Planning drawings in Enfield

Measuring an Enfield house before we draw it

We measure the house, the garden and the boundaries ourselves, then draw from that survey instead of from an old estate-agent plan.

For a green belt plot the survey also records the outbuildings and past extensions, because the council counts them against the allowance. Getting that list right at the start avoids a refusal that was predictable on day one.

We also note the neighbours’ windows, rear walls and ground levels. Officers judge neighbour impact on those relationships, so the elevations show them honestly rather than leaving the officer to guess from a site visit.

Householder application, certificate or prior approval

Not every Enfield project needs a full application. A rear extension that fits permitted limits can be confirmed with a Lawful Development Certificate in Enfield, which proves the lawfulness in writing for a later sale.

Larger single-storey rear extensions can go through prior approval in Enfield instead, where the council looks only at neighbour impact. In the latest national return Enfield granted 35 of these and refused 27, so the route is used often and is not automatic.

Where the right is withdrawn, or the design goes beyond it, a householder application is the route. The council's fee for that is £548 and it is paid to the council, separately from our fee.

Flats and maisonettes never have the householder right, so a conversion or a flat extension always needs the full route. The constraints check says so at the start, before you spend anything on design.

How Enfield has been deciding householder applications

Enfield decided 934 householder applications in its latest twelve months and granted 83.4 per cent. Of those, 92.4 per cent were decided inside eight weeks or an agreed extension.

Those are borough-wide averages across every kind of home improvement. They help you plan the calendar. They say nothing certain about your own house, and we never present them as a forecast. If a refusal does come, our planning appeals team can take the case on.

What the Enfield drawing set contains and costs

A householder set has existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections, a block plan, and a location plan drawn to a recognised scale. Our fixed fee starts at £745 with VAT included, and a second chartered technologist, never the one who drew it, checks each sheet before it goes in.

If the council asks for changes, we redraw at no charge until approval. Once the design is agreed, our building regulations drawings in Enfield carry it into construction detail.

Other services and nearby boroughs

For the wider picture of the borough, start at architectural drawings in Enfield or see the national rules at planning drawings. Next door, the same service is available in Barnet, Haringey and Waltham Forest.

Planning a loft or an extra storey as well? Loft conversion drawings in Enfield cover that, and the survey we do for planning is reused for it.