Lawful Development Certificate DrawingsFrom £645
How much does a lawful development certificate cost in London?
A Lawful Development Certificate for a London home costs our fixed £645, with the measured survey visit included, plus a council fee of £274 for work you are planning or £548 for work already built. It is the direct way to get the council's written confirmation that a project needs no planning application, so it is worth knowing which of the two certificates you want.
The short answer: our fee plus one of two council fees
Our fee is £645. We measure the house, draw the existing and proposed plans and elevations to the scale the council expects, check the permitted development limits that apply to your address and submit the application for you. It is one price whichever certificate you need.
The council's fee depends on the question. A certificate for a use or building that already exists is priced as the equivalent planning application, which for a house extension is £548. A certificate for a proposal is half of that, £274. Both are paid to the council when you apply and both are fixed nationally, so they are the same in Camden as in Croydon.
- Our drawings
- £445
- Our measured survey visit
- £200
- Council fee, proposed project
- £274
- Total
- £919
Proposed or existing: which certificate you need
A certificate for a proposed project answers the question "if I build this, will it be lawful?". The law behind it is section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990: if the council is satisfied the work would be lawful when you applied, it must issue the certificate. This is the one most homeowners want before building a loft dormer or a rear extension within the permitted limits.
A certificate for existing work answers a different question, the one a buyer's solicitor asks: "is what is already here lawful?". Under section 191 a building or use is lawful if no enforcement action may then be taken against it. That needs evidence, which is why the council charges the higher fee and why we ask you for dated photographs, invoices and anything else that shows when the work was done.
What a certificate protects, and what it does not
The protection for a proposed project is strong: the lawfulness of what the certificate describes shall be conclusively presumed unless there is a material change before the work starts. If your plans change, or the neighbour's circumstances change in a way that matters to the rules, check whether the certificate still covers the project.
It is also a snapshot. Government guidance says a certificate relates only to the state of affairs on the land at the date of the application. It is not planning permission, it does not deal with building regulations, and it does not give you any rights over a neighbour's wall or land.
When the council will say no
The council can only issue the certificate if the project falls within permitted development, so a house whose rights have been taken away cannot get one. That happens on flats and maisonettes, in Article 4 areas where a council has removed rights, on listed buildings and where an earlier planning permission carries a condition removing them. We check those on the survey day and say plainly if the certificate cannot work, before you spend the council's fee.
Size matters too. A single-storey rear extension passes only within 3 metres of the original rear wall, or 4 metres on a detached house, as set out in Class A of the General Permitted Development Order. Anything bigger needs prior approval or a planning application; see what rear extension drawings cost for those routes.
How much evidence an existing-work certificate needs
For work already built the burden is on you. The guidance says the applicant's evidence must be sufficiently precise and unambiguous to justify the grant of a certificate, and that if the council has no contrary evidence there is generally no good reason to refuse. A date-stamped photograph, a builder's invoice or a building control completion certificate does more than a statement that the work was done years ago.
If the work was built without building regulations approval, a certificate does not fix that. A regularisation application to building control is the route for that part, and we can tell you whether you need one.
How common they are in London
The MHCLG planning statistics record 24,335 certificates of lawful development across the 33 London boroughs in the eight quarters to June 2026. That is a measure of how routine the process is, not a prediction for your application: each one turns on the facts of one house.
For most homeowners, the certificate pays for itself in certainty. You, your builder and a later buyer can read in the council's own words that the work is lawful, and that is cheaper than the delay and rework that follow a wrong guess.
Sources
Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.
- £274: Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development (half the equivalent planning application fee, fees regs reg 11(3)(c)). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- £548: Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development, equal to the equivalent householder application (reg 11(3)(a)). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
- conclusively presumed: TCPA 1990 s192(4): (source wording: "shall be conclusively presumed unless there is a material change"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- no enforcement action may then be taken: TCPA 1990 s191(2)(a): uses and operations are lawful if (source wording: "no enforcement action may then be taken in respect of them"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- state of affairs on the land at the date of the application: PPG Lawful development certificates: (source wording: "relates only to the state of affairs on the land at the date of the certificate application"). www.gov.uk
- sufficiently precise and unambiguous: PPG Lawful development certificates: the applicant's evidence must be (source wording: "sufficiently precise and unambiguous to justify the grant of a certificate"). www.gov.uk
- 3 metres: GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(f): rear extension limit for a house other than detached (source wording: "3 metres"). www.legislation.gov.uk
- 24,335: Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2). www.gov.uk
Questions people ask
Is the council fee included in your price?
Do I pay VAT on your fee?
Is a certificate the same as planning permission?
Do I need one before I build?
What if the council refuses it?
Photographs: Ben Hadfield (Unsplash License); Daniil Korbut (Unsplash License).
Lawful Development Certificate Drawings: a fixed fee from £645
Read more on the lawful development certificate drawings service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.
Lawful Development Certificate Drawings
from £645
£445 drawings + £200 survey (£645 total)
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- Measured survey visit, included in the fixed fee
- Existing and proposed plans and elevations to the scale the council needs
- A check of permitted development limits, Article 4 directions and conditions for your address
- The application form and submission, handled as your agent
- Replies to council queries during the decision