Architectural drawings in Hillingdon

Green Belt, trees and conservation areas

Green Belt covers 42 per cent of the borough. If your house is inside it, the size of the original building limits what you can add, so we measure first and design second.

The council also lists 33 conservation areas and 731 tree preservation orders. A protected tree in your garden or next door can move a foundation, shrink an extension or require an arboricultural report with the application.

We plot trees on the survey drawing and flag any that look protected, so the design avoids root zones from the start. We cross-check each one against the council's published list and against what we see on site.

Listed buildings and heritage at risk

Historic England records 436 listed entries inside the borough, and 45 entries on its Heritage at Risk Register. Any listed home needs listed building consent alongside, or instead of, planning permission.

If your house, outbuilding or garden wall might be listed, tell us at the first call. The check takes minutes and saves an expensive mistake.

Planning policy in Hillingdon

The council's policy is set out in the Hillingdon Local Plan Part 1: Strategic Policies, with Local Plan Part 2: Development Management Policies and Site Allocations and Designations (January 2020). The two parts work together: strategic policy first, then detailed development management rules that officers apply to extensions and roof alterations.

Every application is read against both. We write short notes on the drawing sheets so that the case officer can see which policy a feature answers, and we cover the points that usually draw comment: materials, roof form, window positions and the distance to each boundary.

Hillingdon's householder record

Hillingdon decided 1,147 householder applications in its latest twelve months and granted 90.2 per cent. Around 94.3 per cent were decided within eight weeks or an agreed extension.

The grant rate is high, but it is a borough-wide average. A house under an Article 4 direction or inside the Green Belt follows a different path from the typical case, which is exactly why we check the address first.

Homes, tenure and costs

Of the borough's 109,228 households, 68.9 per cent live in a house or bungalow and 56.6 per cent own their home. A terraced house sold for £457,686 on average in the latest Land Registry figures.

Hillingdon is in band 2 of the Mayor of London's levy at £72.73 per square metre this year. The council's own levy is shown as £160.43/m² (Residential dwelling houses C3, borough-wide).

An Article 4 direction also covers houses in multiple occupation here, so turning a family home into a shared house needs a planning application. Our HMO conversion drawings in Hillingdon are prepared for that application.

What we draw for Hillingdon homes

Common jobs are planning drawings in Hillingdon, side return extension drawings in Hillingdon and garage conversion plans in Hillingdon.

Our neighbouring council pages are Ealing, Hounslow and Harrow.