The questions we get on every call.

Not always. Many single-storey rear extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings fall under permitted development, provided the house still has those rights and the work stays within the size limits. We check this first, because a lawful development certificate is faster and cheaper than a planning application.

A formal confirmation from the council that your proposed works do not need planning permission. It is not compulsory, but it gives you a document to show a buyer's solicitor years later, and it settles the question before you build.

Councils have eight weeks to decide a householder application once it is validated, and many take longer. Preparing the application usually takes two to four weeks before that. Lawful development certificates are also eight weeks.

Read the reasons for refusal — they decide the route. Design, scale and overlooking objections are usually answered by a revised resubmission, often free of charge within twelve months. Where the council has misapplied policy, an appeal may be better.

Householder appeals must be lodged within twelve weeks of the decision. If you are close to that window, get in touch before anything else.

Permission has been granted, but certain details — materials, drainage, landscaping — must be submitted and approved before work starts or before occupation. Discharging those conditions is a separate application and it takes time, so start it early.

Usually three years from the decision date to begin the works. If you are close to the deadline, a material start on site can keep the permission alive — but talk to us before relying on that.

Yes. Listed building consent is a separate application to planning, and conservation areas or Article 4 directions can remove permitted development rights. These projects are won on the heritage argument as much as the design, so the statement of significance matters as much as the drawings.

Almost always, yes — they are separate systems. Planning asks whether you may build it; building regulations ask whether it is built safely and efficiently. Most extensions need both, and permitted development work still needs building regulations.

Planning drawings show the council what the building will look like and how big it is. Construction drawings tell a builder how to build it — structure, insulation, junctions, drainage, specification. You cannot price or build safely from planning drawings alone.

If you are building on or near a shared boundary, cutting into a party wall, or excavating within three metres of a neighbour's foundations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 usually applies. Notices must be served before work starts; a party wall surveyor prepares the award where neighbours dissent.

If your extension will be built over or within three metres of a public sewer, the water company — Thames Water in most of our area — must approve it. Building Control will ask for the agreement, so we start it at the technical design stage rather than discovering it on site.

Under the CDM Regulations 2015, most projects with more than one contractor need a Principal Designer to manage health and safety during design. We can be formally appointed to that role, and for domestic clients the duty usually passes to us automatically.

Yes. Lease plans and title plans to HM Land Registry requirements are regular work for us, for solicitors, conveyancers and freeholders, usually at a fixed fee with an agreed turnaround.

Usually, but not always. A well-judged extension typically returns more than it costs and adds ten to twenty per cent to value. If you are already at your street's ceiling price, or you plan to move within a few years, the sums can stop working — which is exactly what the Property Insight Report tells you before you spend money on design.

Moving in London costs a typical household tens of thousands of pounds before a single wall changes, most of it stamp duty. For many people extending is now the stronger financial decision — but it depends on your street's values. We will do that sum with you honestly.

We charge by stage and quote each stage before it starts, so you commit to one phase at a time. Typical ranges for householder work are published on our How we work page. The Property Insight Report is £195 and is credited against your fee if you commission us.

Earlier than you would expect. We work with builders we have known for years who price our schemes at concept stage — while the design is still moving — so you know what it will cost while you can still change it. A firm price comes at tender, on construction drawings.

A desktop appraisal of any address in England: planning constraints, designations, planning history and neighbours' precedents on one side; sale history, comparables, value and yield on the other. It is generated from the data and sent within 30 minutes; a chartered architect then goes through it with you on a 30-minute call. It replaces the free consultation, so the conversation starts with facts.

No. It is an indicative desktop assessment from public and commercial data, for general guidance. It is not a formal planning, legal, valuation or ecological opinion and should not be relied on as one.

Yes. Our director is a RIBA Chartered Architect, registered with the Architects Registration Board, and a BREEAM Accredited Professional. The title "architect" is protected by law in the UK; you can check any architect on the ARB register.

London and Essex — Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Epping Forest, Brentwood, Chelmsford and Harlow most often. Most of our projects are within an hour of the studio. We take on work further afield case by case.

Yes. We regularly pick up projects at planning decision stage — discharging conditions, producing construction drawings, or rescuing a refused scheme. Bring us what you have and we will tell you what is outstanding.

Either. We can run a tender with builders we trust, or price your own builder against the same drawings. What we will insist on is a proper contract rather than a quote on headed paper.

A JCT contract is the standard form of building contract in England and Wales. It fixes the price, the programme, how payment is certified, what happens when something changes, and how defects are put right. We put one in place for every project we take on site and act as Contract Administrator under it, so your money and the builder's work are protected by a legal agreement rather than by a quote on headed paper.

Your address, what you are hoping to do, and an honest budget. From there the Property Insight Report and the call that follows it tell us both whether the project stacks up.

We used to. We replaced it with the Property Insight Report because a conversation built on real data about your property is worth more to you than a general chat — and the report's fee is credited against your project if you go ahead.