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Brent, London

Retrospective planning application in Brent

In Brent, work built without permission has to be checked against a long list of constraints: 39 Article 4 directions, 1,229 tree preservation orders and a council with a basement SPD and one for houses in multiple occupation. A retrospective planning application asks for permission after the event. We survey, draw the building as it stands 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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    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline

    Brent's documents, and the ones specific to unauthorised work

    There is no council rule for retrospective applications as such. They are decided under the Brent Local Plan 2019-2041, adopted in 2,022, using the Residential Extensions and Alterations Supplementary Planning Document for house alterations and the Brent Design Guide Supplementary Planning Document (SPD1) for design more broadly.

    Brent also publishes two documents that often come up in finished-work cases: the Basement Supplementary Planning Document and the Houses in Multiple Occupation SPD. A basement dug without consent, or a house divided into more bedsits than it was approved for, is exactly the kind of thing these address. If either describes what happened at your property, say so at the first call, because the application is different in kind from a simple extension.

    We read each against your survey and report where the building meets the guidance and where it does not. For a house in multiple occupation, we also ask how many people live there and since when, because the council's rules on occupation turn on facts that only the owner and the tenancy records can supply, and an application built on a guess will not survive an officer's visit.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Brent

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Article 4 directions39 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 direction areas162 Article 4 direction area polygons published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Tree preservation orders1,229 tree preservation orders published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder decisions879 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted86.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time97.2 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Households living in a house43.3 % of households living in a house or bungalow (detached, semi-detached or terraced)Census 2021nomisweb.co.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 Brent
    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

    Article 4 directions and trees

    The council publishes 39 Article 4 directions with 162 mapped areas. Where one applies, permitted development rights have been withdrawn, and works that an owner thought needed no application may never have had permission. That is one route into a retrospective application here.

    Trees add another check. The borough has 1,229 tree preservation orders and 301 mapped zones. An extension built over the roots of a protected tree, or work that harmed one, can bring a separate problem that a planning application does not cure. We ask for photographs from before and during the work where they exist, and for any correspondence with the tree officer. A dated record of what stood on the site before the work is often the single most useful document in the file.

    Elsewhere the borough has 23 conservation areas, 93 listed entries and 11 heritage-at-risk entries.

    Brent's decision record

    In the latest year the council decided 879 householder applications, granting 86.6 per cent and deciding 97.2 per cent in time. Minor applications ran at 734 decisions, with 74.8 per cent granted.

    Only 43.3 per cent of Brent households live in a house, and 38.4 per cent own their home, so many retrospective cases involve converted properties and lease questions as well as planning. These figures describe the council and do not predict any decision. Because lease terms may restrict what a flat owner may alter, we also ask for a copy of the lease early, so that the planning case and the freeholder's consent do not run into each other late in the process.

    Enforcement, timing and the lawful route

    Enforcement against most unauthorised building works is limited to 10 years from substantial completion. For work older than that, a lawful development certificate in Brent may prove it lawful without a planning application. Before the limit, the council may decline to determine an application that overlaps an enforcement notice already served.

    The decision period for a householder application is 8 weeks, and if the council refuses you have 12 weeks to appeal; our planning appeals in Brent page explains that stage.

    Drawings and price

    Our starting point is a measured building survey. We then prepare existing and as-built drawings, and amended proposals where the council is likely to ask for changes. The council's householder fee is £548, paid to the council on top of our fixed quote. Before anything is submitted, a second chartered technologist checks every sheet against the survey and the council's validation checklist.

    The quote is fixed after the free constraints check. The wider picture is under architectural drawings in Brent, and neighbours include retrospective applications in Ealing and Camden.

    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.
    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street
    The street around you
    Move across the plinth — the blocks rise around the pointer.

    Other services in Brent

    Retrospective planning applications nearby

    Questions

    I dug out a basement in Brent without consent. Can that be regularised?

    Possibly, but basements carry structural and drainage questions beyond planning. We survey it, involve an engineer where needed and tell you honestly what is realistic.

    My street has an Article 4 direction. Does that matter?

    Yes. It removes some permitted development, so work you thought was allowed may have needed an application. We check the direction against your address.

    How long does the council have to decide?

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

    What does the council charge?

    £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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