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Barking and Dagenham, London

Retrospective planning application in Barking and Dagenham

If an extension, loft or outbuilding in Barking and Dagenham went up without permission, a retrospective planning application asks the council to grant it afterwards. The council granted only 66.5 per cent of householder applications in the latest year, so the drawings need to be right first time. We survey what exists, draw it as built and judge honestly whether it can be supported.

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We use it to check conservation areas and constraints.
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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 retrospective planning applications

    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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    Brick cottage with a tiled roof, chimneys and a front dormer window

    Barking and Dagenham's guidance for work already built

    We found no rule the council has written for retrospective applications; they are judged like any other. The documents officers use are the Barking and Dagenham 2037 Local Plan and, for house alterations, the Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, with the Becontree Estate SPD and Design Code added for homes on the Becontree Estate.

    The estate document is the one to read if your house is on Becontree. The estate was built as a planned whole, so uniform roofs, front elevations and gaps between houses are part of what the guidance protects. Work that broke that pattern, such as a front dormer or a flank extension pushed up to the boundary, is what officers tend to notice from the street, and it is where a retrospective case is hardest.

    Rear work, hidden from the street, is easier to defend, though not automatically: a deep rear extension still has to meet the neighbours' daylight and outlook tests in the guidance, and officers may check it on site. Our first task is therefore to place your building honestly on that spectrum, from visible and out of pattern to hidden and modest, before any drawing is begun.

    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline

    Local figures for Barking and Dagenham

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Householder decisions388 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted66.5 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time100 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Lawful development certificate applications (PS1)345 certificates2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Conservation areas4 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions3 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area14 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    TCPA 1990 s171B(1)-(3) as substituted by LURA 2023 s115, in force 25 Apr 202410 years—legislation.gov.uk
    Householder: alterations/extensions to a single dwellinghouse, from 1 Apr 2026548 GBP—ribblevalley.gov.uk
    DMPO 2015 art 34(2)(b): non-major development8 weeks—legislation.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 Barking and Dagenham
    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

    A low grant rate means preparing carefully

    The council decided 388 householder applications in the latest year and granted 66.5 per cent. It decided 100 per cent within the statutory period or an agreed extension.

    Quick decisions and fewer approvals together suggest officers here move promptly to a view. For a retrospective applicant that means there is little time to repair a weak submission: the decision can come inside 8 weeks, which is the statutory period for these applications, so the survey, drawings and statement must be complete on day one.

    These are figures about the council, not about your house, and no number predicts a decision. If your application is thorough, the speed works in your favour, because a clear answer arrives sooner and you know where you stand before any buyer or lender asks.

    Time limits and what the council can do

    The time limit for enforcement action against most unauthorised building works is 10 years. After that, a lawful development certificate in Barking and Dagenham can be the cleaner way to prove the work is now lawful, and the council received 345 lawful development certificate cases in its latest annual returns.

    Inside the limit, timing matters in another way. The council may decline to determine a retrospective application that overlaps an enforcement notice already served, so acting before any notice arrives keeps your options open. And if the application is refused, the householder appeal limit is 12 weeks.

    Local designations that can change the answer

    The borough has relatively few designations, with 4 conservation areas, 3 Article 4 directions and 49 listed entries, and about 14 per cent of its area is Green Belt. For most houses none applies, which keeps the argument to design and neighbours.

    Where one does apply, it matters a great deal. Work in a conservation area or on a listed house is not given the same latitude, and a listed building may need a separate consent that no planning application covers. We check each designation at address level during our free constraints check. Do not assume that a quiet part of the borough means no designation: boundaries are drawn around streets, not neighbourhoods.

    Drawings, fee and price

    A retrospective application needs drawings of the building as it stands. We begin with a measured building survey and draw from that, never from the builder's sketches, because officers visit and inconsistencies damage credibility.

    The council's householder fee is £548 at the time of checking, payable to the council on top of our own charge. Our price is a fixed quote after the free constraints check. If the application is refused we also offer planning appeals in Barking and Dagenham.

    For the whole borough, see architectural drawings in Barking and Dagenham, or compare retrospective applications in Redbridge and Havering.

    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.
    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Barking and Dagenham

    Retrospective planning applications nearby

    Questions

    My house is on the Becontree Estate and I built a dormer. Can it be regularised?

    Sometimes, but a visible dormer on a planned estate is a difficult case. We survey, assess honestly and tell you whether to apply, redesign or remove it.

    How long does the council have to decide?

    8 weeks for a householder application, unless you agree an extension.

    Does the ten year rule mean I am safe after that?

    Not automatically. You would need to prove the date of completion, and a lawful development certificate is the usual way to do that.

    What does the council charge?

    £548 for a householder application, payable to the council and confirmed from the live fee table in your quote.

    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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