Prior approval drawings in Camden

Few houses, few notifications, and what the figures show

Camden decided very few larger home extension prior approvals: 2 granted and 0 refused in the returns period. Upward extensions follow the same pattern, with 5 granted and 0 refused.

Small samples do not make a trend, but they do show that where an address qualifies, the council has not turned the route away. The point is that most Camden addresses never qualify, because flats and maisonettes cannot use the route and most of the borough's land is designated.

Householder applications are the common path. The council decided 394 of them in the latest twelve months, granting 89.1 per cent, though only 77.7 per cent were decided in time, so plan for waiting.

Designations, listings and heritage across Camden

The council publishes 40 conservation areas and 21 Article 4 directions. The larger extension and extra storey routes exclude conservation areas, so for any address inside one, prior approval is closed before a drawing starts.

Historic England lists 1,971 entries in the borough, with 16 registered parks and gardens and 35 entries on the Heritage at Risk register. A listed house needs listed building consent for most alterations, and prior approval does not replace it.

Domestic gardens cover only 19.1 per cent of the borough's land, so even where a rear extension is allowed the plot is tight and the neighbour relationship is the whole case.

Values and the people who live here

Only 29.7 per cent of Camden households are owner-occupied, so many enquiries involve a freeholder or a lease as well as the council. A terraced house averages £1,554,868 and a semi-detached one £2,117,585.

At those values, a well-drawn extra storey or deeper rear room is a serious investment. The depth limits for the larger extension are 6 m (attached) / 8 m (detached), single storey, height max 4 m; not on article 2(3) land or an SSSI, and during the neighbour period the LPA notifies adjoining owners/occupiers, giving at least 21 days for representations.

We survey the original rear wall and the neighbouring windows, prepare the written description and site plan, and have someone who did not draw it check the set against the Order. If the council has not notified a decision within 42 days the development may begin, though we ask for written confirmation first.

Practical points for a Camden house

Terraced houses have party walls on both sides, and a deeper rear extension touches them. Under the Party Wall Act you may need to serve notices on neighbours, separately from the planning side, and we explain which of our other services covers that.

We also advise early on the practical constraints of tight Camden sites: access for materials, trees in neighbouring gardens and the need for a structural engineer. The council fee is £249.

If the extension also needs work to a shared chimney breast or a party wall footing, a structural engineer will usually be involved before building control signs it off. We flag that at the constraints check so the cost and the timing are in the quote, and nothing arrives as a surprise once the notification has been decided.

Other routes for a Camden home

Most Camden owners need an application rather than a notification, and our planning drawings in Camden cover that. If the work sits inside ordinary permitted development, a Lawful Development Certificate in Camden proves it.

The architectural drawings in Camden page lists the rest of our local work, and you may also compare prior approval drawings in Islington and prior approval drawings in Barnet.