Southwark, London
Planning drawings in Southwark
Planning drawings for a Southwark home start at £745 including VAT. Southwark has 480 Article 4 directions, an unusually large number, so the first question for most addresses is which permitted development rights still exist.
From £745 (VAT included)
- MCIAT chartered
- £2m PI insured
- LABC Partnered
- Fixed fees, VAT included
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Southwark's Householder development SPD and the Southwark Plan
For alterations and extensions to homes, the council publishes its Householder development SPD, which sits under the Southwark Plan 2022, adopted in 2,022. A Southwark officer working through a householder case opens the SPD first, and we build the drawing set around it.
In practice that means we set out the existing and proposed elevations on matching sheets, dimension the extension from the original rear wall and show the relationship to each neighbour's windows. Where the SPD gives the officer a test, such as how far a rear addition projects, the dimension is on the plan to be read without scaling.
Only 21.8 per cent of Southwark households live in a house or bungalow. If your home is a flat, permitted development does not apply, and the application is drawn with the freeholder's position in mind.
Because Southwark's design test runs through the SPD, we draw the existing and proposed elevations at the same scale on the same sheet wherever the paper allows. The officer can then see exactly what changes, floor by floor, and where the new work sits against the neighbours' boundaries and openings.
Local figures for Southwark
| Measure | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | 53 named conservation areas published by the council | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Article 4 directions | 480 Article 4 directions published by the council | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Listed building entries | 919 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary) | — | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Householder decisions | 558 decisions | 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026 | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| Householder applications granted | 94.8 % | 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026 | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| Householder applications decided in time | 95.3 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period | 1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026 | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| Mayoral CIL schedule rate | 60 £/m² (MCIL2 schedule rate, from 1 April 2019) | — | london.gov.uk |
| Local plan | Southwark Plan 2022 | — | southwark.gov.uk |
| Local plan adopted | 2,022 | — | southwark.gov.uk |
| Supplementary planning document | Householder development SPD | 2025 | southwark.gov.uk |
| Householder: alterations/extensions to a single dwellinghouse, from 1 Apr 2026 | 548 GBP | — | ribblevalley.gov.uk |
| DMPO 2015 art 34(2)(b): non-major development | 8 weeks | — | legislation.gov.uk |
| DMPO 2015 art 15: site notice or neighbour notification for not less than 21 days | 21 days | — | legislation.gov.uk |
| Householder: two or more dwellinghouses (or flats) | 1,083 GBP | — | ribblevalley.gov.uk |
A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.
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
Article 4 in Southwark: why the address check comes first
The council publishes 480 Article 4 directions. Each removes particular permitted development rights in a defined area, so a householder who assumes they can build without permission can be wrong.
53 conservation areas add to that, and Historic England lists 919 entries in the borough. We map all three against your address before the first drawing. If the rights remain, a Lawful Development Certificate in Southwark can prove it. If not, the planning drawings carry the case.
Southwark also has an Article 4 direction for houses in multiple occupation, so a change to a small shared house needs an application here.
A borough that grants most householder applications
Southwark decided 558 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 94.8 per cent, a high rate. 95.3 per cent were decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extension.
A high grant rate says nothing certain about your house, and it covers every kind of householder project in the borough. We use it to plan the timetable, and not to predict how your house will be judged.
Planning drawings in Southwark: fees and what is included
Our fixed fee starts from £745 including VAT. The council's householder fee, £548, is paid to the council, and neighbours are consulted for at least 21 days.
Southwark's Community Infrastructure Levy has three zones, and the mayoral charge is £60 per square metre. Small extensions rarely meet it, but we flag the question on bigger projects.
The drawing set contains existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections, a location plan and a block plan. A second chartered technologist checks every sheet, and we redraw at no charge if the council asks for amendments.
A second chartered technologist checks the set before submission, reading each sheet against the survey and the council's validation list. Southwark's 95.3 per cent on-time record depends partly on applications arriving complete, so we aim for exactly that. Where two or more homes are involved the council's fee is £1,083.
Leasehold flats and shared buildings in Southwark
A flat owner often needs the freeholder's consent as well as planning permission. A planning approval does not override the lease, so we ask for the lease terms at the start and draw with them in mind.
If you own the freehold of a building that contains flats, the same rule applies from the other side: permitted development does not cover buildings containing flats, so external changes need an application.
We can also advise on the order of events, since a freeholder's licence may require approved drawings, and the council application may in turn need the freeholder to sign the ownership certificate.
Southwark and its neighbours
Start with architectural drawings in Southwark for the whole borough. Next door, see planning drawings in Lambeth, planning drawings in Lewisham and planning drawings in Tower Hamlets. Work already built without consent is covered by retrospective planning applications in Southwark.
What you receive
Related pages
Other services in Southwark
Questions
How many Article 4 directions does Southwark have?
The council publishes 480. Each removes specific permitted development rights in its area.
Which Southwark document covers house extensions?
The Householder development SPD, read with the Southwark Plan 2022.
How much do planning drawings cost in Southwark?
From £745 including VAT, fixed up front. The householder fee of £548 is paid to the council separately.
Does Southwark grant most householder applications?
In its latest published year it granted 94.8 per cent of 558 decisions. That is a borough average, not a forecast for your house.
Sources and dates
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, retrieved
- london.gov.uk, retrieved
- southwark.gov.uk, retrieved
- southwark.gov.uk, retrieved
- ribblevalley.gov.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- nomisweb.co.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- legislation.gov.uk, retrieved
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains Historic England data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
Tell us about your property.
We check the constraints, then send a fixed fee. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.