Planning consultant in Wandsworth

A borough of flats, conversions and conservation areas

Only 31.4 per cent of households live in a house, so flats dominate. Flats lose householder permitted development, and many alterations need a full application.

The council publishes 46 conservation areas and Historic England lists 312 entries, with 8 on the Heritage at Risk register. Inside those areas, design detail draws closer scrutiny.

Basement schemes are a distinct Wandsworth topic, because the council keeps non-statutory basement guidance beside the main housing guide. We flag early whether a lower-ground scheme is likely to meet it.

How decisions fall in Wandsworth

The council decided 977 householder applications in the latest twelve months, granting 91.9 per cent and deciding 92.4 per cent in time.

Minor applications numbered 902, with 86.7 per cent granted and 88.1 per cent decided in time. Those are strong rates for a volume that large.

The numbers describe the borough. Your own scheme is judged on its own facts, and a consultant is there to identify those facts early.

Planning consultant in Wandsworth: what we do with your address

We read the designations, the history on the plot and the neighbours, and check whether the property is a flat or a house, because that decides which rights remain.

You then get a written view of the route, the one or two policies that will decide the outcome and the documents the council will want. Where a basement or roof extension is involved, we say whether it fits the guidance before you commit to design fees.

Drawings and statement are prepared together, checked by a second chartered technologist, and submitted with the fee. We deal with the officer through to a decision.

What a Wandsworth statement has to cover

The housing guide is detailed, so the statement tends to follow its structure. For a rear extension that means depth, height and the effect on the neighbours; for a roof alteration it means the roofline of the terrace and the visibility from the street.

In a conservation area we add a short heritage assessment. In a flat conversion we address amenity, refuse and cycle storage, and in a basement scheme we deal with structure and drainage early, since officers raise both.

Every statement we write is checked against the sheets by a second chartered technologist, so a depth or height in the text always matches the drawing.

We also keep the neighbours in view. A short, courteous conversation with the people either side before submission often reduces objections, and where a party wall notice will be needed we explain it in plain terms and in the right order. Those steps do not change the policy test, but they can change how the officer reads the file.

Levy and fees

The borough levy varies sharply by area, from £1,031.39/m² (Nine Elms Residential Area A); £475.34/m² (Nine Elms Residential Area B); £0 (Roehampton Charging Area); £448.43/m² (all other areas). Only certain parts of the borough attract the highest rates, so the location of the site decides the charge.

The householder application fee is £548. We confirm the fee and the validation list before submission, so the file is complete on the day it arrives.

See our planning drawings in Wandsworth and basement impact assessments in Wandsworth for related stages.