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Hammersmith & Fulham, London

Prior approval drawings in Hammersmith and Fulham

Prior approval drawings in Hammersmith and Fulham are for the few houses that can use the larger home extension route at all. The borough has 47 conservation areas, which close that route on the land they cover, and only 3 notifications were granted in the latest year of returns. We check the plot before we draw anything. Fixed quote after a free constraints check.

Fixed quote after a free constraints check

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    Architectural model of a four-storey London stucco townhouse in its terrace, with a portico, area railings, sash windows, a cornice and chimney stacks
    The house as it stands: four storeys over a lower ground floor.Existing Proposed worksAn illustrative model, built for this page.

    How we work on prior approval drawings

    Seven steps from first call to approval.

    The same model cut through the middle: every floor, the stair, the chimney breasts, the new mansard, rear extension and basement in section
    Section through the model: every floor on one datum.

    1. Enquiry and constraints check

      We check the property against conservation areas, listed status, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, flood zone and planning history. We choose the right route and send a fixed quote.

    2. Measured survey

      We survey the house on one datum: rooms, levels, boundaries, drains, trees and the neighbours' windows that the 45° and 25° tests depend on.

    3. Design options

      We model the house in Revit and show you options in 3D and plan, with the planning strategy and the precedents in your street.

    4. Design frozen

      You choose an option in writing. Nothing changes after this without your say.

    5. Independent check

      A second chartered technologist checks every sheet against the council's validation checklist and the policy. A senior review signs it off before anything is submitted.

    6. Submission

      We prepare the forms, certificates, fee and documents and submit through the Planning Portal.

    7. Officer liaison

      We answer the planning officer and make any amendments within five working days, at no charge until approval.

    Free redraws until approval. Every drawing set is checked independently, and the checker is never the person who drew it.

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    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Very few notifications, so very little precedent

    In the latest government returns Hammersmith and Fulham granted 3 larger home extension prior approvals and refused 1. Alongside them, 1 additional-storey notification was granted and 1 refused. These totals are too small to show a trend, and we would be wary of anyone who claimed to read one from them.

    What they do show is that the route is unusual here. A borough that decides a handful of cases a year has no standard template, so each notification is judged on its own file, and a stray assumption about what is normal has nowhere to hide. The national limits are: 6 m (attached) / 8 m (detached), single storey, height max 4 m; not on article 2(3) land or an SSSI, and the council has 42 days from a valid notification.

    For an owner the practical meaning is that the drawings carry the whole case. There is no habit of acceptance to rely on, so every window, boundary line and level that matters must be on the sheets.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    Local figures for Hammersmith & Fulham

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Larger home extension prior approvals granted3 decisions2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Larger home extension prior approvals refused1 decisions2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Upward home extension prior approvals granted1 decisions2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Conservation areas47 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries268 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—planning.data.gov.uk
    Households living in a house24.6 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Average price, terraced1,139,759 GBP2026-07publicdata.landregistry.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted97.8 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Lawful development certificate applications (PS1)94 certificates2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Class A, para A.1(g)6 m (attached) / 8 m (detached), single storey, height max 4 m; not on article 2(3) land or an SSSI—legislation.gov.uk
    Class A, para A.4(10)(c): development may begin if the LPA has not notified a decision within 42 days of receiving the information42 days—legislation.gov.uk
    Prior approval: Larger Home Extensions Part 1 Class A; Additional storeys Part 1 Class AA249 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.

    Councils bordering Hammersmith & Fulham
    Which application your project needsLawful Development Certificate decision: 8 weeks. Prior approval decision: 42 days. Householder decision: 8 weeksYour projectWithin permitted development?Lawful Development CertificatePrior approvalHouseholder applicationYesLarger rear extensionNoABC

    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

    The borough is mostly conservation area and flats

    The council publishes 47 conservation areas within a compact borough, and 268 listed building entries. Land in a conservation area is excluded from the larger home extension route, so for many of the borough's houses the answer to a prior approval enquiry is no, and we say so at the constraints check stage, before a fee is paid.

    Only 24.6% of households live in a house, and 32.1% own their home. The people left with an open route are owners of houses outside every designation. We map each plot against the council's published polygons and give you the result in writing.

    Why owners still ask

    A terraced house here averaged £1,139,759 on the latest Land Registry figures, and a semi £1,503,460. At that level every square metre at the back of the house has a price, and a depth that ordinary permitted development would stop short of can be worth far more than the cost of the notification.

    The same economics push owners toward the ordinary route when the notification is closed. The council decided 506 householder applications in its latest year and granted 97.8% of them, a very high rate, which is why a householder application for a well-designed extension is a realistic second option. Our planning drawings page explains that route.

    What we put in the notification

    The Order asks for: Written description (depth beyond rear wall, max height, eaves height), site plan, addresses of adjoining premises, developer contact address. We prepare that and add scaled plans, elevations and a section through the nearest neighbouring window. On a narrow terrace plot the neighbour's flank window can sit close to the new wall, and officers want to see that relationship drawn, not described.

    The block plan is prepared as in our location and block plans service, with the rear wall as first built dimensioned. The council fee is £249, paid to the council, and our own fee is fixed after the free check. A second chartered architectural technologist (MCIAT) reads the set before it goes in.

    Narrow plots, shared walls and the flank window

    The geometry of a west London terrace decides most cases before any policy is read. Plots are narrow, the neighbouring house often has a rear outrigger with a flank window facing the garden, and a new wall running alongside that window changes the light into a kitchen or bedroom. Officers look for exactly this, so our survey records the size and sill height of every opening on the shared boundary.

    Where a client's design runs along such a window, we model the effect on the plan and in section before the notification is prepared. Sometimes a stepped or splayed flank solves it. Sometimes the answer is that the neighbour relationship cannot be drawn into acceptability, and a different layout, perhaps using the roof instead, serves the family better.

    Our process, from check to submission

    The free constraints check comes first. It reports on the building type, every designation on the plot and whether the extension you describe fits the Order. Only after that do we quote a fixed fee and arrange the measured survey of the house and the two adjoining rear elevations.

    Design follows, with options if the neighbour test is close. You approve one, we draw it, a second technologist checks it, and we submit and track the neighbour period. If the council asks for amendments we make them and resubmit without a further charge for the drawing work.

    Certificates and the next borough along

    Where an extension fits ordinary permitted development limits, a Lawful Development Certificate is the simpler proof. The borough decided 94 of them in the same year, many more than larger home extension notifications.

    Hounslow and Ealing border the borough on the west and see far more notifications, and our Hammersmith and Fulham area page lists every other service we offer here.

    What you receive

    Planning drawing sheet for a rear extension with plans, elevations and sections
    Sample drawing. Planning drawings for a rear extension: plans, elevations and sections on one sheet set.
    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Hammersmith & Fulham

    Prior approval drawings nearby

    Questions

    How many larger home extensions does Hammersmith and Fulham grant?

    3 in the latest published year, with 1 refused. The numbers are too small to show a trend.

    Will my conservation area house qualify?

    No. The route excludes article 2(3) land, and the borough has 47 conservation areas. We check the plot against the council's boundaries first.

    How long does the council have to decide?

    42 days from a valid notification. We cannot promise a date.

    What does the council charge?

    £249, paid to the council. Our fee is fixed after the free constraints check.

    Sources and dates

    City of London skyline glowing at dusk across the Thames under a dramatic orange sky

    Tell us about your property.

    We check the constraints, then send a fixed fee. Messages before 3pm get a reply the same working day.

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