The planning blog

Fresh, in-depth writing on permitted development, extensions, lofts, costs and getting drawings councils approve — from the team that draws them every week.

CIL Forms

The service, from £49

Red-brick and terracotta East Ham Town Hall with a clock tower, a bus shelter and pedestrians in front

Do I need CIL forms for an extension in London, and what do they cost?

Most householder extensions pay no levy, but the forms may still be asked for. Where the 100 square metre line sits, which forms exist, and why a missing form can stop an application being registered.

SAP Calculations (Part L)

The service, from £245

Red-brick semi-detached house with solar panels on its roof, a wooden fence in front and a white front door

How much do SAP calculations cost in London?

A SAP calculation shows building control that a new home or conversion meets the energy rules in Part L. What triggers one, what the assessor needs from you, and what it costs.

Tree Survey for Planning

The service, from £485

Large red-brick house with dormers seen between tall bare trees on a sunny spring day, a wooden fence in front

How much does a tree survey for planning cost in London?

A tree close to your extension can decide what you build. A survey records what is there and what the law protects, before the design is fixed.

CAD Conversion of Old Drawings

The service, from £205

Old blue-print elevation of a half-timbered house front, with room names and a title block in the corner

How much does it cost to convert old drawings to CAD in London?

Old paper plans are good for a rough idea and poor for a planning application. Redrawing them in CAD makes them scalable, editable and ready for the next stage.

HMO Floor Plans

The service, from £325

A long terrace of red-brick Victorian houses with bay windows and roof dormers on Gaskarth Road, parked cars along one side and overhead cables

How much does an HMO licence floor plan cost in London?

The housing team wants a measured plan with every room sized. The legal minimums are exact, and a ceiling lower than 1.5 metres takes floor area out of the count.

Long terrace of dark red brick houses with flat-roofed bay windows and roof dormers, climbing a hill, a white van parked in front

How much do HMO planning drawings cost in London?

Whether a house of sharers needs planning permission depends on how many people live there and whether your council has removed the right. The drawings are the smaller part of the cost.

Pre-Purchase Planning Report

The service, from £205

A terrace of yellow-brick Victorian houses with white bay windows, an estate agent board on one front wall and a red car parked at the kerb

Should I get a planning report before buying a house in London, and what does it cost?

A house's extension potential is rarely in the sales particulars. A short report before you exchange tells you what you could build, and what the previous owner may already have used up.

Feasibility Study and Design Options

The service, from £515

Two tall white roughcast houses with gabled bays and white sash windows between red brick walls, with a Japanese maple in front

How much does a feasibility study for a home project cost in London?

Before you pay for a survey and a full set of drawings, a feasibility study tests the idea on paper: how big, which shape, and what the planning policy says.

Tender Package for Builders

The service, from £1,045

Yellow crane lifting precast concrete floor slabs from a lorry on a building site, a steel frame behind

How much does a tender package for builders cost in London?

Three builders, three quotes, three different jobs. A specification and schedule of works make the quotes comparable, and show where the savings really are.

Householder Flood Risk Assessment

The service, from £415

Cream and white houses at Twickenham Riverside with iron balconies, a blue lattice veranda and sunlit trees

How much does a flood risk assessment cost for an extension in London?

If your extension is in Flood Zone 2 or 3, the council wants a short assessment. The standing advice tells you exactly what it must say, and the floor level is the heart of it.

Fire Strategy Plans

The service, from £465

Suburban semi-detached house wrapped in scaffolding and white sheeting for a loft conversion, a red cherry-picker lorry in the road

How much do fire strategy plans cost in London?

A fire strategy plan shows building control how people get out and how fire is held back. For a loft, a flat conversion or a shared house, it is the drawing that unlocks approval.

Interior Layout Design

The service, from £485 inc survey

Old blue-print cross-sections through four villas, with stairs, floors and roofs drawn in white line and the title written in Dutch

How much does interior layout design cost in London?

Moving walls, doors and rooms inside a house usually needs no planning permission. It does need the right drawing, a check on what holds the building up, and sometimes building control.

3D Visualisation

The service, from £255

London mews of white-painted converted coach houses with black and white garage doors and a gas-style lamp, mansion flats beyond

How much does a 3D visualisation of an extension cost in London?

A render shows a neighbour, a builder or a partner what the drawings mean. It adds to a drawing job rather than replacing it, and the council still decides on the plans.

Garden Room & Outbuilding Plans

The service, from £515

A semi-detached brick house with bay windows and a pitched roof, a stone-flagged drive and a front garden full of shrubs and flower beds on a sunny day

How much do garden room plans cost in London?

A garden office or studio often needs no planning permission, if it stays under a handful of limits. The height beside your boundary is the one that catches people.

