City of London planning guide for flat owners: the Barbican listing and the householder checklist
The City of London has very few houses; its residential work is mostly flats, and more than 2,000 of those are in the Grade II listed Barbican Estate, where changing a partition or a window can need listed building consent as well as the landlord's approval. This guide reads the City Corporation's own pages for a flat owner: the Barbican management guidelines, the householder validation checklist dated February 2016, and the steps outside the planning system. If you want the constraints for your address first, a planning constraints report costs £19.
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The Barbican Estate: listed, in a conservation area, and managed by guidelines
The City's Barbican Estate listed building management guidelines page says the estate includes more than 2,000 flats, was designated Grade II in 2001 and lies in the Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area, designated in 2018. The Barbican Listed Building Management Guidelines SPD “help residents, those managing the estate and planning officers to assess what work will need listed building consent”.
Volume II, the residential volume, sorts example works by colour: green for works that do not affect the building's character and need no application, amber for works that need guidance on whether an application is required, red for works where listed building consent is required (though that “need not imply that consent will not be given”), and black for works likely to be refused. It adds that the listed building requirements are “separate and additional to any obligations imposed by lease conditions”, and that the guidance does not take precedence over the formal application. For example, removing built-in cupboards that includes removing part or all of a partition and so changes the internal layout may need an application. Our listed building consent drawings page covers the drawing set, and a heritage statement covers the supporting document.
City of London Planning Guide for Flat Owners
from £19
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
- How the Barbican Estate listing works for a flat: the green, amber, red and black categories in the City's guidelines
- Why Landlord's Approval and listed building consent are two separate applications
- The householder validation checklist of February 2016: scales, file size, heritage, flood and trees
- When roof-level work meets the London View Management Framework and St Paul's Heights
- Each report your project triggers, linked to its fixed-fee page
- A planning constraints report for your address from £19
- Check the listing
Find out whether your block is in the Barbican Estate or another listed or conservation-area building.
- Use the colour code
Read the City's guidelines to see whether your work is green, amber, red or black before you draw.
- Get landlord approval
Barbican leaseholders send plans to the Estate Office; this is separate from any consent from the planning team.
- Keep files small
The householder checklist asks for files of no more than 2 MB, or 5 MB for long reports.
Landlord's Approval is a separate application
The Barbican Estate home improvements page says that if you plan changes to your property you need to apply for Landlord's Approval, and that proposed alterations “may also need listed building consent”. The application goes in writing or by email to the Barbican Estate Team for your House Office, with plans, drawings or a specification, contractor details, a signed declaration of compliance with the standard conditions, and the contractor's waste carrier licence.
The same page says that if you have no paperwork for alterations already made, you should apply retrospectively and arrange access for an inspection. Volume II says a listed building consent application usually takes 8 weeks from receipt of a valid application, and longer where the national consultee must be consulted. Our interior layout plans give the before and after plans a layout change needs.
The City's minor redevelopment, alterations and extensions page asks for a site plan at 1:500 or 1:1250, drawings at a scale such as 1:50 or 1:100, and most proposals need a Design and Access Statement.
What the February 2016 householder checklist asks for
The City's validation checklists page links a householder checklist headed “VALIDATION CHECKLIST February 2016”; the page lists it as submitted on 8 July 2020. It was written against the earlier Local Plan policies, so ask the planning team whether anything newer applies before you rely on it.
It asks for the form, a location plan and a site plan with the site edged red and other owned land blue, the ownership certificate, the fee, and a Design and Access Statement “with applications within a Conservation Area or requiring listed building consent”. Its local list asks for existing and proposed floor and roof plans, elevations, sections and levels at a scale such as 1:50, 1:100 or 1:200, an Access Statement for altered entrances or changed levels (not needed if a Design and Access Statement is submitted), and a Flood Risk Assessment for all applications in the Flood Risk Area on the Core Strategy Proposals Map. It also covers heritage assets, archaeology, and a tree survey where trees on or beside the site, including street trees, could be affected. One practical rule: the maximum file size is 2 MB, with 5 MB accepted exceptionally for long reports, so split drawing sets into sheets.
