Who Can Measure My House and Draw Floor Plans in Mill Hill?

Why do Mill Hill houses need a proper survey?

Because they are rarely simple boxes. Mill Hill NW7 has a large share of detached houses: interwar and post-war houses on generous plots off Hammers Lane, Uphill Road and around Mill Hill Broadway, and older villas and cottages up on the ridge. Many have been extended two or three times, each extension built to a different floor level and wall thickness.

An estate agent plan shows rooms as rectangles and leaves out the wall between them. A tape measure loses accuracy across a 15-metre house. A laser survey records each wall, each step in a floor and each roof pitch, and we check the measurements against each other before we draw. That is what stops a proposed extension being drawn 200mm wider than the house really is.

What does the conservation area change?

Mill Hill is one of Barnet's larger conservation areas. The council's character appraisal says it covers about 152 hectares at the north-west corner of the borough, was designated in December 1968, and that the council brought in an Article 4 direction for most of it shortly after (Barnet Council, Mill Hill appraisal). The national register records the Area 1 direction starting on 7 September 1970 and removing rights that include rear and side extensions, roof alterations, porches and front walls and fences (Planning Data).

The practical result: on The Ridgeway, Milespit Hill, around Mill Hill Village and the other streets the direction covers, work that is permitted development elsewhere in Barnet needs planning permission. Every application needs existing drawings, and a conservation officer reads them closely. Old brickwork, sash windows and chimneys are drawn as they are, not as a symbol.

If you are not sure whether your street is covered, see our Barnet borough page or ask us to check the address before you book.

What exactly do I get?

• The survey. Every room, the outside faces, the roof as far as it can be seen, garden levels and outbuildings.
• Floor plans. Each storey, with wall thicknesses, room sizes, doors, windows and stairs.
• Elevations. Each face of the house, with window and door positions and roof lines.
• A section. Through the house, showing floor-to-ceiling heights.
• A roof plan. Each pitch, hip, valley and dormer.

Barnet asks for drawings with a scale bar of at least 0 to 5 metres and a block plan at 1:200 or 1:500 (Barnet validation checklist). Ours carry both. National guidance requires a planning drawing to be at an identified scale and to show north (MHCLG).

How does the survey day work on a large Mill Hill house?

One surveyor, with a laser measure and a camera, works through the house room by room, then walks the outside. On a typical three or four-bedroom detached house that takes most of a morning. On a large house with a coach house, a basement or a big garden with level changes, it takes longer, and we say so when we book.

Inside, we measure every room in two directions and across the diagonals, so a room that is out of square shows up on the drawing. We record each window and door, each floor-to-ceiling height and each step between floor levels, which matters in houses extended over several decades. Outside, we measure each face, the eaves and ridge heights, and the garden levels near the house.

What we cannot see, we do not invent. Roof timbers behind a finished ceiling, drains under a patio and foundations are marked as not seen. If a later design depends on them, we tell you what to open up or what a specialist survey would add.

Mill Hill gardens often hold mature trees. Barnet's checklist wants trees within 15 metres of an extension shown on the drawings, so we plot them on the survey even when you are not planning anything yet. It saves a second visit.

What can I use the drawings for?

Almost anything that starts with "what is there now":

• A planning application, as the existing drawings every application needs.
• A certificate of lawfulness, where evidence must be precise and unambiguous (MHCLG).
• Building regulations drawings, which start from the same survey.
• A sale or a lease, where buyers want real room sizes.
• Planning a project with a builder or interior designer before committing to anything.

If you then want us to draw a scheme, the survey is not repeated. Our planning drawing service includes the survey stage once, so if you plan to apply soon it can be better value to book that from the start.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

• Measured survey: £150, usually within five working days of booking.
• Existing drawings from it: £395.

If your house is unusually large, for example with a coach house or several outbuildings, we tell you before the visit. For more on each part, see what a measured building survey costs, what existing drawings of a house cost, and the measured survey service page.

Frequently asked questions

Do you survey flats in Mill Hill as well as houses? Yes. We survey what you control and record shared walls and common parts as far as they can be seen.

Can you work from the original 1930s plans? We use them as a starting point where they exist, and the survey checks them. Extensions and internal changes since then are often missing.

Do I need to be home for the survey? Someone needs to let us into every room and the garden. We tell you how long it takes when we book.

Can you measure outbuildings and the garden too? Yes. Garages, garden rooms, coach houses and the main garden levels can all be included. Tell us when you book so we allow the time, and we confirm whether it changes the fee before the visit.

Do I need a topographical survey as well? Only for some projects, such as a new house in the garden or work on a sloping site. For most extensions and lofts our measured survey, with garden levels near the house, is enough.

Will the drawings be accepted by Barnet? They are drawn to the scale, scale bar and block plan Barnet's checklist asks for, and they show north.