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Kingston upon Thames, London

Flat conversion drawings in Kingston upon Thames

Kingston upon Thames grants a smaller share of minor schemes than of householder jobs, and it asks for generous private and communal garden space when a house becomes flats. We prepare flat conversion drawings in Kingston upon Thames from £1,195 including VAT, as MCIAT chartered architectural technologists, with the garden arithmetic worked out before any layout is chosen.

From £1,195 (VAT included)

  • MCIAT chartered
  • £2m PI insured
  • LABC Partnered
  • Fixed fees, VAT included

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    Architectural model of a four-storey London stucco townhouse in its terrace, with a portico, area railings, sash windows, a cornice and chimney stacks
    The house as it stands: four storeys over a lower ground floor.Existing Proposed worksAn illustrative model, built for this page.

    How we work on flat conversion drawings

    Seven steps from first call to approval.

    The same model cut through the middle: every floor, the stair, the chimney breasts, the new mansard, rear extension and basement in section
    Section through the model: every floor on one datum.

    1. Enquiry and constraints check

      We check the property against conservation areas, listed status, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and planning history. We choose the right route and send a fixed quote.

    2. Measured survey

      We survey the house on one datum: rooms, levels, boundaries, drains, trees and the neighbours' windows that the 45° and 25° tests depend on.

    3. Design options

      We model the house in Revit and show you options in 3D and plan, with the planning strategy and the precedents in your street.

    4. Design frozen

      You choose an option in writing. Nothing changes after this without your say.

    5. Independent check

      A second chartered technologist checks every sheet against the council's validation checklist and the policy. A senior review signs it off before anything is submitted.

    6. Submission

      We prepare the forms, certificates, fee and documents and submit through the Planning Portal.

    7. Officer liaison

      We answer the planning officer and make any amendments within five working days, at no charge until approval.

    Free redraws until approval. Every drawing set is checked independently, and the checker is never the person who drew it.

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    Red-brick mansion blocks and shopfronts on a street corner

    Kingston's garden-space rule for converted flats

    The council's Residential Design SPD sets the amenity rule that shapes most conversions here. For flats it reads: 10 sqm + 1 sqm/occupant (flats); 50 sqm (houses). Put simply, each new flat needs its own private space, each extra occupant adds to it, and a scheme of several flats also needs a shared garden.

    This is demanding in a borough where 30.9 per cent of the land is domestic garden, because the garden of one house has to be divided between the homes that replace it. A narrow rear plot split into a private terrace for a ground-floor flat, a balcony for the upper flat and a shared strip may fall short of the sum the guidance asks for.

    We therefore draw the garden before the floor plans. A simple area schedule shows the private and communal space the scheme provides, compared with what the guidance asks, so a shortfall is seen and argued early rather than discovered in the officer's report. Our flat conversion drawings guide covers the rest of the set.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Kingston upon Thames

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Private amenity space: 10 sq m per new flat plus 1 sq m per additional occupant; 50 sq m per family house (+5 sq m per bedroom over three), incl. conversions, where character allows. Communal space for flats: 50 sq m per development plus any private shortfall.10 sqm + 1 sqm/occupant (flats); 50 sqm (houses)—kingston.gov.uk, Residential Design SPD 2013, p.41-42, Private Amenity Space and Communal Amenity Space guidance
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)30.9 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Minor application decisions251 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications granted64.9 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications decided in time80.1 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted83 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area17 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas28 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house61.5 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Mayoral CIL charging band2 MCIL2 charging band (1-3)—london.gov.uk
    Mayoral CIL rate (indexed)72.73 £/m² (indexed, permissions granted in 2026)—london.gov.uk
    Borough CIL residential rate£323.07/m² (Zone 1); £200/m² (Zone 2); £130.76/m² (Zone 3); £76.92/m² (Zone 4)indexed rate for 2026kingston.gov.uk
    Change of use of a building to one or more separate dwellinghouses, not more than 10: per dwellinghouse, from 1 Apr 2026610 GBP per dwelling—ribblevalley.gov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    Councils bordering Kingston upon Thames
    Building regulations, layer by layerPart A: structure: Approved Document A: Structure, 2004 edition incorporating 2004, 2010 and 2013 amendments. Part B: fire safety: All dwellings: fire detection and alarm system minimum Grade D2 Category LD3 (BS 5839-6), mains-operated smoke alarms to BS EN 14604. Part L: insulation: New elements in existing dwellings, limiting U-values W/(m²·K): roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, windows 1.4 (or WER Band B), doors 1.4. Part K: stairs: 2.0 m clear headroom over stairs. Full plans application: Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writingPart A: structurePart B: fire safetyPart L: insulationPart K: stairsFull plans applicationABCDE

    Building regulations, layer by layer

    The Approved Documents that shape most house projects, from structure to the application itself.

