Planning appeals in Lambeth

The Design Guide, part by part

Lambeth's Design Guide is split into parts. Officers cite Lambeth Design Guide SPD Part 4: Building Alterations, Extensions and Retrofit for rear additions, roof alterations and retrofit, and Lambeth Design Guide SPD Part 2: Advice for All Development for general design principles. If a basement is involved, Lambeth Design Guide SPD Part 5: Basements adds its own tests.

A refusal that cites a part of the Guide can be tested against the actual text. We list each criterion the officer relied on, then show with dimensions whether your scheme meets it. Where it does not, we explain why departure is justified on the particular plot. Inspectors respect an appellant who identifies the rule being engaged.

Lambeth's conservation areas and Article 4 directions

Beyond the 64 conservation areas, Lambeth lists 953 protected entries, has made 12 Article 4 directions and holds 339 tree preservation orders. Each conservation area has its own character, and a refusal that fits one area may not carry over to another.

We photograph the actual street, mark the heights and materials of adjoining buildings and draw the proposal in that setting. A rear closet wing extended in one conservation area may be consistent with the terrace and unthinkable in the next road. Showing the difference is the heart of the appeal.

Certificates and prior approval in Lambeth

The council recorded 401 certificate applications in its latest return, and it granted 13 large rear extension prior approvals against 18 refused. If the refused work was proposed under permitted development, the direction map matters before anything else.

Our Lawful Development Certificate drawings in Lambeth page and planning drawings in Lambeth page describe the other routes we can use for the same house.

Flats, maisonettes and the freeholder question

Because most Lambeth households live in flats, an appeal often needs more than the applicant's signature. A rear extension to a ground-floor flat may need the freeholder's consent and a lease check, and a roof alteration affects the whole building. We confirm who owns what before any statement is drafted.

Where the building is split into several flats, we also check how the refused work interacts with the others. A rear addition that blocks a window to the flat above is an obvious objection, and the council's refusal may have named it.

A clear set of existing and proposed floor plans for every floor, with windows and party walls marked, answers most of these questions at a glance.

Lambeth's record on minor schemes is 79.9 per cent granted across 748 decisions, which is close to the householder figure. If your refusal concerned a conversion into flats, expect the council to have cited unit sizes, outlook and storage, and expect the appeal to need a floor-by-floor schedule.

We also check the borough's garden figure, with 26 per cent of land in domestic gardens, because rear development in this borough is judged against the loss of green space and the effect on neighbouring yards.

Timing and how we organise the work

A householder appeal must be made within 12 weeks, and Lambeth decides 93.4 per cent of householder cases on time, so the notice usually arrives close to when you expect it. Send it to us promptly and we will set out a plan with dates for each stage.

The national median for householder appeals on written representations was 11.6 weeks, with complex heritage cases taking longer. We tell you at the start where we think yours will sit.

How we run a Lambeth appeal

We start with the notice and the officer's report, collect decisions on neighbouring addresses and produce a written view on whether to appeal, revise or stop. A second chartered technologist checks the bundle. The rest of our borough offer is on the architectural drawings in Lambeth page.