Architectural drawings in Camden

Conservation areas, Article 4 and listed buildings in Camden

The council publishes 40 named conservation areas, among them Hampstead, Belsize, Bloomsbury and Kentish Town. In a conservation area many permitted development rights are withdrawn, and a loft enlargement under Class B is not permitted development at all.

A further 21 Article 4 directions remove other rights, such as changing windows, doors or front boundaries, even outside conservation areas. These are the reason our constraints check comes before any design work.

Historic England lists 1,971 entries in the borough: 57 at Grade I, 153 at Grade II* and 1,746 at Grade II. A listed house needs separate consent for most alterations, inside and out. If yours is listed, tell us at the first call and we will point you to the right route.

What Camden's housing mix means for your project

Camden had 92,759 households at the last Census, but only 13.3 per cent live in a house or bungalow. Most people here live in flats, which matters because householder permitted development does not apply to flats or to buildings containing flats.

For those homes, an application is almost always the route, and the lease may need a licence to alter as well. Only 29.7 per cent of households are owner-occupied, so many of our Camden enquiries involve a freeholder's consent as well as the council's.

For houses, the average terraced price is £1,554,868 in the latest Land Registry figures. With values like that, a well-drawn extension or loft is often a sound use of the footprint you already own.

How Camden decides householder applications

In the latest twelve months of published figures Camden decided 394 householder applications and granted 89.1 per cent of them. In all, 77.7 per cent were decided within eight weeks or an agreed extension.

These figures describe past decisions across the borough. They say nothing about any single house, and we never treat them as a promise. What they do show is that well-prepared householder applications are normally granted here, and that timing needs planning around.

You can search past applications on your own street on the council's online planning search before you commit. We do the same in our constraints check, looking for precedents on the same terrace.

Camden's levy and the other costs to expect

Camden is in charging band 1 of the Mayor of London's levy, at £96.97 per square metre for permissions granted this year. The borough also has its own charging schedule, the London Borough of Camden Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule. We flag any liability in the next-steps pack we hand over at the end.

The council's list of land-use Article 4 directions includes none for small houses in multiple occupation. A change of use to a small HMO still needs checking against the local plan.

Every service we offer in Camden

Most Camden projects begin with planning drawings in Camden or, for a loft, loft conversion drawings in Camden. If the work may be permitted development, a Lawful Development Certificate in Camden proves it.

Once the design is agreed, building regulations drawings in Camden cover the technical sheets, and rear extension drawings in Camden cover the most common ground-floor project. Our council pages for Islington, Westminster and Barnet cover the neighbouring boroughs.