    A · Part A: structure
    Approved Document A: Structure, 2004 edition incorporating 2004, 2010 and 2013 amendments
    B · Part B: fire safety
    All dwellings: fire detection and alarm system minimum Grade D2 Category LD3 (BS 5839-6), mains-operated smoke alarms to BS EN 14604
    C · Part L: insulation
    New elements in existing dwellings, limiting U-values W/(m²·K): roof 0.15, wall 0.18, floor 0.18, windows 1.4 (or WER Band B), doors 1.4
    D · Part K: stairs
    2.0 m clear headroom over stairs
    E · Full plans application
    Building control body must decide a full plans application within 5 weeks, or longer if agreed in writing

    A harder record on minor schemes

    In the latest twelve months Kingston decided 251 minor applications, which is where a conversion into two or three flats falls. It granted 64.9 per cent of them and decided 80.1 per cent inside eight weeks or an agreed extension.

    Compare the householder record: 742 decisions and 83 per cent granted. The gap tells you a conversion faces a much narrower door than an extension does, so the drawings need to meet the guidance point by point.

    The in-time figure leaves room for slippage, so it is wise to allow for an extension of time in your programme and to answer officer queries quickly, which we do within five working days.

    Green belt, heritage and the character of the streets

    Green belt covers 17 per cent of the borough, and 28 conservation areas and 163 listed building entries add heritage control. Only 3 Article 4 directions are published, which is a short list, but each one removes a right you might otherwise rely on.

    More than half the households live in a house, at 61.5 per cent, and 60.9 per cent are owner-occupied. Where a street is mostly family houses, neighbours may raise objections, so our drawings address overlooking, noise and parking at the point of submission.

    Where a house sits in a conservation area, we draw the front elevation as existing and as proposed so the new entrance and bin store can be judged against the street. See the Kingston upon Thames area page for the local constraints.

    Levy, fee and value

    The Mayor's levy is in band 2, with an indexed rate of £72.73 per square metre this year. The borough's own levy is zoned, with the highest rate in zone one and the lowest in zone four, and the table gives the rate for each. The small-scheme exemption is not available where a new dwelling is created.

    The planning fee is £610 for each flat. A terraced house averages about £591,784 and a flat about £364,805, with the twelve-month price change at 3.3 per cent.

    We set out the levy and fee in the next-steps note so the budget is clear before a builder is instructed.

    What the Kingston set includes

    Sound is the other check people overlook in a family house. For a conversion, Approved Document E asks for Separating walls 43 dB DnT,w+Ctr (min); floors and stairs 43 dB airborne (min), 64 dB L'nT,w impact (max) for dwellings formed by material change of use, so we draw the party floor and wall build-ups and note the ceiling and floor depth they take. That depth can affect the headroom each flat ends up with. You receive existing and proposed floor plans, elevations, sections, a block plan, the amenity schedule and a schedule of areas by flat. After permission, building regulations drawings carry the scheme forward. Over the river, flat conversion drawings in Richmond upon Thames face a different set of local tests.

    What you receive

    Building regulations section drawing showing the construction build-up
    Sample drawing. Building regulations section showing construction build-up for a building control check.
    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline
    Unit by unit
    Move up and down — the nearest units slide out.

    Other services in Kingston upon Thames

    Flat conversion drawings nearby

    Questions

    How much garden does Kingston want for a converted flat?

    The Residential Design SPD asks for private space per flat plus extra for each additional occupant, and communal space for a scheme of several flats. The exact figures are in the table above.

    Why does a small garden make a conversion hard here?

    Private space for each flat and shared space come out of the same plot, and a narrow garden may not cover both.

    Does the council decide minor schemes quickly?

    Its in-time rate for minor applications is 80.1 per cent, so an extension of time is common and worth planning for.

    Can we reduce the levy by keeping the scheme small?

    Not through the small-scheme exemption, which does not apply where a new dwelling is created.

    Sources and dates

    City of London skyline glowing at dusk across the Thames under a dramatic orange sky

    Tell us about your property.

    We check the constraints, then send a fixed fee. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.

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