Planning drawings in Barking and Dagenham

What the decision record tells you

In the latest twelve months the council decided 388 householder applications and granted 66.5 per cent. Every one was decided inside the statutory period or an agreed extension (100 per cent), so the wait is predictable even if the outcome is not.

About one in three householder applications is refused, which is a reason to check the drawings against the SPD before you submit, not a reason to give up. It is a borough-wide average from the past and we treat it as context for the design, never as a forecast for your house.

If an application is refused, our planning appeals support in Barking and Dagenham starts by reading the officer's reasons and telling you whether a revised scheme or an appeal is the better use of your money.

Rear extensions, prior approval and the larger-home route

Some owners here look first at a deeper rear extension through the larger-home prior approval route, because it avoids a full householder application. The council's own record shows how that goes: it granted 10 such notifications and refused 36 in the period covered by the government's planning statistics.

Refusals on this route usually turn on neighbour impact, which is a matter of how the drawings show the relationship, not of the extension's size alone. Our prior approval drawings in Barking and Dagenham page explains what the notification needs, and a lawful development certificate is the alternative when you only want written proof that permitted development applies.

We tell you at the start which of the three routes fits the house, before any sheet is drawn.

Heritage, Article 4 and Green Belt

The borough has 4 conservation areas, 3 Article 4 directions and 49 listed entries. Even so, 7 entries sit on the Heritage at Risk Register, so a listed or neighbouring historic building still needs its setting drawn.

Green Belt covers 14 per cent of the borough, and building in it is judged on proportion to the original house, not on the usual suburban tests. Our free check places your address on all of these maps in one pass and reports whether the job is permitted development, a householder application or something heavier.

Adding storeys sits under a separate control: a borough-wide Article 4 direction removes the permitted development right to build upwards, so an extra floor needs its own application.

What the set contains and what you pay

The standard set is existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections, a location plan and a block plan, all from one Revit model so the sheets agree. The price starts at £745 with VAT included and is fixed before you commit. The council fee for a single house is £548, paid to the council directly.

A second chartered technologist who did not draw the set checks it against the validation list and the SPD. If the council asks for changes we redraw at no charge until approval. Approval itself is the council's decision and we promise nothing about it. We can submit through the Planning Portal for you.

Next steps in the borough

Once the design is agreed, building regulations drawings in Barking and Dagenham carry it to site, and our architectural drawings page for the borough collects every service in one place.

Neighbouring boroughs apply different guidance. Compare Newham, Redbridge and Havering, or read the general guide to planning drawings.