Daylight and Sunlight Assessment Birmingham

At Anstey Horne, we provide specialist Daylight & Sunlight Assessments in Birmingham, supporting architects, developers, and planning consultants across the West Midlands with clear, robust, and policy-compliant advice.

What Is a Daylight and Sunlight Assessment?

A Daylight & Sunlight Assessment evaluates the impact of a proposed development on natural light levels within surrounding and proposed buildings.

In urban centres like Birmingham—where regeneration, densification, and historic constraints converge—access to daylight and sunlight is a key planning consideration.

These assessments are routinely required to accompany planning applications and help demonstrate a scheme’s acceptability in terms of neighbouring amenity.

Why Are These Assessments Important in Birmingham?

Birmingham’s dynamic urban landscape—ranging from dense city-centre sites and canal-side developments to residential suburbs and conservation areas—presents varied challenges for daylight and sunlight design.

A well-executed Daylight and Sunlight Assessment in Birmingham will:

Demonstrate compliance with the BRE Guidelines (BR209)
Support the planning process by providing credible technical evidence
Address concerns from planners, neighbours, and consultees
Help avoid planning delays or refusals
Reduce the risk of disputes, including objections at planning

What’s Included in Our Assessments?

All our assessments follow the latest BRE Guide Site Layout Planning for Daylight and Sunlight: A Guide to Good Practice (2022) and are aligned with local Birmingham City Council policies. Our service typically includes:

Vertical Sky Component (VSC) – Measures how much skylight reaches windows

No Sky Line (NSL) – Assesses internal daylight distribution

Annual Probable Sunlight Hours (APSH) – Evaluates access to sunlight throughout the year

Overshadowing Analysis – Measures sunlight availability in gardens and communal spaces

Solar Panel Impact Assessments – Identifies any overshadowing effects on PV or thermal systems

We use advanced software to model the site and generate accurate visualisations and technical data to support your planning case.

Who Needs a Daylight and Sunlight Assessment?

Local authorities across the West Midlands increasingly expect daylight and sunlight impacts to be assessed as part of major or minor planning applications. You are likely to need an assessment if:

Your project is near residential or sensitive neighbouring properties
You’re submitting a planning application or appeal
The local planning authority or design officer has raised concerns about daylighting
The scheme may reduce sunlight to gardens or communal spaces

Why Choose Anstey Horne?

We are a market-leading consultancy with a specialist team dedicated to daylight and sunlight planning assessments. Based in Birmingham and operating nationally, our experts deliver responsive, accurate, and clear advice on schemes of all sizes.

Clients choose us for our:

Expertise in complex urban and suburban projects
Fast, flexible turnaround times
Fully BRE-compliant and policy-aligned reports
Ability to liaise with local authorities and stakeholders effectively
Support for appeals and expert witness roles if required

Projects Across Birmingham

We have delivered assessments for major schemes in:

Birmingham City Centre (Digbeth, Eastside, Southside)
Edgbaston and Harborne
Selly Oak regeneration sites
Jewellery Quarter developments
Suburban and greenbelt edge locations

Contact - Daylight and Sunlight Assessment Birmingham

For Daylight and Sunlight advice direct from one of our Birmingham surveyors, please call our Enquiry line in 0121 667 9902. For more information on this service see the collection of articles on our blog page.

We cover all urban areas in the Midlands. We have live Daylight & Sunlight projects in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Coventry, Leicester & Nottingham.

See links to some of our recent Birmingham projects at Lee Bank Business Centre, Fabrick Square and at Snow Hill. Also follow the link for details of our 3D model of Birmingham.

Birmingham City Council have recently included Daylight and Sunlight in their validation requirements for planning. See our recent article on this for more information as well as our piece on why neighbours matter.

For details of our specialist Daylight & Sunlight surveyors near you see our London, Bristol, Manchester, Brighton, Norwich & Plymouth office details.