the planning system, including Planning Policy Statement 6 (Archaeology and the Built Heritage) and the Northern Area Plan 2016. The Borough also takes in the Causeway Coast and Antrim Coast and Glens Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the historic town of Coleraine, and landmarks such as Mussenden Temple at Downhill Demesne.
In these settings, design quality and the relationship between new and existing buildings are scrutinised closely. Schemes that crowd neighbours, overshadow gardens or erode the openness valued in coastal and rural townscapes face a harder route to consent. A well-evidenced daylight and sunlight assessment helps demonstrate that a proposal respects both neighbouring amenity and the special character of the area.
How daylight and sunlight are measured
While "Creating Places" sets the policy expectations, the recognised technical methodology is the Building Research Establishment guide BRE BR 209, "Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice" (2022 edition), read alongside the European standard BS EN 17037. Together these provide the numerical tests that planning officers and consultants rely on:
- Vertical Sky Component (VSC) and the no-sky line / daylight distribution check, used to assess the effect of a proposal on daylight reaching neighbouring windows.
- Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH), measuring winter and total sunlight to existing and proposed windows that face within 90 degrees of due south.
- Overshadowing of amenity space, typically assessed against the 21 March sunlight-on-ground criterion, so that gardens and shared open space retain meaningful sunlight.
A BR 209 assessment provides the objective evidence that complements the qualitative separation-distance approach of "Creating Places", and is particularly valuable where a site is constrained, sloping or close to existing homes.
When you are likely to need a report
Daylight and sunlight issues commonly arise in Causeway Coast and Glens for:
- Rear and two-storey extensions in established residential areas of Coleraine, Ballymoney and Limavady where overlooking or overshadowing of neighbours is raised.
- Infill and backland housing where separation distances are tight.
- Apartment and higher-density schemes, where the 30m and 15m guidance in "Creating Places" applies.
- Proposals adjacent to sensitive landscapes or heritage assets where amenity and character must both be safeguarded.
Submitting a clear, methodology-led report at the application stage can address objections early and reduce the risk of refusal or delay.
How Fortress Associates can help
Fortress Associates provides our daylight and sunlight report service to homeowners, architects and developers across Causeway Coast and Glens and throughout Northern Ireland. Our reports are prepared to BRE BR 209 (2022) and BS EN 17037 and are written to address PPS 7 and "Creating Places" directly. We work nationwide with a 4-5 working day turnaround and ask for no advance payment. We also prepare Building Regulations drawings to the Building Regulations (Northern Ireland). To discuss your project, please get in touch.
Related reading
If your project lies in a neighbouring authority, see our companion guide to daylight requirements in Derry City and Strabane.
Sources & further reading
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