Lawful Development Certificate in Hackney

Flats and converted houses

Only 18.8 per cent of Hackney households live in a house or bungalow. That makes the flat question more important here than almost anywhere. The Order states: Householder permitted development (Sch 2 Part 1) does not apply to flats or buildings containing flats.

A top-floor flat owner who wants a roof extension, or a garden-floor owner who wants a rear addition, therefore needs a planning application, not a certificate. We confirm the building's status from its planning history before quoting, so you do not pay for a route that is closed.

Freehold houses that can use the route

Houses are the minority here, but they are the homes that can use this route. If yours sits outside every direction and conservation area, the certificate is worth having. The single-storey rear limit reads: 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey.

The eaves rule is often the one that bites in a tight terrace: Eaves no higher than 3 m where within 2 m of the curtilage boundary. We draw the boundary distance on the plan and the eaves height on the section.

Hackney's certificate caseload

Hackney handled 258 certificate applications of all kinds in the latest full year of its returns to government. With so few houses and so many designations, the route is narrower here than in a borough of mainly houses.

It does not predict your result, and we do not use it to promise one. We use it to remind ourselves that this council deals with many more planning applications than certificates, so every certificate sheet must stand on its own.

Checking a Hackney address before you pay for drawings

Our free constraints check answers four questions for a Hackney address: is the building a house or flats, is it listed, is it in a conservation area, and does any Article 4 direction apply. Because the borough's directions are mapped as many separate areas, the answer can differ from one street to the next.

You receive a short written note with the result. Where the certificate route is open, we quote for the drawings. Where it is closed, we quote for the planning route instead, so you know the cost of the right application before you commit.

The check costs nothing and carries no obligation, and it can save owners from paying for drawings that could never support a certificate.

Fee, timing and the drawings we submit

The council's fee for a proposed-use certificate is: Half the normal planning fee (householder: £274). You pay Hackney directly. Our fee is fixed at £645 including VAT, and the statutory period is 8 weeks.

The pack includes location and block plans, existing and proposed floor plans, elevations and a section. A colleague who did not draw it checks it against the Order. We handle any amendment request without a new charge.

Keep the certificate with your deeds once it is issued. A buyer's solicitor will ask for it, and it describes the work exactly as drawn, so any later change to the design needs a fresh look.

Other routes and nearby boroughs

When a direction closes the certificate route, the answer is planning drawings in Hackney. Our architectural drawings in Hackney page covers the whole borough. For comparison, see Islington and Tower Hamlets.