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Bromley, London

Retrospective planning applications in Bromley

Bromley can grant permission after the work is built, and it judges your extension, outbuilding or loft as if the site were still bare. With 51 per cent of the borough in the Green Belt, the volume you actually built is the first thing an officer measures. We survey the house, draw what stands there and prepare the application. 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 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

    How Bromley tests a retrospective application

    We found no published Bromley rule written only for retrospective cases. The council applies the Bromley Local Plan, adopted in 2,019, and the Urban Design Guide SPD to work already built in exactly the way it applies them to a proposal. Having already built does not earn credit, and national policy lets the council give weight against development that was deliberately unauthorised.

    Some Bromley houses sit on large plots at the edge of the built-up area, and a few have been extended in stages by successive owners. Each stage is counted. If a planning file exists for an earlier extension, we pull it, because a condition on that permission, such as removing permitted development rights, can change what the later work needed.

    What changes is the evidence. An officer can walk round the extension and hold the drawings against it, so a sheet that rounds a dimension in your favour is noticed within minutes. We therefore draw from a measured survey of the house as it stands, then show the council the test it must apply and why the building passes it.

    In the south of the borough the first question is often whether the addition is a proportionate one for its Green Belt setting. A rear extension that doubled the footprint of a modest house reads very differently from a modest side addition. We set the original house, any earlier additions and your new work side by side so the arithmetic is visible.

    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule

    Local figures for Bromley

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Green Belt share of the council area51 % of council area covered by green-belt polygons—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder decisions1,609 decisions1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications granted78.6 %1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder applications decided in time89.1 % decided within 8 weeks or an agreed extended period1 July 2025 - 30 June 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Householder appeals allowed37.6 % of householder appeals alloweddecision dates 1 Jul 2021 to 30 Jun 2026assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Lawful development certificate applications (PS1)512 certificates2025 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
    Article 4 directions108 Article 4 directions published by the council—planning.data.gov.uk
    Householder: alterations/extensions to a single dwellinghouse, from 1 Apr 2026548 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 Bromley
    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

    Numbers that shape a Bromley application

    The council decided 1,609 householder applications in its latest published year and granted 78.6 per cent of them, with 89.1 per cent decided in time. Those are ordinary applications, not retrospective ones, and no figure here predicts your decision. They show a working householder service that sees plenty of extensions.

    Planning Inspectors decided 502 householder appeals from Bromley and allowed 37.6 per cent. If a refusal lands, the route onward is a householder appeal within 12 weeks, and our planning appeals page explains what that involves here.

    A further 512 certificate of lawfulness applications were counted in the latest government return. Many owners in the borough try that route first, which is worth knowing before you choose between a certificate and a planning application.

    Heritage and Article 4 in the borough

    Bromley lists 47 conservation areas, 108 Article 4 directions and 412 listed building entries, with 25 entries on the Heritage at Risk Register. An Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights for a defined change, usually to the front of a house. If your builder replaced windows or a front door under the belief that no permission was needed, the direction may be the reason a retrospective application is now necessary.

    We check the address against the council constraints map and Historic England data before quoting. If the house is listed, consent for the works is a separate matter from planning permission and needs separate handling, so say so on the first call.

    Which route suits the work you have built

    Work built within permitted development limits needs no application, only proof. If it is older than the enforcement time limit of 10 years, a lawful development certificate in Bromley may settle the position. A large rear extension built under a prior approval that was never obtained is a different story, covered by prior approval drawings in Bromley.

    If the as-built work has a part that is clearly unacceptable and a part that is fine, we can ask the council to grant the acceptable part and tell you honestly what would have to be altered. A split decision is better than a refusal of everything, and owners often prefer to remove one awkward element than to fight for it.

    Where neither applies, the application is a householder or full one and the householder council fee is £548, to be confirmed at submission. The council has 8 weeks to decide unless you agree a longer period.

    Send photographs, builder invoices and any earlier approval letters at the start. They help date the work and show which parts, if any, were approved.

    What you get from us in Bromley

    A measured survey, existing and as-built plans, elevations and sections, a block plan, a short design statement that answers the Green Belt and design questions in plain English, and the submission through the planning portal. A second MCIAT chartered architectural technologist checks the set before it leaves. If the council wants changes, we redraw free until approval.

    The quote is fixed after a free constraints check, so you know the cost before any survey is booked. Our planning drawings in Bromley page covers new proposals, and the retrospective planning hub covers the rules that apply everywhere.

    Send us the address, the dates of the work and any letters from the council. We confirm the route and a fixed quote after a free constraints check.

    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 Bromley

    Retrospective planning applications nearby

    Questions

    Can Bromley refuse a retrospective application?

    Yes. The council treats it as a normal application on its merits, so a refusal is possible if the building conflicts with policy. An appeal is available within 12 weeks of the decision notice.

    Does being in the Green Belt rule out permission?

    No, but it raises the test. In Bromley 51 per cent of the borough is Green Belt, and extensions must not be disproportionate to the original building. We show the original, the earlier additions and your new work in numbers.

    How long before the council decides?

    The standard period is 8 weeks. In its latest year the council decided 89.1 per cent of householder cases in time, though a retrospective case with objections can take longer.

    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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