Lawful development certificate · London Borough of Merton
Lawful development certificate in Merton, from £695 fixed
Merton's John Innes conservation areas are covered by Article 4 directions from 1986 and 2007, and which rights you still have depends on your house number. We check the address against each schedule before drawing a certificate of lawfulness, so you never pay to confirm a right that has been taken away.
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.
Fixed fee, in writing
Tell us about your project
Send the postcode and what you want to build, and add photos or old plans if you have them. We reply with the fee in writing and the payment stages set out in full.
What Merton Council asks of a lawful development certificate
From the council's John Innes (Merton Park and Wilton Crescent) conservation areas: Article 4 directions (adopted Article 4(2) directions, July 2007 notice; earlier direction 1986).
- Merton's second 2007 direction withdraws the right to alter a dwellinghouse where the change fronts a public highway or public space, including replacing doors or windows (attic and dormer windows too) with a different style or material, or changing wall finishes, roof slates or tiles. (source, checked 25 October 2026)
- The same direction withdraws rights to build a porch outside an external door fronting a public highway or space, to alter a roof slope that fronts one, and to paint the exterior of a building facing one. Routine repainting of window frames, doors, gutters and downpipes is not expected to need an application. (source, checked 25 October 2026)
- The first 2007 direction withdraws the right to lay a hard surface in the curtilage where it would front a highway or public space, and to form an access to a highway that is not a trunk or classified road. The council says it protects front boundaries, especially hedges. (source, checked 25 October 2026)
- Merton wrote to residents in July 2007 after confirming the directions on 25 June, and each direction applies only to the properties listed in its schedule, so the house number decides which rights remain. (source, checked 25 October 2026)
- An older John Innes (Merton Park) direction targets named properties: enlargement and roof alterations at Nos 2-30 and 1-7 Melrose Road, a porch at 23 Church Lane, gates and fences at Nos 31-61 Church Lane and 2-14 Watery Lane, and vehicle hardstanding at Nos 9-17 Watery Lane. (source, checked 25 October 2026)
What Merton lawful development certificate drawings have to show
Before drawing anything for a Merton certificate we match the address to the schedules. A house on Melrose Road may have lost its right to enlarge or alter the roof, a house on Sherwood Road may only have lost front-facing window, porch, roof-slope and paint rights, and a house on Watery Lane may be affected only at the front gate or drive. A rear extension behind the building line can still be tested against the permitted development limits.
Where the work is at the rear we draw the existing and proposed plans and elevations with the permitted development dimensions marked, plus a site plan showing the whole garden, and send the certificate application. Where the front elevation is involved we say so before you pay for a certificate that cannot be granted, and draw it for a planning application instead.
Merton: 759 householder decisions
What it costs in Merton
- Certificate of lawfulness: from £545 drawings + £150 survey (£695 total), plus £274 to Merton Council.
- Half the equivalent planning fee for a proposed use certificate.
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Answers
Merton lawful development certificate questions
Can I get a lawful development certificate for a rear extension in Merton Park?
Does repainting windows in the John Innes area of Merton need a planning application?
What stops me paving my front garden in the John Innes conservation areas in Merton?
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.