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Bexley, London

Retrospective planning application in Bexley

Bexley is a borough of houses, 75.3 per cent of households living in one, and typical retrospective cases here are the familiar ones: a rear extension that grew, a garage turned into a room, an outbuilding that became a home office. The council granted 94.6 per cent of householder applications. We survey the building as it stands, draw it and tell you honestly whether it can be supported.

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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

    Bexley's design guide, and how finished work is judged

    The council has no separate rule for applications made after the event. They go through the Bexley Local Plan, adopted in 2,023, and the householder part of its design guide, the Design Guide SPD Part 2: Building Alterations and Extensions, supported by the Design Guide SPD Part 1: Design Principles.

    The alterations and extensions part is the document that matters for an extension, a loft alteration or a garage conversion. Because it is new, work built before it appeared was judged, if it was judged at all, by a different set of tests. An application made now is measured against the guide as it stands today, so we begin by reading it against the survey of your house and noting where the building agrees with it, where it departs, and by how much.

    That written comparison is the basis of every recommendation we make, and you receive it before you commit to the full set of drawings. If the building is far outside the guide, we say so, and we describe what a reduced version might look like, so you can weigh the cost of altering it against the cost of defending it. It tells you whether to apply as built, amend first, or reconsider.

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

    Local figures for Bexley

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Householder decisions877 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted94.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time99.4 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Households living in a house75.3 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.uk
    Green Belt share of the council area17 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas23 named conservation areas published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries114 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)—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 Bexley
    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

    Bexley's numbers, read with care

    In the latest year the council decided 877 householder applications. It granted 94.6 per cent and decided 99.4 per cent within the statutory period or an agreed extension. Minor applications, with 238 decisions, were granted at 82.4 per cent.

    A high grant rate says that sound householder schemes usually go through. It does not mean a retrospective one will, because the council is judging a building it can now see, not a drawing. Officers visit, compare the plans with the site and weigh what is actually there. Where the two agree, the case is straightforward. Where they disagree, trust drains from the application, so our drawings follow the survey and not the other way round.

    Garages, outbuildings and Green Belt

    Suburban Bexley produces a particular kind of retrospective case. Converted garages lose their parking, which some councils condition. Outbuildings used as living space raise questions of use as well as size. Front extensions alter the street. Each needs its own evidence and sometimes its own application. For a garage conversion, for example, we record the internal layout, the new front wall and window, and the heights, because officers look at how the front of the house now reads from the pavement.

    About 17 per cent of the borough is Green Belt, where additions are judged against the original house. The borough also has 23 conservation areas, 114 listed entries and 3 heritage-at-risk entries. We check each against your address in the free constraints check, because a designation changes how much latitude the council gives to finished work.

    How long you have, and what the council can do

    Enforcement against most unauthorised building works is time-limited, at 10 years from substantial completion. For older work, a lawful development certificate in Bexley may be better than an application. The council may also decline to determine a retrospective application that overlaps an enforcement notice already served.

    Policy treats deliberate breaches seriously: Evidence that unauthorised development was intentional should be given substantial weight. We tell clients this plainly at the start, because an honest account of how the work happened is part of a credible case.

    What we draw, fee and price

    We begin with a measured building survey, then produce existing and as-built drawings, with proposed amendments where the council is likely to ask for them. The council's householder fee is £548 and its decision period is 8 weeks.

    Our own price is fixed after the free constraints check. If the council refuses, the appeal limit is 12 weeks, and we can help through planning appeals in Bexley. More on the borough is under architectural drawings in Bexley, and nearby you can compare retrospective applications in Greenwich and Bromley.

    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 Bexley

    Retrospective planning applications nearby

    Questions

    I converted my Bexley garage years ago without consent. What should I do?

    First, find out how long ago. If it is older than the enforcement limit, a lawful development certificate may be the answer. If not, we survey it and advise whether to apply.

    Can I regularise a garden outbuilding?

    Often yes, if its size and use are acceptable. If it is used as a separate home, the council will treat it very differently, and we tell you so at the start.

    What is the council's fee?

    £548 for a householder application, 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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