Selective licence floor plans London, from £350

What are selective licence floor plans in London?

Selective licence floor plans are scaled drawings that accompany a landlord's licence application under Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, showing each floor, room uses and areas so a London council officer can understand the rented home without visiting. Some London boroughs and home counties authorities run a scheme in part of their area. A landlord floor plan is not a planning drawing and not for building control, and it needs no elevations or sections.

Which licence applies to my London rental?

Mandatory licensing under Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004 covers HMOs with five or more people in two or more households, additional licensing covers smaller HMOs, and selective licensing under Part 3 covers other private rentals, with councils deciding the last two. A house can therefore need a licence in one borough and none in the next.

The licence fee is the council's and differs by authority, so we quote none here; your council's licensing page has it. If the property is an HMO, the plan must also show sleeping room areas and amenities. That is the HMO drawings service at from £1,500, and converting to an HMO may need planning permission, which the permitted development checker will tell you without asking for your email address.

What do councils typically require on a licence floor plan?

A council licence floor plan typically shows every lived-in floor to a stated scale with a north point, labels each room's use and area, marks kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, and shows doors, windows, stairs and the front door. The application form is the final word. In full, the typical list is:

• A plan for every floor that is lived in, including loft and basement rooms.
• A stated scale and a north point.
• Each room labelled by use, with its area or enough dimensions to work it out.
• Kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and shared facilities marked.
• Doors, windows, stairs and the front door.
• Alarm and detector positions, where the council asks for them.

If your council asks for an item not listed here, it goes on the plan.

How do you measure a property for a licence floor plan?

Measure a property for a London licence floor plan wall to wall, room by room and floor by floor, recording internal dimensions at floor level plus door and window openings and the thickness of the walls between rooms. Ceiling height matters where a roof slopes, because low areas may not count towards usable floor area. You can measure with a laser measure yourself, and many landlords do. The risk is a plan that does not match the building, which an officer notices on inspection. A measured survey at £150 removes that risk, and you keep the measurements. Work from accurate existing drawings (£500) if you already hold them.

How does a landlord floor plan job run?

A landlord floor plan job runs in four steps: you send the address and scheme, we measure, we draw and you review, and you attach the plan to your council application and pay its licence fee.

1. You send the address and the scheme. We read your council's guidance for that scheme, so the brief is the council's, not ours.
2. Measure. We survey the property, or work from accurate measurements you supply.
3. Draw and review. You see every floor, labelled and to scale, and tell us what to correct.
4. Apply. You attach the plan to your licence application and pay the council its fee. The CAD files are yours, so a later change of layout can be redrawn by anyone.

Because we know what a licensing team reads for, the plan answers the questions an officer would otherwise raise by email. That matters most for a landlord with several properties across different boroughs, where each council wants a slightly different set of information and one generic plan will not satisfy all of them.

Why do licensing officers send floor plans back?

Licensing officers send floor plans back when the scale is missing or wrong because the print was resized, a room label disagrees with the application form, a floor such as the loft or basement is omitted, or the plan shows the house as it was before someone altered it. Each costs you weeks with the licence unissued and the property unlet. If the layout has changed, resubmit nothing old: structural and fire changes fall under the Building Regulations, with their own building regulations drawings, and a change in occupants can move a home from selective licensing into the stricter HMO regime.

How much do landlord floor plans cost in London?

Selective licence floor plans in London cost from £350 per property at Fixed Fee Plans, published on this page and confirmed in writing from your address before work begins. The licence fee is separate and paid to your council. The price starts there because buildings differ. For a landlord with a portfolio, check the prices page for the register and use the fee calculator for a quote beside any council fee. Selling or refinancing instead? A certificate of lawfulness at from £950 proves earlier works were lawful, and larger projects start with the planning drawings cost guide and our £895 planning permission drawings.