Planning drawings in Croydon

Householder against minor: what Croydon's figures show

Over the latest twelve months Croydon decided 786 householder applications and granted 86.6 per cent, with 94.4 per cent decided on time or inside an agreed extension. Its 641 minor decisions, which include small new homes and conversions, were granted at 57.6 per cent.

The gap is the useful part. A single-house alteration drawn with care meets a receptive process; a scheme that adds a dwelling meets a much stricter one. If your idea sits near that line, we say so at the quote stage and set out what each route would involve before you pay for design.

Larger rear extensions that use the prior approval route have been harder. The council gave 17 approvals and refused 34 in the latest national statistics return, which is why we often recommend a full householder application for a deep extension here.

Heritage, green belt and gardens across the borough

Historic England lists 180 entries in Croydon, 14 of them Grade I, and the register of heritage at risk holds 15 entries. Listed houses need listed building consent for most changes, and conservation areas narrow permitted development.

Green belt polygons cover 25 per cent of the council area, and inside it extension limits are tighter. Domestic gardens made up 32.8 per cent of land in the Greater London land use survey, an older dataset, which helps explain the steady flow of outbuilding and rear-garden proposals.

Our constraints check lays these layers over your address and returns one short note: designations, tree orders, flood zone and the planning history on your road.

Garden size is where Croydon design usually turns. A long rear garden invites a deep extension or an outbuilding, but the neighbour on each side decides how far you can go, because officers measure the effect on their light and outlook. We therefore set the proposed depth against both boundaries on the plan before you commit to a layout, and we show the sight lines where they help the case.

Which route suits a Croydon house

60.2 per cent of households live in a house, 54.7 per cent own their home, and the average price is £390,041. For a terraced house at £396,579 or a semi at £535,706, the extra floor area often justifies the build cost.

Many projects fit permitted development, and the council received 494 lawful development certificate applications in the same return, so officers see plenty of them. A Lawful Development Certificate in Croydon fixes your rights in writing. Where they run out, a householder application carries a council fee of £548.

Croydon also has an Article 4 direction for houses in multiple occupation, so letting by the room is assessed separately from an ordinary extension.

Fixed fee, checked sheets

A householder set holds existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections, plus the location and block plans, at stated scales with north shown. It starts at £745, VAT included, and the fee is agreed before work begins.

A second chartered technologist reads every sheet before it leaves us. If the council asks for changes we redraw at no charge until approval. The decision itself is the council's, and we never promise one.

Related pages and neighbouring boroughs

For the wider picture see architectural drawings in Croydon, and for the technical stage that follows consent read about building regulations drawings in Croydon.

Boroughs next door read the same national rules differently: compare planning drawings in Sutton, Bromley and Merton, or start with the national guide to planning drawings.