Planning Application Strategy & Submission in London

A planning application is a case made to the local authority that a proposal is acceptable in policy, design and amenity terms. Our role here is to set the application strategy, choose the correct route, coordinate the planning drawing package and supporting evidence, complete the submission and manage it through validation and assessment. Keeping those parts aligned gives the case officer a consistent proposal rather than a collection of disconnected documents.

The application route shapes the cost, the timescale and the risk. A householder application covers most single-dwelling extensions and alterations; a full application is needed for flats, new units and larger schemes; a lawful development certificate confirms that works are lawful rather than seeking permission; prior approval covers certain larger extensions and changes of use; and listed building consent runs alongside planning for listed properties. Each London borough then applies its own local plan, conservation-area appraisals and design guidance on top. We advise which route genuinely fits your property and proposal before the submission package is commissioned.

Approval turns on a defined set of considerations, and a strong application speaks to each. Officers assess compliance with the development plan, the design — scale, massing, materials and how the proposal reads in its context — and the impact on neighbours, judged through daylight and sunlight (using the BRE guidance), overlooking and loss of privacy, outlook and noise. Heritage impact, trees, highways and parking, drainage and flood risk all feature where relevant, as do any objections from neighbours during the consultation period. We design and present a proposal that answers these tests rather than leaving the officer to infer the case.

Validation checks whether the application contains the required information before assessment begins. We check the national requirements, the correct fee and the relevant borough’s current local list for the proposal. Community Infrastructure Levy information is needed where applicable, rather than being a universal requirement for every application. Householder applications are exempt from mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain; other proposals need their own exemption and information check. We coordinate the submission against that checklist and address any validation queries.

Once validated, a householder or minor application carries a statutory target of around eight weeks, and a major application around thirteen, though authorities frequently ask for an agreed extension of time on busier or more sensitive cases. Most householder decisions are made by officers under delegated powers; larger or contested schemes can go to a planning committee, which is less predictable. We manage the submission and respond constructively to case-officer queries throughout, and after a grant we can discharge any pre-commencement conditions so the permission can actually be acted on. We do not guarantee approval; the decision rests with the local planning authority.

Many applications lose weeks before an officer looks at design. Validation fails when the fee is wrong, the red-line plan is incomplete, ownership certificates do not match the title, or a borough’s local list asks for a statement that was never prepared. A people-first planning service treats validation as part of design, not as admin after the pretty drawings are finished. We assemble a complete package so the statutory clock starts on the first submission attempt.

After a grant, the job is not over. Conditions, building regulations drawings and freeholder consent are the usual next stages. Our guide to what happens after planning permission walks that sequence without pretending the decision notice is a start-on-site certificate.

Most single-house extensions and alterations use a householder planning application: a defined form, a defined fee band, and a statutory target of around eight weeks once valid. A full application is needed where the works create a new dwelling, alter a flat or maisonette, change use, or sit outside the householder categories. Getting this wrong is not a paperwork quibble — the wrong form type is invalid, the fee is wrong, and the officer never starts the design assessment. We confirm the correct application type against the property tenure and the proposed works before drawings are finalised for submission.

Listed buildings add a parallel track. Listed building consent is separate from planning permission: you may need both, and works that affect special interest without consent are a criminal offence. Flats and converted houses often need a freeholder Licence to Alter as well. One approved public-law application does not replace private lease or estate consent.

A competitive application is a coordinated set, not a single pretty elevation. At minimum you need accurate existing and proposed planning drawings (plans, elevations and sections that tell one story), a red-line site location plan, a block plan, the correct ownership certificate, the statutory fee, and any documents on the borough’s local validation list. Sensitive schemes commonly add a design and access statement, a heritage statement, tree information, flood or drainage notes, or daylight analysis. Biodiversity Net Gain is exempt for genuine householder schemes but applies to many full applications — another reason the route choice matters early.

We prepare the package so case officers can validate once and assess on policy, design and neighbour amenity rather than bounce the submission for missing sheets. That is the practical difference between “we submitted drawings” and “we submitted a planning application that can be decided.”

A grant of permission is rarely a green light to dig. Decision notices carry conditions: some must be discharged before work starts, some before occupation, and some control materials or construction management for the life of the build. Starting without discharging pre-commencement conditions can put the permission at risk. Where the design needs a small tweak after grant, a non-material amendment or a section 73 variation may be appropriate; larger redesigns may need a fresh application. We plan the post-decision sequence when we design the first package, so owners are not surprised by a second round of drawings and fees.

Parallel to conditions sit building control and, for many terrace projects, party wall notices. Technical building regulations drawings turn the approved design into buildable information. Pricing a contractor from planning drawings alone is one of the most common ways London projects lose money after a successful decision.

Most London boroughs run a paid pre-application service: you send draft drawings and a short description of the proposal, and an officer responds in writing, sometimes after a meeting, with a view on the principle and the issues a formal application would face. The advice is not binding, and a different case officer may later take a different view, but it is the only way to hear the authority's position before committing to a full submission. We treat it as a decision to weigh rather than a default step.

For a straightforward rear extension on an unremarkable street it often adds cost and weeks for little benefit. For a basement, a roof addition in a conservation area, a scheme close to a refused precedent, or anything affecting a listed building, it can surface an objection in principle while the design can still move to meet it. Where the position is genuinely uncertain, a feasibility study or a formal pre-application enquiry costs far less than discovering the same objection through a refusal.

A refusal notice lists the council's reasons for refusal, and everything sensible that follows starts with reading them properly. Some reasons are curable: a scheme judged too bulky can be set back or lowered, a missing daylight assessment can be produced, a concern about materials can be answered with better detail. In those cases a revised application that addresses each reason directly is usually the quicker route back. Other reasons are objections in principle, where the authority considers development of that kind unacceptable in that location; redesigning around the edges rarely shifts them, and the realistic choices are a materially different scheme or an appeal.

An appeal is decided by an independent inspector on the planning merits of the case, must be lodged within a set period of the decision, and typically takes months rather than weeks, so it is a considered step rather than a reflex. We advise honestly on which refusal reasons look winnable before any fee is spent, and prepare either the resubmission or the appeal case accordingly. Where a refusal looks likely during determination, withdrawing the application and reworking the scheme can be better than collecting a refusal on the property's planning record.