Dual Consent: Trust, Estate and Council in London

What “dual consent” means

Dual consent means two decision-makers for the same external works: a local planning authority under public law, and a Trust, Estate Scheme of Management or freeholder under private law. Consent from one body does not imply consent from the other. Building regulations remain a further track for construction.

Classic examples: Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust + Barnet planning; Dulwich Estate Scheme of Management + Southwark (or Lambeth/Lewisham) planning; Grosvenor-style estate standards + Westminster planning on Mayfair/Belgravia pins.

Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust

Most external works in Hampstead Garden Suburb need Barnet planning permission and separate written consent from the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust under its Scheme of Management. Design to Trust guidance early — materials, roof form, boundaries and subordinate extensions — so one measured package can serve both bodies.

See our Hampstead Garden Suburb area guide and HGS house extensions page for the local sequence.

Dulwich Estate Scheme of Management

Many Dulwich freeholds require written Estate approval for works affecting external appearance (and tree works). The Estate states approval is separate from and additional to local authority planning. External appearance changes can need Estate approval even where planning permitted development applies.

Our Dulwich Estate consent guide sets out the dual-track programme. Basement ideas need lightwells and garden extent acceptable to both Estate and LPA before dig design freezes — see Dulwich basements.

Freeholder estates and Licence to Alter

Central London freeholder estates often require design packs that mirror planning sheets with extra structural method notes. Flats add Licence to Alter as a third track. Sequence estate packs with planning drawings so materials and elevational form satisfy both audiences.

How to programme dual-consent work

Confirm which private regime binds the title → confirm LPA → survey once → design for both audiences → dual submissions without contradictory sheets → freeze building regulations drawings only after principle is clear on both tracks. Estate and freeholder consent support is built for this coordination.