Lawful Development Certificate in Brent

What the certificate settles

A certificate answers a single legal question. Brent recorded 348 certificate applications in its latest government return, so the planning team reads them regularly. They are tested on the Order alone, not on how the extension looks.

That is a different yardstick from the one in the council's Residential Extensions and Alterations Supplementary Planning Document, which guides planning applications. If you build under the Order you are not bound by the SPD. If your plan falls outside the Order, the SPD is the document the officer will use, and we draw to it.

The certificate is also a record. A buyer's solicitor reads it as proof the work was lawful when it was built, which a builder's assurance does not give.

Limits we measure in a Brent house

For a house, a single-storey rear extension is limited like this: 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey. For a side extension: Side extension: single storey, max 4 m high, max half the width of the original house.

A two-storey rear extension is tighter again: Over one storey: max 3 m beyond the original rear wall and not within 7 m of the rear boundary.

Converted flats are a hard stop for this route: Householder permitted development (Sch 2 Part 1) does not apply to flats or buildings containing flats. If your home is a flat, we say so in our first reply so you do not pay for drawings the council cannot certify.

How we survey and draw a Brent certificate

Every allowance in the Order is measured from the house as first built, so we begin by separating what is original from what was added later. A rear infill, a loft conversion or a garage from a previous owner may already have used part of the allowance.

The survey records the walls, roof and outbuildings on one datum. We then total the volumes and areas on a single sheet, with each limit beside the figure it tests. A case officer can follow the arithmetic without a visit.

Brent publishes a Brent Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document (SPD1) alongside its extensions guidance. Neither governs a certificate, but both tell us what to expect if any part of your plan has to be argued as an application, so we keep the drawings ready for that fall-back.

Before we submit, a second chartered technologist checks every sheet against the Order and the survey. The council takes the fee directly, and we send the application with the drawings in the form its validation team expects.

Multiple occupation and basements

Brent also publishes a Houses in Multiple Occupation SPD and a Basement Supplementary Planning Document. Neither is a certificate matter. A basement is operational development beyond the householder rights, and a house shared by several tenants is a change of use. Both normally need an application, which our planning drawings in Brent cover.

Where your project is a big rear extension, prior approval in Brent is a lighter alternative to a full application, with neighbours consulted.

Fee, drawings and nearby boroughs

The council's fee is: Half the normal planning fee (householder: £274). You pay it to Brent. Our fixed fee covers the survey, drawings, a second chartered technologist's check and the submission. If the council queries a drawing we correct it at no charge.

For the borough overview, see architectural drawings in Brent. Neighbouring councils are covered in Ealing and Harrow. Work already built may need retrospective planning in Brent, and the national rules are on the Lawful Development Certificate page.