Planning Amendment

The service, from £305

New timber roof frame on a house extension behind a hedge and brick wall on All Hallows Road, scaffolding around the new structure

How much does a non-material amendment cost in London?

A window moved, a roof lowered, a porch dropped: small changes to an approved scheme can be agreed without starting again. What it costs and where the line between small and not small sits.

Discharge of Planning Conditions

The service, from £365

Laminated planning application notice with the council's contact details, partly hidden by ivy on a fence

How much does it cost to discharge planning conditions in London?

Approval comes with conditions, and some must be cleared before you can start. What each application costs, how long the council has, and which conditions are traps.

Design and Access Statement

The service, from £255

Mews houses painted yellow and white with dark doors, a garage door and red window boxes on a cobbled lane

How much does a design and access statement cost in London?

Not every application needs one. Where the law asks for a design and access statement, it is a short document with a clear brief, and the price reflects that.

New Build Drawings

The service, from £1,635 inc survey

Row of new detached brick houses with solar panels on their roofs, seen across a field from a train

How much do drawings for a new-build house cost in London?

A new house on a London plot is a full planning application with extra duties: space standards, biodiversity net gain and the community infrastructure levy. The drawing price is the start of the budget, not the end.

Lease Plans

The service, from £249

Old blue-print drawing of a small house showing a ground floor plan with room labels and a front elevation with dimensions

How much does a Land Registry lease plan cost in London?

A lease plan is the drawing that says exactly what a tenant rents. A fixed fee covers it, and the standard it must meet is short and strict.

HMO and Property Licence Pack

The service, from £515

Terrace of London stock brick cottages with sash windows, climbing plants and a white picket fence, seen under autumn trees

How much does a property licence application pack cost in London?

A licence application is a form, a fee and a set of plans. The pack puts all three together after a measured visit, so the housing team can decide without chasing you.

Planning Constraints Report

The service, from £19

Two yellow survey tripods carrying a total station and a prism, orange cones and a kit bag on a paved path

How do I check planning constraints on my address in London, and what does it cost?

Four checks decide most householder projects: conservation area, Article 4, listing and flood zone. You can look each up yourself, or have all four answered in one report for a small fee.

Measured Building Surveys

The service, from £200

Surveyor in hi-visibility vest and cap holding a GNSS receiver pole and a handheld controller

How much does a measured building survey cost in London?

A measured survey is the base every drawing is built on. Two fixed prices, what each one gives you, and why a council will not take a sketch.

Heritage Statement

The service, from £625

Georgian terrace of dark brick houses with white sash windows, black railings and roof dormers, a red cargo bike parked outside

How much does a heritage statement cost in London?

A heritage statement explains why your house matters and what your work does to it. What the fixed fee covers, when councils ask for one, and where the price is quoted individually.

Flat Conversion Plans

The service, from £1,345 inc survey

A terrace of white rendered Victorian houses with sash windows, flower boxes and wooden trellis, seen from the street at a low angle

How much does it cost to convert a house into flats on paper?

Turning one house into two flats always needs planning permission. What the plans cost, the space standards officers check, and the questions to settle before you draw.

Change of use planning drawings

The service, from £995 inc survey

Georgian terrace on Delancey Street in Camden Town with white stucco ground floors, iron balconies, an estate agent's board, a moped and parked cars

How much does a change of use application cost in London?

Turning a shop or office into a home is often a prior approval, not a full application. What the drawings cost, the 56-day clock and the tests the council applies.

Basement Conversion Plans

The service, from £2,265 inc survey

A terrace of dark brick Georgian houses with arched doorways and iron railings along Wynyatt Street, with trees and a lamp post

How much do basement conversion plans cost in London?

Converting a cellar you already have and digging a new basement are different jobs in law and in cost. Which one you are doing decides whether planning permission is needed at all.

Householder Planning Appeal

The service, from £475

Entrance of a red-brick Victorian building with a stone porch, an arched dark wooden door and arched windows

How much does a householder planning appeal cost in London?

Appealing a refusal costs nothing to lodge. What you pay for is the statement that persuades an inspector, and the clock on it is 12 weeks.

Building Regulations Regularisation

The service, from £945 inc survey

Victorian terrace with a tall freestanding scaffold tower and hoarding on a main road, white-framed sash windows on the houses beside it

How much does a regularisation certificate cost in London?

Work built without building regulations approval can still be signed off. The drawing cost is fixed; the cost of any opening-up or remedial work is not, and that is the part to plan for.

Garage Conversion Plans

The service, from £715 inc survey

Brick townhouse with two integral garage doors, one white and one blue, on a gravel drive

How much do garage conversion plans cost in London?

Most garage conversions need building regulations approval, and a good number need no planning application. The trap is a parking condition on the house that nobody mentions.

