If you are planning an extension, an infill plot or a larger development in Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden or the surrounding towns and villages, it pays to understand the daylight requirements in North Northamptonshire. The way daylight and sunlight are assessed here is shaped by a slightly unusual planning framework, because North Northamptonshire is a relatively new unitary authority that has inherited policies from four former councils. This guide explains which documents apply, how amenity and light are protected, and the technical standards used to test impact.
A unitary authority with an inherited development plan
North Northamptonshire Council was created on 1 April 2021, replacing the former Borough Council of Wellingborough, Kettering Borough Council, Corby Borough Council, East Northamptonshire Council and Northamptonshire County Council functions for this area. As a unitary authority it is now the single local planning authority covering Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Rushden and their hinterlands.
Because the new council was formed from four districts, it does not yet have one consolidated Local Plan. Instead, the adopted development plan is a layered set of documents:
- The North Northamptonshire Joint Core Strategy 2011–2031 (adopted July 2016). This is the strategic, Part 1 Local Plan covering the whole area and is where the principal design and amenity policies sit.
- A set of Part 2 Local Plans, each carried over from a former district and dealing with site allocations and more detailed development management:
- Wellingborough Local Plan Part 2 (adopted 26 February 2019)
- Corby Local Plan Part 2 (adopted September 2021)
- Kettering Site Specific Part 2 Local Plan (adopted 1 December 2021)
- East Northamptonshire Local Plan Part 2 (adopted December 2023), which covers the Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Oundle area
- Adopted Neighbourhood Plans in some parishes and towns.
A single new North Northamptonshire Local Plan (also referred to as the Strategic Plan, looking ahead to around 2045) is being prepared, but as of mid-2026 it is emerging and not yet adopted. Until it is, the Joint Core Strategy and the relevant Part 2 plan for your area remain the documents against which applications are decided under section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004.
The policies that protect daylight, sunlight and amenity
Joint Core Strategy Policy 8
The central policy is Policy 8 "North Northamptonshire Place Shaping Principles". It sets out the criteria for high quality, well-designed development, and is the principal route through which the council promotes the government-endorsed Building for a Healthy Life approach. Crucially for light and amenity, Policy 8 requires that development should not have a negative impact on the amenity and living conditions of neighbouring occupiers. In practice, planning officers and committees regularly refer to Policy 8(e)(i) when refusing schemes that would be overbearing, or would cause unacceptable overshadowing or loss of light to a neighbour. The same policy underpins the assessment of adequate daylight within proposed new homes.
The Part 2 Local Plan for your area
The relevant Part 2 plan adds locally specific development management policies that sit alongside Policy 8. Whether your site is in Wellingborough, Corby, Kettering or the East Northamptonshire towns of Rushden and Higham Ferrers, the Part 2 plan and any made Neighbourhood Plan should be checked for design and amenity requirements that apply to your particular settlement.
Daylight requirements in North Northamptonshire: the guidance position
North Northamptonshire Council does not currently publish a dedicated daylight and sunlight Supplementary Planning Document, nor a single area-wide residential extensions design SPD setting its own numerical light thresholds. The council instead promotes good design through Policy 8 and the Building for a Healthy Life toolkit, and encourages applicants to use its pre-application design advice service.
Because the development plan describes the harm to be avoided rather than prescribing its own measurement method, the recognised national technical standards are used to assess daylight and sunlight in detail. The key references are:
- BRE BR 209 (2022), Site layout planning for daylight and sunlight: a guide to good practice — the standard methodology, including the Vertical Sky Component, the no-sky line, Annual Probable Sunlight Hours and overshadowing of amenity areas, used to test impact on neighbours and light within new homes.
- BS EN 17037, Daylight in buildings — increasingly referenced for the daylight provision designed into new dwellings.
- The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which requires high standards of amenity and good design, applied locally through Policy 8 and the Part 2 plans.
So the local policy hook is Policy 8 of the Joint Core Strategy and the relevant Part 2 plan, while BRE BR 209 (2022) and BS EN 17037 supply the measured evidence.
Local factors worth reflecting in an assessment
- Different policy layers in different towns. Because the Part 2 plans were inherited from four former districts, a scheme in Rushden (East Northamptonshire) is judged against a different Part 2 plan than one in Corby or Kettering, even though Policy 8 applies everywhere. A robust report should cite the correct combination for the site.
- Growth-area context. North Northamptonshire is one of the country's significant housing growth areas, with substantial expansion around Corby, Kettering East and Wellingborough (including the Stanton Cross development). Layout, orientation and sunlight to gardens and amenity space are recurring issues in these larger schemes under BRE site-layout guidance.
- Ironstone towns and historic cores. The local building tradition of ironstone and the conservation areas in towns such as Oundle and Higham Ferrers mean that extensions on tight historic plots frequently raise overbearing and overshadowing questions that engage Policy 8(e)(i).
When you are likely to need a daylight and sunlight report
- A rear or two-storey extension could reduce light to a neighbour's habitable-room windows or overshadow their garden.
- An infill or backland plot sits close to existing dwellings.
- A larger housing or apartment scheme must demonstrate adequate internal daylight to future occupiers under BRE BR 209 (2022) and BS EN 17037.
- A neighbour has objected on daylight grounds, or an officer has asked for supporting evidence under Policy 8.
How Fortress Associates can help
Fortress Associates offers our daylight and sunlight report service to homeowners, architects and developers throughout North Northamptonshire. Our reports are prepared to BRE BR 209 (2022) and BS EN 17037 and are written to address Joint Core Strategy Policy 8 and the relevant Part 2 Local Plan for your area. We work nationwide with a 4 to 5 working day turnaround and require no advance payment. You can also see our full range of services, including Building Regulations drawings to the Approved Documents, and contact us to talk through your project. For a neighbouring authority, read our guide to daylight requirements in North Lincolnshire.
Sources & further reading
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