Flat conversion drawings in Bromley

Green Belt, heritage and Article 4

Green-belt polygons cover 51 per cent of the borough's area. A conversion that needs no extension raises few Green Belt issues, but one that adds floor area near open land will be read against those policies.

The borough also publishes 108 Article 4 directions, 47 conservation areas and 412 list entries, so heritage constraints matter on many roads. Where a direction removes rights over windows, doors or frontages, the entrance changes a flat conversion needs may require permission in their own right, and we price that into the application from the start.

The housing stock helps. About 68.6 per cent of households live in a house and 68.5 per cent own their home, and domestic gardens cover 23.4 per cent of the land in the national land-use survey, so there is usually a garden to share.

Application, fee and Bromley's record

A conversion needs consent every time: Use of a single dwellinghouse as two or more dwellings is a material change of use. The sheets come from our planning drawings in Bromley, and the fee is £610 per dwelling.

Bromley decided 545 minor applications in its latest year, granting 70.3 per cent and deciding 82.8 per cent in time. If a scheme is refused, the Planning Inspectorate decided 502 householder appeals from the borough and allowed 37.6 per cent. These describe the council, not your site.

Ground-floor family flats and where cars go

The family-unit preference has consequences for the whole plan. A family flat needs two or three bedrooms, a kitchen-dining space and a bathroom of decent size, and taking all that from the ground floor leaves the first floor and loft for a smaller home. In a detached or large semi that works well. In a compact terrace it may not, and a conversion may be better served by a different split.

We test the options as three-dimensional models and score them on floor areas, light and escape routes. Frequently the best answer is not the one the owner started with, and it is quicker to find it at the sketch stage than after a refusal.

The parking requirement then comes in. Bromley houses often have a front drive, and a second household brings a second car. We show a drive that holds the cars and still leaves room for planting and bins. Where a drive cannot be rearranged, we say so and ask whether the scheme should be reduced.

The borough made 1,609 householder decisions in the latest year and granted 78.6 per cent, but that is a different test from a conversion, so we treat it as a general reference rather than a prediction. A well-evidenced scheme argues from the policy, not from the statistics.

Standards and cost

Each flat must meet the national space standard: Minimum GIA: 1b1p 39 m² (37 m² with shower), 1b2p 50 m², 2b3p 61 m², 2b4p 70 m² (one-storey dwellings); 3b4p 74 m², 3b5p 86 m². London's ceiling-height figure is 2.5 m, and the outdoor space ask is Min 5 m² private outdoor space for 1-2 person dwellings plus 1 m² per extra occupant, min 1.5 m deep and wide.

Bromley charges £120.12/m² (Residential development excluding residential development which delivers additional care and support services) in CIL, with no exemption for a new home, since The under-100 m² CIL exemption does not apply where a new dwelling is created. The Mayoral element is band 2 at £72.73 per square metre, indexed.

Price and where next

Our fee for a two-flat scheme starts at £1,195, VAT included, with free redraws after council comments and no promise of a decision. See architectural drawings in Bromley for the borough overview, and building regulations drawings in Bromley for the stage after consent.