Wraparound Extension Plans

The service, from £1,225 inc survey

A brick house with a new first-floor roof structure under construction, scaffolding around it and yellow roof membrane on the new frame

How much do wraparound extension plans cost in London?

A wraparound joins a side return to a rear extension in one L-shaped room. The plans cost more than either part alone, and the combined limits are what to watch.

Structural Drawings & Calculations

The service, from £425

Two rusty steel I-beams lying on gravel with paper labels attached

How much do structural calculations cost in London?

A beam over a knocked-through wall needs a calculation before building control will approve it. What each kind costs, and what the engineer is actually checking.

Larger Home Extension Prior Approval

The service, from £655 inc survey

A semi-detached house with a first-floor extension being built, scaffolding and new brickwork showing, beside its unextended neighbour

How much is prior approval for a larger rear extension in London?

The larger-home route lets a house extend to 6 or 8 metres behind. The drawings are cheap; the part to plan for is your neighbours' 21 days.

Side Return Extension Plans

The service, from £825 inc survey

A long street of red-brick Edwardian terraced houses with gables and bay windows, one with a letting board outside, cars parked along the kerb

How much do side return extension plans cost in London?

A side return fills the narrow strip beside a Victorian back addition. It is a small job on paper, and the roof and the boundary decide whether it needs permission.

Two storey extension plans

The service, from £1,115 inc survey

1930s house in North Acton stripped back for a major extension, roof timbers exposed, a mini excavator behind the fence and a blue-tarped skip

How much do two-storey extension plans cost in London?

A two-storey extension is a planning application in most cases. Here is what the plans cost, what the permitted limits are, and why the upper floor changes everything.

Dormer Loft Plans

The service, from £765 inc survey

Single-storey house with a new front dormer being built on its roof, scaffolding and black membrane on the new walls

How much do dormer loft conversion plans cost in London?

A rear dormer adds the most usable room for the least rule-bending. What the plans cost, how an L-shaped dormer differs, and the five measurements that decide the scheme.

Mansard Loft Plans

The service, from £945 inc survey

White painted three-storey mews house with black shutters, a mansard roof with dormers and a black front door beside its garage

How much do mansard loft plans cost in London?

A mansard is the loft that Georgian and Victorian terraces were made for. It is also the loft most likely to need a full planning application, so the plans cost more than a dormer's.

Hip to Gable Plans

The service, from £825 inc survey

Semi-detached bungalow with a front dormer under construction, scaffolding, stacked roof tiles and a yellow skip on the drive

How much do hip-to-gable loft plans cost in London?

A hip-to-gable turns the sloping side of a hipped roof into a vertical wall. It adds head room on the stair side of a 1930s semi, and the volume rule is what tests it.

Planning application drawings

The service, from £825 inc survey

The long red-brick side of a Victorian civic building in East Ham with pale terracotta bands, arched windows and carved pediments, and a black street lamp in front

How much does planning permission cost in London?

Planning permission is two bills: the council's fee and the cost of the drawings that go with it. Here is what each one covers and what changes them.

Loft Conversion Plans

The service, from £765 inc survey

Suburban semi-detached house wrapped in scaffolding and white sheeting for a loft conversion, a red cherry-picker lorry in the road

How much do loft conversion drawings cost in London?

A loft conversion needs drawings twice: once for the planning side and once for building control. What each set costs depends mostly on the shape of the roof you choose.

Rear Extension Drawings

The service, from £765 inc survey

Two-storey extension shell in white blockwork with open window holes beside a semi-detached house, a cement mixer and telehandler in front

How much do rear extension plans cost in London?

Plans for a single-storey rear extension start with one fixed fee. The bigger question is how far back you can build without applying, and what it costs if you cannot.

Building Regulation Drawings

The service, from £825 inc survey

A new-build house under construction wrapped in scaffolding with a concrete mixer lorry, site fencing and barriers beside it

How much do building regulations drawings cost in London?

Building regulations drawings are a separate job from planning drawings, with a different reader: a building control officer, then a builder. What the price covers and what it does not.

Retrospective Planning Application

The service, from £765 inc survey

House stripped back for a major extension with its roof timbers exposed, a mini excavator behind the fence and a blue-tarped skip beside it

What does a retrospective planning application cost in London?

If you built first and are applying afterwards, the process is the same as for a normal application, but the drawings, the fee and the risk are different.

Lawful Development Certificate Drawings

The service, from £715 inc survey

A curving street of 1930s semi-detached houses in red brick and white render in Exeter, a grey car parked in the foreground

How much does a lawful development certificate cost in London?

Two bills, one certificate: what you pay for the drawings, what the council charges, and when the money is worth spending.

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