Do you need planning permission?
Some work is permitted development and needs no application. Some is permitted development in principle but restricted for your particular house. Some needs full permission. The difference is not always obvious from the street, and getting it wrong is expensive to unwind.
- Permitted development assessment — a written view on whether your proposal falls inside the allowances for your property.
- Lawful development certificate — a formal council confirmation that the work is lawful, useful evidence when you sell or remortgage.
- Householder application — the standard route for extensions, loft conversions and alterations to a house.
- Full planning application — for flats, changes of use, new builds and anything outside householder scope.
- Prior approval — the lighter route available for larger single storey rear extensions.
What we prepare
The council decides on the documents in front of it, so the package is built to answer the objections before they are raised.
- Site location plan and block plan at the council's required scale.
- Existing and proposed floor plans, sections and elevations.
- Design and access statement where the application requires one.
- Heritage or conservation statement where the property or the area calls for it.
- Supporting drawings showing boundary distances, window positions and sight lines where overlooking or daylight is likely to be raised.
Not sure what your property needs?
Send us the address and what you are trying to achieve. We will tell you what is likely to be possible, what approvals it involves, and what the design work would cost.
Submission and liaison
We submit through the Planning Portal, track the application, respond to the case officer's queries and amend drawings where a negotiated change gets the scheme through. If a proposal attracts objections, we deal with the correspondence and advise you on whether to amend, justify or accept a different design.
Conservation areas and listed buildings
Conservation areas remove some permitted development rights and add a design test. Listed buildings need listed building consent as well as, or instead of, planning permission. Both need a more careful drawing set and a written justification, and we treat them as such from the start rather than as an afterthought.
Where we work
We submit applications to councils across London and the surrounding areas, including Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Islington, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark, Camden, Haringey, Enfield, Barnet, Ealing, Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Richmond, Kingston, Merton, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Croydon, Bromley, Bexley, Havering, Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a planning application take?
Householder applications are decided to the council's own statutory timetable, and the actual time depends on the borough's caseload and on whether the case officer asks for amendments. We give you the current position for your council when we start, rather than a figure that ignores how busy they are.
What is a lawful development certificate?
It is a formal confirmation from the council that a proposal, or work already carried out, is lawful and does not need planning permission. It is not required to build, but it is the document a buyer's solicitor will ask for when you sell, so it is worth having where permitted development is the basis of the scheme.
Can you help if a previous application was refused?
Yes. We read the officer's report and the reasons for refusal before advising, because the route forward might be a revised scheme, a different application type, or an appeal. Designing the same proposal again without addressing the stated reasons rarely works.
Do you deal with the council directly?
We do. Submission, case officer correspondence, amended drawings and condition discharge are handled by us, and you are kept informed of what the council has asked for and what we have sent back.
Is planning permission the same as building regulations approval?
No, and both are usually needed. Planning is about whether you may do the work and how it affects the area. Building regulations are about how the work is built — structure, fire, thermal performance and drainage. Approval of one does not imply the other.
Planning and building regulations guidance on this page is general and applies to England. The position depends on your property, its history and your council's policies, so it is not a substitute for advice on your address. We check the specifics before any work begins.