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Croydon, London

Planning appeals in Croydon

Planning appeals in Croydon start with the refusal notice. Croydon grants most householder applications, so if yours was refused the reasons are probably specific and answerable. A householder appeal must be lodged within 12 weeks of the decision notice. We read the refusal against the Croydon Local Plan, judge whether an appeal, a revised scheme or a different route suits you, and then prepare the drawings and statement.

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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 planning appeals

    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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    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Planning appeals in Croydon: two very different success rates in Croydon

    Croydon decided 786 householder applications and granted 86.6 per cent, with 94.4 per cent decided in time. The picture changes for minor applications, the category that covers small new homes, conversions and subdivisions: of 641 decisions only 57.6 per cent were granted.

    That gap matters when you weigh an appeal. A refused rear extension runs against a council that normally says yes, so the refusal reason deserves close scrutiny; it may be a drafting or measurement issue rather than a policy objection. A refused conversion or infill scheme runs against a tougher record, and the grounds of appeal need to be built on the Croydon Local Plan 2018 rather than on the general mood of the borough.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    Local figures for Croydon

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Householder decisions786 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted86.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time94.4 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor application decisions641 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications granted57.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area25 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas19 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house60.2 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Annex B, householder appeals (written representations), decisions in June 2026; 351 decisions11.6 weeks—gov.uk
    Section 1.1: allowed rate for s78 planning appeals, Apr-Jun 202631 %—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 Croydon
    Which application your project needsLawful Development Certificate decision: 8 weeks. Prior approval decision: 42 days. Householder decision: 8 weeksYour projectWithin permitted development?Lawful Development CertificatePrior approvalHouseholder applicationYesLarger rear extensionNoABC

    Which application your project needs

    The usual route for a house; flats and listed buildings follow other rules.

    A · Lawful Development Certificate decision
    8 weeks
    B · Prior approval decision
    42 days
    C · Householder decision
    8 weeks

    Reading the refusal against Croydon's own guidance

    The council's published guidance for historic areas is the Conservation Areas General Guidance SPD, and its Article 4 direction for houses in multiple occupation means some changes of use need permission that would otherwise be automatic. Where a notice cites either, we check the exact wording and the map extent before we draft a word of the appeal.

    We then set the officer's report beside the drawings. Officers sometimes scale a depth or height from a plan that was not dimensioned, and an inspector will prefer a clear measured section to a disputed reading. Fixing that with a dimensioned sheet is often the single most useful thing an appeal bundle can contain.

    Green Belt and heritage on the edges of the borough

    Green Belt covers 25 per cent of the borough on the borough edges, and an extension there is judged against the national test for disproportionate additions rather than against ordinary neighbour-amenity rules. A refusal for Green Belt reasons turns on how large the new work is compared with the original building, so the appeal is won or lost on floor-area arithmetic that the drawings have to show cleanly.

    Croydon also has 19 conservation areas, 180 list entries and 8 scheduled monuments. With 60.2 per cent of households in a house and gardens taking up 32.8 per cent of the land, extension refusals are a common appeal subject here. If your house sits in a conservation area or affects a listed building, the heritage statement comes first and the design argument second.

    Choosing the quickest sensible route

    National Planning Inspectorate figures show a median of 11.6 weeks for a written-representations householder appeal, and 31 per cent of section 78 appeals were allowed in the latest quarter. Those numbers describe all of England and are no forecast for your house. Use them to plan the timetable, not to predict the outcome.

    Some Croydon owners are better served by a fresh application or another route. Croydon handled 494 lawful development certificate applications in the latest return, so check whether a Lawful Development Certificate can settle the question instead. A larger single-storey rear extension may instead go through the prior approval route, covered on our prior approval drawings page.

    Evidence an inspector can measure

    Appeal decisions are made on the documents. An inspector will not have walked your street before the site visit, so the sheets have to answer the obvious questions without help: how far the new wall sits from the boundary, what the roof pitch is, which windows face the extension, and what the original house looked like before earlier additions. We mark every dimension the refusal notice mentions, and we add a scaled street view where the objection is about the character of the road.

    Photographs help only when they are tied to a position on the plan. We label each one with its viewpoint, so the inspector can place themselves on the site before they arrive, and we avoid the sweeping garden shot that shows nothing the decision depends on. Where a neighbour's objection letter shaped the officer's view, we answer its points in the statement as plainly as the council's own reasons.

    What our appeal bundle contains

    For a Croydon appeal we prepare a statement that answers each reason in order, a plan set drawn from one model, and sections where height, daylight or the Green Belt calculation are in dispute. A second person checks the bundle against the refusal notice before anything is sent.

    You will get a fixed quote after the free constraints check, and no hourly billing. If you want the wider picture first, read our planning appeals overview, or see the range on architectural drawings in Croydon.

    What you receive

    Planning drawing sheet for a rear extension with plans, elevations and sections
    Sample drawing. Planning drawings for a rear extension: plans, elevations and sections on one sheet set.
    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Croydon

    Planning appeals nearby

    Questions

    Is Croydon likely to grant a householder appeal?

    The inspector, not the council, decides. What we can say is that the council granted 86.6 per cent of its own householder applications, so many refusals rest on narrow reasons.

    Why are minor applications refused more often than householder ones?

    Croydon granted 57.6 per cent of minor applications, which cover new homes and conversions that raise more policy questions than a rear extension does.

    Does Green Belt affect my appeal?

    If your property lies within the 25 per cent of the borough covered by Green Belt, yes: the size of the extension compared with the original house becomes central.

    How long do I have to appeal?

    A householder appeal must be made within 12 weeks of the decision notice; other appeals have 6 months from the decision notice (or expiry of the decision period).

    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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