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Greenwich, London

Planning consultant in Greenwich

A planning consultant in Greenwich helps when your home sits in or near the borough's World Heritage Site, one of 23 conservation areas, or among 540 listed entries. The council grants 77.1 per cent of householder applications, so design and argument matter. We give a fixed quote after a free constraints check.

Fixed quote after a free constraints check

  • MCIAT chartered
  • £2m PI insured
  • LABC Partnered
  • Fixed fees, VAT included

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We use it to check conservation areas and constraints.
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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 consultant

    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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    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline

    Greenwich's plan, charging schedule and heritage test

    The development plan is the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies, and it sits beside a charging schedule that the council revised recently. The borough levy is described as £157.48/m² (residential under 10 units, borough-wide); £157.48/m² (10+ units, Zone 1); £100.79/m² (10+ units, Zone 2). For a home extension the charge is usually not triggered, but for a new dwelling or a conversion that adds floor area it can decide whether a scheme is viable, so we test it early.

    Heritage is the other thing officers weigh. The borough contains 1 World Heritage Site, 13 scheduled monuments, 28 Grade I and 45 Grade II* listed entries, and 22 entries on the Heritage at Risk Register. Even a modest alteration in the setting of one of those assets prompts a question about visibility and character.

    We therefore build a short heritage note into the planning statement for any Greenwich site near a landmark, a park edge or a historic street. It names the asset, describes the view or the relationship, and explains why the scheme leaves it intact. Officers appreciate a text that does their first step for them.

    In practice the order of work is simple. We identify which designated assets are near the site, read the council's description of each, and decide whether the scheme needs a stand-alone heritage statement or a section in the planning statement. A listed building needs the first; a house in a conservation area usually needs only the second. Either way the same facts appear in the drawings, so the application tells one story.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Greenwich

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    worldHeritageSites1 World Heritage Sites intersecting the LPA boundary—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas23 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries540 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Scheduled monuments13 scheduled monuments intersecting the LPA boundary (Historic England)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder decisions624 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted77.1 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time94.2 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Minor applications granted79.3 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Lawful development certificate applications (PS1)437 certificates2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Households living in a house48.4 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.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 Greenwich
    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 Greenwich's decision figures carefully

    In the latest twelve months we hold, the council made 624 householder decisions. It granted 77.1 per cent and decided 94.2 per cent inside eight weeks or an agreed extension. The pattern is fast but selective: officers decide on time, and more than one householder case in five is refused.

    Minor applications were granted at 79.3 per cent across 396 decisions, with 92.7 per cent in time. The difference between the two rates is small, so there is no easy category. What this means for you is that the quality of the submission is the main variable you control.

    Do not treat a percentage as a forecast. It describes the council's caseload, not the merits of your site. What we take from it is that a Greenwich householder scheme deserves a careful design case, a tidy drawing set and an early look at what neighbours may say.

    Many owners also settle the question of permitted development first. The quarterly series records 437 certificates of lawfulness, and a Lawful Development Certificate in Greenwich is a sensible step when your house is not in an Article 4 area.

    Who asks us, and what for

    Almost half of households, 48.4 per cent, live in houses, and 41.1 per cent own their home. The typical brief is a Victorian terrace or an inter-war semi wanting a rear extension, a loft or a side return, plus a growing group of owners of flats and riverside homes wanting changes to balconies and windows.

    Domestic gardens cover 23.2 per cent of the land. Plots are not tiny, but terraces are tight, so overlooking and outlook arguments come up often. A daylight and sunlight report in Greenwich is worth commissioning if a taller addition sits close to a neighbour's window.

    Riverside sites add another layer, since flood risk is part of the conversation near the Thames. We check the Environment Agency mapping in the free review and tell you whether an assessment will be required.

    How a Greenwich brief runs with us

    The first reply names the route and scope: drawings only, a certificate, a prior approval through our prior approval drawings in Greenwich, or a full application. We then prepare the package through our planning drawings service in Greenwich, writing the statement alongside so that text and sheets describe the same building.

    An independent chartered technologist, never the person who drew the set, checks the package. Officer amendments are made within five working days, and redrawing is free until approval. A below-ground project may need a basement impact assessment in Greenwich as well.

    If the council refuses, a householder appeal has a deadline of 12 weeks, and the planning appeals service in Greenwich starts with the decision notice and officer's report.

    Fees and the next step

    A non-major application has a statutory period of 8 weeks, and the householder fee is £548, paid to the council. Send us the address and a line about the project. The borough overview is on our architectural drawings page for Greenwich, and the service is described under planning consultant.

    Before submission we read the council's local validation list against the package. A council can only insist on local items from a list adopted within the last 2 years, so we check the date as well as the content, and we raise any out-of-date request with the council before it holds up your application.

    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.
    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Greenwich

    Planning consultant nearby

    Questions

    Does the World Heritage Site affect a house extension in Greenwich?

    Only where the site is within the setting or the buffer of the designated area, in which case officers will want to see that views and character are protected. The free check places your address.

    What does Greenwich's householder grant rate mean for my application?

    It is context, not a forecast. The council granted 77.1 per cent in the latest year we hold; the practical response is a careful design and a clear statement.

    How long will Greenwich council take?

    8 weeks is the statutory period, and the council decided 94.2 per cent of householder cases in time. We cannot promise a date.

    What does your service cost?

    A fixed quote after a free constraints check, separate from the council's fee of £548.

    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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