Architectural drawings in Southwark

A borough of flats, and what follows from that

Only 21.8 per cent of Southwark's 130,818 households live in a house or bungalow, and 28.9 per cent own their home. So many projects here involve flat owners, leaseholders and landlords rather than owners of a freehold house.

Flats do not benefit from householder permitted development, and the lease usually adds its own consent. We ask about both at the start, so an application and a licence to alter move together.

A terraced house here changed hands at an average of £838,160, against £572,478 across all property types. Where a house survives, it is valuable enough to justify careful design.

Converted houses are a particular case. A building split into flats may have lost its permitted development rights when it was converted, so we check the planning history for the original consent before suggesting any route.

The Householder development SPD and the Southwark Plan

The development plan is the Southwark Plan 2022. For alterations to homes, the council's guidance is the Householder development SPD.

It sets out how extensions, roof additions and outbuildings should relate to the existing house and to neighbours. We draw to it from the first sketch, and where a heritage SPD also applies, we answer both on the sheets.

The council's published list does not say whether the new guidance covers every roof and basement case, so for those projects we confirm the approach with the officer at pre-application stage.

A loft, a rear addition and a mansard-style roof each answer to different paragraphs of the guidance. We tell you which ones apply before you pay for design, and we show the relevant rule on the drawing note where a reviewer will look for it.

How Southwark decides householder applications

In the latest twelve months of figures the council decided 558 householder applications. It granted 94.8 per cent and decided 95.3 per cent within eight weeks or an agreed extension.

Larger home extensions under prior approval are rare here: the council granted 7 and refused 2 in the same period. With so few cases, a full application is the more common route.

These numbers record past decisions. They cannot tell you what will happen to your house, and we never treat them as a promise.

We read the planning register for decisions on your street first. In a borough with this many designations, an approval on the same terrace is the strongest evidence we can attach to your case.

Levy and the cost of building here

Southwark is in band 2 of the Mayor of London's levy. The council's own schedule, the Southwark Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule, sets £598/m² (Zone 1); £300/m² (Zone 2); £74/m² (Zone 3), and the zone you are in matters.

The borough applies an Article 4 direction to houses in multiple occupation, so converting a house to shared use needs permission. We say so early to anyone asking about an HMO.

Your zone is set by the postcode and the site, so we confirm it from the council's map rather than guessing. Building a new flat or enlarging one past the size threshold is where a charge most often arises.

Architectural drawings we prepare most in Southwark

Flat owners often begin with planning drawings in Southwark, then add building regulations drawings in Southwark once the design is agreed. Terrace owners tend to want side return extension drawings in Southwark or wraparound extension drawings in Southwark.

Investors can start with HMO conversion drawings in Southwark or flat conversion drawings in Southwark. Neighbouring council pages cover Lambeth, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets.

For a leaseholder the sequence is usually: freeholder's outline consent, planning drawings, the council decision, then technical drawings for building control. We prepare the package for each step.

What we do after you say yes

We survey, model the property in Revit and present options in plan and 3D. When you freeze the design, a second chartered technologist checks every sheet, and we submit through the Planning Portal.

If the case officer wants changes, we redraw at no charge until approval. The next-steps pack then covers commencement, party wall timing and any levy.