Lawful Development Certificate in Richmond upon Thames

Rear extensions beyond the standard depth

Richmond's record on larger home extensions is distinctive. In the latest twelve months the council granted 78 such prior approvals and refused 30, so grants outnumber refusals.

That makes prior approval a real option for a deeper single-storey rear extension on a house outside a conservation area. The standard limit is 3 m (attached) / 4 m (detached) beyond the original rear wall, single storey, and prior approval goes beyond it with notice to neighbours. We lay out both routes side by side so you can compare time against depth. See prior approval drawings in Richmond upon Thames.

Houses, owners and volume in Richmond

Census figures show 59.8 per cent of households live in a house or bungalow and 62.4 per cent own their home.

Government returns record 466 lawful development certificate applications for Richmond in the latest twelve months published. The council decides within 8 weeks of a valid application, unless it pauses for information, and the fee table reads: Half the normal planning fee (householder: £274).

In practice many Richmond households live in houses, so the question is often whether the address keeps its rights, then timing. A clean, complete submission is the quickest way to the council's written decision, so we check every dimension against the survey before it leaves us.

Planning when the certificate is closed

Where a conservation area or a limit closes the route, householder planning follows. Richmond decided 1,302 householder applications in its latest published year, and granted 83.3 per cent, with 98.3 per cent decided in time.

The council's House Extensions and External Alterations SPD, listed as House Extensions and External Alterations SPD, is the guidance a design is tested against. Our planning drawings in Richmond upon Thames cover that route, and building regulations drawings in Richmond upon Thames follow once the design is settled.

Lawful Development Certificate in Richmond upon Thames: the evidence we gather

For an address outside the designations, the application rests on a measured survey and a record of the original house. We collect historic mapping, dated photographs and earlier planning decisions, and we tie the roof, the rear wall and the boundaries to one datum.

For an address near a designation, we go further, and show on the drawing exactly where the boundary of the conservation area runs relative to the house. That removes doubt about which rules apply. Where a previous owner altered the house without paperwork, we establish whether the work is lawful, because it can change the baseline. Send us any decisions, completion certificates and surveys you already hold, and we will use them to shorten the survey. A tidy evidence file also helps if you sell, because the buyer's solicitor will ask for the same documents. We keep a copy with the job record so it can be reissued if needed.

What the fixed fee includes

You receive existing and proposed plans, elevations, a section where height matters and the location and block plans. A second chartered technologist checks every sheet before submission, and we redraw free until approval if the council asks for changes. The fee starts at £645 including VAT, fixed in advance.

For everything we offer here, see architectural drawings in Richmond upon Thames. Neighbouring rules differ in Hounslow and Kingston upon Thames.