Home / Consents & applications

The applications nobody warns you about.

Planning permission is rarely the only consent a project needs. Most schemes collect half a dozen smaller applications along the way — and they are usually discovered late, by which point they hold up the build. We handle them all, whether or not we designed the scheme.

Group 01

Planning consents.

Applications to the local planning authority, before and after a decision.

01

Lawful development certificates

Confirming in writing that your works fall under permitted development. Faster and cheaper than a planning application, and it gives you a document to hand a buyer's solicitor years later. Worth establishing before you assume you need permission at all.

02

Prior approval & Class Q

Larger householder extensions under the prior approval procedure, and agricultural buildings converted to dwellings under Class Q. The rights are real but the conditions are strict — we check eligibility before you commit.

03

Listed building consent

Required for any work affecting the character of a listed building, inside or out, and separate from planning permission. Includes the statement of significance and heritage justification the council will expect.

04

Discharge of conditions

Materials, drainage, landscaping, construction management. Most consents carry conditions that must be discharged before work starts — we read the decision notice, work out what is actually required, and submit it.

05

Amendments & variations

Non-material amendments for small changes, and Section 73 applications to vary a condition on an existing consent. Usually far quicker than starting a fresh application when the scheme moves on site.

Group 02

Statutory & utility approvals.

Consents from bodies other than the planning department — and the ones most often missed.

01

Build-over agreements

Thames Water and other authorities require an agreement before you build over or near a public sewer or lateral drain — which catches a great many rear extensions. Building Control will ask for it, so it is best started early rather than discovered at inspection.

02

Dropped kerb & vehicle crossover

Highways applications for a new or widened vehicle access. A separate consent from the highway authority, with its own standards for visibility, footway construction and drainage.

03

Street naming & numbering

New dwellings need an official address before they can be registered, connected to utilities or sold. Handled by the council's street naming team and easy to leave far too late.

04

CIL & planning obligations

Community Infrastructure Levy forms, exemption and relief claims, and the commencement notices that must be served before work starts. Missing a form here can cost you a self-build exemption entirely.

05

Building regulations submissions

Full plans applications and building notices, with the local authority or an approved inspector. See technical drawings for the drawing packages that go with them.

Group 03

We'll do these on their own.

You do not need to have used us for the design. If you have a consent from another practice, a builder waiting, or a single application holding everything up, send it over and we will price it as a standalone piece of work.

Fixed fees wherever the scope allows, so you know the cost before we start.

Send us the details

Also available separately

  1. 01Land registry lease and title plans
  2. 02Measured surveys and existing drawings
  3. 03Construction drawings from someone else's consent
  4. 04Specifications for tender
  5. 05Principal Designer appointment under CDM 2015
  6. 06Planning appeals and resubmissions
Not sure which consents your project needs? The Property Insight Report flags the constraints that trigger most of them.

Get in touch

Tell us about the project.

Whether it is a first conversation or a scheme someone else has already started, we are happy to hear where you have got to.

If you would rather arrive with facts than questions, start with the Property Insight Report — the fee is credited against your project if you go on to commission us.

Check your address