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Tower Hamlets, London

Flat conversion drawings in Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets lets a family house become flats only if the scheme keeps a family home: the Local Plan requires a 3-plus bed unit retained. Our flat conversion drawings in Tower Hamlets start from £1,195 including VAT, prepared by MCIAT chartered architectural technologists, and every layout we draw starts from that retained unit.

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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    Upper floors of a large yellow-brick Victorian house in London with chimney pots

    The family-home rule in Tower Hamlets

    The Tower Hamlets Local Plan 2031: Managing Growth and Sharing the Benefits, adopted in 2,020, says conversion of family homes is permitted only when a three-bedroom-plus unit is retained, and that the retained unit should have private garden access where applicable. In plain terms, a four-bedroom terrace might become a three-bedroom maisonette plus a one-bedroom flat, but it will not become three small flats.

    That shapes the stacking. The retained family home usually needs the garden, so it takes the ground floor and the rear, and the smaller flat sits above with its own front door. We draw the garden access as a dimensioned route, since the officer will look for it.

    The same plan requires new homes to give 2.5 m floor-to-ceiling and to meet the London Plan space standards. Old terraces sometimes struggle with ceiling height on the upper floors, which is why we measure on site before we promise a layout.

    Red-brick mansion blocks and shopfronts on a street corner

    Local figures for Tower Hamlets

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Conversion of family homes is only permitted when a 3-plus bed unit is retained, and the retained family unit should have access to a private garden where applicable (Policy D.H2 part 4).3-plus bed unit retained—towerhamlets.gov.uk, Tower Hamlets Local Plan 2031, p.80, Policy D.H2 part 4
    New homes must give at least 2.5 metres floor-to-ceiling height and meet London Plan space standards (Policy D.H3 part 1).2.5 m floor-to-ceiling—towerhamlets.gov.uk, Tower Hamlets Local Plan 2031, p.84, Policy D.H3 part 1(a)
    Minor application decisions427 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications granted84.3 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications decided in time92.3 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Conservation areas59 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions64 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house12 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Owner-occupied households23.1 % of households owner-occupied (owned outright or with mortgage/loan)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Average price, flat430,120 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Mayoral CIL charging band2 MCIL2 charging band (1-3)—london.gov.uk
    Borough CIL residential rate£335.33/m² (Zone 1); £179.64/m² (Zone 2); £59.88/m² (Zone 3)rate for planning permissions granted 1 January to 31 December 2026 (schedule rates £280 / £150 / £50)towerhamlets.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 Tower Hamlets
    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 borough of flats where houses are rare

    Only 12 per cent of households here live in a house or bungalow, and 23.1 per cent are owner-occupied. Family houses are therefore a small part of the stock.

    Money tells a similar story. The average home sold for about £447,796 and the average flat for £430,120, which is close to the all-property figure. Anyone buying a house to split it must therefore price the retained family unit as well as the new flat, because the family unit has to carry its share of the cost.

    Heritage and protected land in the borough

    Tower Hamlets publishes 59 conservation areas and Historic England lists 916 buildings here. The borough also contains 2 World Heritage Sites, and 39 entries are on the Heritage at Risk Register. In a conservation area new front doors, meter cupboards and bin stores are seen from the street, so we draw them in the elevations.

    The council has published 64 Article 4 directions and 72 tree preservation orders. Green Belt does not apply, at 0 per cent of the area. We check the direction maps for your road at the free constraints check.

    How Tower Hamlets decides small housing applications

    Tower Hamlets decides more minor applications than householder ones: 427 minor decisions against 191 householder decisions. The council granted 84.3 per cent of the minor applications and decided 92.3 per cent in time.

    A drawing set that already answers the family-unit, ceiling-height and space-standard tests gives the officer less to query. We submit with an area schedule, a stacking diagram and a design note. The council's High Density Living SPD is also used for assessing quality of new homes in dense areas.

    Before drawing, we read what the council has already decided on your road through its register at https://development.towerhamlets.gov.uk/online-applications/. In a borough this dense, a neighbour's approved conversion is the best evidence of what officers accept, and a refusal tells us which argument to answer first. We then survey, test layouts in 3D and ask you to choose one in writing before the design is frozen.

    Levies, fees and next steps

    The Mayoral levy for Tower Hamlets is band 2, indexed to £72.73 per square metre for permissions granted this year. The borough's own levy is zoned: £335.33/m² (Zone 1); £179.64/m² (Zone 2); £59.88/m² (Zone 3). The council fee is £610 for each flat created.

    Between the flats, Approved Document E requires 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. We draw those details in the building regulations drawings for Tower Hamlets, and the application is built on planning drawings in Tower Hamlets.

    Nearby boroughs have their own thresholds: see Newham and Hackney. The borough overview is at architectural drawings in Tower Hamlets. Send the address and tell us how many bedrooms the house has now.

    Our usual order is a free constraints check, a fixed quote, the measured survey and then layouts you can compare in plan and 3D. A second chartered technologist checks each sheet before issue, and if officers ask for changes we redraw at no charge until approval, without promising the decision.

    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.
    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule
    Unit by unit
    Move up and down — the nearest units slide out.

    Other services in Tower Hamlets

    Flat conversion drawings nearby

    Questions

    Can I split a family house into small flats in Tower Hamlets?

    Only if a family home is kept (the policy wording is 3-plus bed unit retained), with garden access where applicable, under the Local Plan.

    What ceiling height must new flats have in Tower Hamlets?

    The Local Plan asks for 2.5 m floor-to-ceiling and the London Plan space standards.

    What share of Tower Hamlets minor applications were granted?

    84.3 per cent of 427 decisions in the latest published year.

    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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