Planning guides
Straight answers on planning permission, with the prices attached
Consumer bodies write the honest guides and never quote a price. Drawing firms quote a price and never write the honest guide. These do both, because someone deciding whether to extend needs the rule and the cost in the same place.
Householder application fee, paid to your council at submission.
Plus the Planning Portal's own charge if the application goes through the Portal: up to £149 including VAT, depending on the application type, and some types have none (source).
Get this fee in writingor email hello@fixedfeeplans.co.uk
No obligation. Nothing is sent until you ask; your enquiry comes to us and nowhere else.
How Much Do Planning Drawings Cost? London Fixed Fees for 2026
Every fee on one page: our fixed fees, the council's fee shown separately, and each council's pre-application charge.
Do I need planning permission? Permitted development rights explained
The GPDO rights that let you extend without an application, and the conservation area and Article 4 traps that remove them.
Part L and the Future Homes Standard for London Extensions
The U-values and glazing limits an extension must meet, and what changes on 24 March 2027.
Part B Fire Safety for Loft Conversions in Houses
Protected stairs, fire doors, alarms and escape windows, from Approved Document B.
Part A Structure: When Do You Need Structural Calculations in London?
When a wall, opening or loft floor needs an engineer, and what building control checks.
Larger Home Extension Prior Approval: 6m and 8m Rear Extensions
How the 6m and 8m rear extension route works, the 42-day clock and when neighbours can object.
Loft Conversion Planning Permission and Permitted Development Rules
The 40m³ and 50m³ limits, dormers, hip-to-gable, and what counts towards the volume.
Garage Conversion Planning Permission and Building Regulations
When converting a garage needs no application, what can change that, and the building regs that always apply.
HMO Planning in London: Use Classes, Article 4 and Licensing
C3, C4 and sui generis, Class L, Article 4 directions and the licensing rules for houses in multiple occupation.
Certificate of Lawfulness: Section 191, Section 192 and Immunity Periods
Section 191 vs 192, the evidence councils want, and the 10-year rule since April 2024.
Party Wall Act Notices: Sections 1, 2 and 6 Explained
The three triggers, the notice periods, surveyors, awards and who pays.
Planning Permission Fees in England: What You Pay, to Whom and When
The council fee for each type of application from 1 April 2026, what is refunded, and what is charged separately.
Coming next
The building regulations cluster nobody else writes
Planning permission decides whether you may build it. Building regulations decide whether it is safe to build. The second half is where projects actually fail, and it is the half this market barely covers. From 24 March 2027 the Future Homes Standard brings new Approved Documents L and F into force in England.
Conservation of fuel and power
Fabric U-values, heat loss and the 2027 Future Homes Standard uplift — the part that most often sends a drawing set back.
Fire safety
Escape windows, protected stairs and the 30-minute separation every loft conversion needs, whether or not it needed planning permission.
Structure
Beams, padstones and the structural calculations building control wants before it will pass a steel over an opening.
MHCLG published the Future Homes Standard consultation response and new Approved Documents L and F on 24 March 2026, in force 24 March 2027 for standard work, with transitional arrangements to 24 March 2028.
Start with £150
Your fixed fee is already on this page.
Tell us the postcode and what you want to build. We confirm the fee in writing and book the survey.