Roof-level work, views and archaeology
The City's minor redevelopment, alterations and extensions page asks for a site plan at 1:500 or 1:1250, drawings at a scale such as 1:50 or 1:100, and most proposals need a Design and Access Statement. If an extension is at roof level within a Designated View in the London View Management Framework or the St Paul's Heights Policy Area, evidence is needed using the Qualitative Visual Assessment and Geometric Definition methods. An Archaeological Assessment is needed for groundworks on sites of archaeological potential.
The City's planning permission page says not all minor alterations or extensions need permission and links the national guidance on flats and maisonettes, so check your own block with the planning team before you assume a right. The City's City Plan 2040 page, updated 18 March 2026, says that once adopted it will replace the Local Plan 2015 and anticipated adoption in summer 2026, so check which plan applies on the day. A planning constraints report shows the designations first.
Building regulations, party walls and tall buildings
The City's building control pages cover making an application, guidance notes and charges. The Barbican home improvements page adds that since 1 October 2023 the Building Safety Regulator is the building control authority for higher-risk residential buildings, those at least seven floors or 18 metres high with at least two dwellings, so a regularisation or building notice for those blocks goes to the Regulator and not the City. Our building regulations reports guide sorts the reports by project.
The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is national law that runs beside planning. In a block of flats it applies where work touches a wall or floor shared with a neighbour, and our party wall services guide explains the notices.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| February 2016 | City of London householder validation checklist, heading: (source wording: "VALIDATION CHECKLIST February 2016") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| 2 MB | City of London householder validation checklist: (source wording: "The maximum file size acceptable is 2 MB (exceptionally 5 MB is acceptable for long reports)") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| more than 2,000 | City of London Barbican Estate Listed Building Management Guidelines page: (source wording: "more than 2,000 flats") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| 2001 | City of London Barbican Estate Listed Building Management Guidelines page: (source wording: "In 2001, it was designated Grade II for its special architectural and historic interest.") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| 2018 | City of London Barbican Estate Listed Building Management Guidelines page: (source wording: "Barbican and Golden Lane Conservation Area (designated 2018)") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| 8 weeks | City of London Barbican Listed Building Management Guidelines Volume II (9 October 2012), section 7.0: (source wording: "The application process usually takes 8 weeks from receipt of a valid application to the issuing of a decision notice.") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| green, amber, red, black | City of London Barbican Listed Building Management Guidelines Volume II, section 3.2: (source wording: "Permissible works (shown in green)"; amber, "shown in red" for LBC required; "shown in black" likely to be refused) | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| seven floors or 18m | City of London Barbican Estate home improvements page: (source wording: "those at least seven floors or at least 18m in height; and has at least two residential dwellings") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| Local Plan 2015 | City of London City Plan 2040 page (date updated 18/03/2026): (source wording: "Once adopted, the new Plan will replace the Local Plan 2015."; "Summer 2026 Anticipated adoption of the City Plan") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
| 1:500 or 1:1250 | City of London minor redevelopment, alterations and extensions page: (source wording: "Site plan at a scale of 1:500 or 1:1250 scale showing the site and its surroundings.") | www.cityoflondon.gov.uk |
The council's own pages
- City of London: view or comment on a planning application
- City of London: validation checklists
- City of London: householder checklist, February 2016 (PDF)
- City of London: City Plan 2040
- City of London: Barbican listed building management guidelines
- City of London: Barbican Estate home improvements
- City of London: building control
Every report on this page, with its fixed fee
| Report | Fixed fee | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Planning constraints report | £19 | Listing, conservation area, flood zone and Article 4 checked for your address Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Listed building consent drawings | £1,695 drawings + £200 survey (£1,895 total) | The drawing set for a listed flat, such as a Barbican alteration |
| Heritage statements | £595 | For listed buildings and conservation areas Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Design and access statements | £245 | Asked in a conservation area or for listed building consent Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Interior layout plans | £245 drawings + £200 survey (£445 total) | Before and after plans for a flat whose layout changes Written up on www.propertyarchitecture.com. |
| House extension drawings | Free | Plans, elevations and sections at the scales the City's checklist names |
| Flood risk assessments | £395 | Where the site is in the flood risk area on the Core Strategy map Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Tree surveys for planning | £445 | Where proposals affect trees on or beside the site, including street trees Written up on www.propertyarchitecture.co.uk. |
| Building regulations reports | £225 | Which building regulations report fits your project |
| Party wall services | £45 | Notices under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 for work beside a shared wall |