Lawful Development Certificate in Hillingdon

Plans the council expects

Hillingdon's policy sits in the Hillingdon Local Plan Part 1: Strategic Policies, with Local Plan Part 2: Development Management Policies and Site Allocations and Designations (January 2020). A certificate is tested against the national Order, but the plan matters if you must switch to a planning application.

The council dealt with 529 certificate applications of all kinds in the latest full year of its returns to government. With 68.9 per cent of households in a house or bungalow, many owners can use the route.

Suburban houses and rear extensions

A rear extension is the common request on Hillingdon's suburban plots. The single-storey limit reads: 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey.

A taller addition is tighter: Over one storey: max 3 m beyond the original rear wall and not within 7 m of the rear boundary. Where the rear boundary is far away, we still draw the distance, because the officer will check it.

Outbuildings and the curtilage

Gardens attract outbuildings, and every building counts toward this rule: Buildings (other than the original house) may not cover more than 50% of the curtilage.

Hillingdon's houses on the green belt edge raise a second question, which is where the residential curtilage ends. We check the title plan and old mapping, and we say plainly if part of the land is not garden.

Reading a Hillingdon Article 4 direction

A direction is a legal document with a schedule of the rights it removes, a map of the area and a date. It may remove a single right, such as changes to the front of a house, and leave the rest in place. That is why we read the document for your street and do not rely on a general summary.

If a direction removes one right, only that part of the project needs a planning application. The remaining parts may still qualify for a certificate, and we can submit the two applications side by side so they stay consistent.

We summarise the direction in a paragraph at the front of your quote, with the date it was made and the right it withdraws.

Fee, timing and what you receive

The council's fee for a proposed-use certificate is: Half the normal planning fee (householder: £274). It is payable to Hillingdon; our fee is fixed at £645 including VAT. The statutory period is 8 weeks.

You receive location and block plans plus existing and proposed floor plans, elevations and a section, checked by a second chartered technologist. If the officer requests an amendment, we draw it without a further fee.

A certificate does not remove the need to protect trees. If a protected tree stands near the proposed footprint, we show its root protection area on the plan, so the officer and your builder can see that the layout has been tested.

Other routes and neighbouring councils

If a direction closes the route, see planning drawings in Hillingdon. For the borough overview, read architectural drawings in Hillingdon. Next door, compare Ealing, Harrow and Hounslow.