Pre-Purchase Planning ReportsFrom £195
How much does a pre-purchase planning report cost in London?
A pre-purchase planning report on a London house costs our fixed £195, with no VAT charged. It looks up the planning history of the address, compares what is built with what was approved, checks the constraints and the rights, and gives you a plain-English summary before you exchange contracts.
The short answer: a small fee before a large purchase
Our pre-purchase planning report costs £195. For that we find the planning history of the address, with the applications, decisions and conditions, compare what is built with what was approved, check the constraints on the address, and tell you whether permitted development rights look intact and what you could build by which route.
You get a plain-English summary you can share with your solicitor before exchange. It is not legal advice and it does not replace the solicitor's searches, but it answers the planning questions a conveyancing pack usually leaves open.
- Planning history
Applications, decisions and conditions for the address are found on the council's register.
- Built against approved
What is on site is compared with what the council approved.
- Constraints and rights
Conservation area, Article 4, listing, flood zone, trees and permitted development rights are checked.
- What you could build
A first view of what is possible and which route it would take.
Where the history comes from
Each council has to keep a register of planning applications. The Development Management Procedure Order says Part 2 of the register must contain a copy of each application, with the plans and drawings submitted, and the decision, including its conditions. That is public, but it is slow to read, and a decision notice from 1998 does not tell you whether the extension in front of you is the one it approved.
We read the register and compare it with the building. A loft that has a dormer approved on the plans but a larger one on the roof, or a conservatory with no record at all, is the kind of gap that shows up.
How long an old breach stays a problem
Planning guidance says the council can take enforcement action against operational development, such as an extension, within 10 years of substantial completion where it was completed on or after 25 April 2024, and within 4 years where it was completed before that date. A change of use falls under a separate 10-year period.
So an extension built without permission in 2019 may now be immune, while one built in 2025 is not. The report sets out what we can find on dates, and when the answer is that you want evidence of completion from the seller, we tell you what to ask for.
Rights that may not be there
Government guidance says permitted development rights can be removed by the local planning authority, either by means of a condition on a planning permission, or by means of an article 4 direction. A house on an estate built under one permission may have no right to a rear extension or a loft dormer without applying.
The same guidance says an Article 4 direction cannot prevent development which has been commenced, or which has already been carried out. That works in your favour for built work, but not for the extension you plan. We check both, and put it in a sentence you can act on.
When a planning permission lapses
If the seller says the house has planning permission for an extension, ask when. A permission carries a condition that development must begin within three years of the grant in England, so one granted five years ago and never started may be dead.
We check the dates and say whether the permission looks live. If it is, our feasibility study or rear extension drawings are the next steps. Our pre-purchase planning report page shows the service.
Sources
Every figure in this article, where it comes from and a link to the original.
- Part 2 of the register must contain a copy of each application: DMPO 2015 art 40(2) and (4): Part 2 of the register must contain, for every application (source wording: "a copy (which may be photographic or in electronic form) of the application", the plans and drawings submitted, and the decision). www.legislation.gov.uk
- within 10 years of substantial completion: PPG Enforcement and post-permission matters, para 004: operational development substantially completed on or after 25 April 2024 (source wording: "within 10 years of substantial completion"). www.gov.uk
- 4 years: PPG Enforcement and post-permission matters, para 004: operational development substantially completed before 25 April 2024 (source wording: "within 4 years of substantial completion"). www.gov.uk
- either by means of a condition on a planning permission, or by means of an article 4 direction: PPG When is permission required?, para 020: (source wording: "Permitted development rights can be removed by the local planning authority, either by means of a condition on a planning permission, or by means of an article 4 direction"). www.gov.uk
- an Article 4 direction cannot prevent development which has been commenced, or which has already been carried out: PPG When is permission required?, para 046: (source wording: "Article 4 directions cannot prevent development which has been commenced, or which has already been carried out"). www.gov.uk
- three years: TCPA 1990 s91(1) and (5)(a): development must be begun within the applicable period, which in relation to England (source wording: "three years"). www.legislation.gov.uk
Questions people ask
Is it legal advice?
Do I pay VAT on your fee?
Do you need to visit the house?
What if the report finds a problem?
Can you tell me what the house is worth?
Pre-Purchase Planning Reports: a fixed fee from £195
Read more on the pre-purchase planning reports service page, or send your address below and we reply within one working day.
Pre-Purchase Planning Reports
from £195
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
- The planning history of the address: applications, decisions and conditions
- A comparison of what is built with what was approved
- Constraints on the address: conservation area, Article 4, listing, flood zone, trees
- Whether permitted development rights look intact or have been removed
- A plain-English summary you can share with your solicitor before exchange