Pre-application advice London, £295 + VAT, published

What is pre-application advice in London?

Pre-application advice is informal, paid guidance from your London council's planning officers on a proposal before you submit a formal application. It tells you how an officer reads your scheme against local policy. It is not a decision, it does not grant permission, and it does not bind the council when the real application arrives.

Councils sell it as written advice, a meeting, or both. The officer sees only what you send and gives an opinion on that, on that date. A valid householder application then carries an eight-week statutory decision period, which is why a wrong guess is slow to correct.

What does £295 pre-application advice in London cover?

Our £295 + VAT covers four things: sketch proposals drawn from your brief and photographs, the council's pre-application form completed for you, submission to the council, and a plain-English reading of the officer's response that says what it means for your design and whether to apply.

• Sketch proposals. Plans and elevations showing the idea, with rough massing and position, drawn from your brief and photographs.
• The council's pre-app form. Completed in the terms the borough asks for.
• Submission. We send it and pass the council's invoice to you.
• A plain-English reading. What to change, what to keep and whether to proceed.

The sketches are for an officer to react to, not for validation. If you proceed, the £295 is credited in full against our complete planning drawing service at £895, leaving £600 to pay for that service.

What does pre-application advice in London not include?

Two costs sit outside our fee. The council's own pre-application fee is paid directly to the council, and we do not mark it up or hold it. A measured survey, £150, is also separate if the sketches need accurate dimensions, as on a tight plot, a loft or an extension near a boundary.

You pay the council yourself and keep its receipt. A measured survey is worth ordering now only when the officer's answer turns on a tight dimension.

How much do London councils charge for pre-application advice?

London councils set their own householder pre-application fees. They differ by borough and change each April. The table lists five we checked on 10 October 2026, each linked to the council's own page. These are the councils' figures, not ours, and what you pay the council is exactly what it charges.

Read the format as well as the number. Bromley's fee buys written advice only, and Wandsworth's fee sheet puts a follow-up on a materially similar revised scheme at half the initial fee. Local rules for Croydon, Ealing, Bromley and Wandsworth are on their borough pages, and the London page lists the rest.

When is pre-application advice in London worth paying for?

Pre-application advice is worth paying for when the outcome is genuinely uncertain and costly to get wrong, such as a scheme in a conservation area, a listed building, a two-storey extension or a loft that changes the street scene. Then £295 + VAT plus the council's fee buys an officer's view before you commission full drawings.

• A conservation area or Article 4 direction that removes permitted development rights.
• A two-storey or wrap-around house extension beyond permitted development limits.
• A loft conversion with a front dormer or a visible change to the roofline.
• A flat or maisonette, which has no householder permitted development rights.
• A previous refusal on the same site, or neighbours who have already objected.

If an officer is hostile, you find out before paying for full drawings and the council's £548 householder application fee.

When can you skip pre-application advice in London?

Skip it for most simple rear extensions and anything permitted development. Under the General Permitted Development Order 2015, a single-storey rear extension of up to 3 metres on an attached house or 4 metres on a detached one needs no planning application, so there is nothing for an officer to advise on.

That holds for houses, not flats, and only where no conservation area or Article 4 direction removes the right. Larger extensions, up to 6 and 8 metres, use prior approval, not pre-application. Use the permitted development checker first. If it says you do not need planning permission, it says so, even though a planning application is our £895 service. If you need proof of the right, see the certificate of lawfulness at from £950, or the guide to when you need planning permission.

How much does pre-application advice cost in London in total?

The total has up to three parts: our £295 + VAT, the council's pre-application fee paid to the council, and a £150 measured survey if the sketches need one. Each is shown separately, and council fees vary by borough, so check the table above first.

Every one of our prices is on the prices page, and the London drawing cost guide puts the wider market in context.