Kensington and Chelsea planning guide: what the Royal Borough asks for and which report answers it

The A3 rule and the rest of the submission requirements

The Royal Borough's Submission Requirements for Planning Applications, dated 10 March 2023, open with file rules before they reach content. The council will not accept documents that need printing larger than A3: “DO NOT submit drawings that have to be printed at A2, A1 or A0, as we will not accept these, and your application will be deemed invalid.” A single attachment is limited to 5MB and the whole application to 25MB.

Drawings are expected at 1:50 or 1:100, with 1:50 preferred, and each should show its paper size, the scale at that size, a scale bar showing lengths of 1m and 10m, and a north arrow on plans. Existing and proposed buildings should be at the same scale and include the adjoining buildings so that relative heights and positions are clear. A householder site plan is 1:200.

The list is older than the current Local Plan, so it still cites the 2019 policy codes such as CL7. Where the two differ, the 2024 plan is the one in force. Our planning drawings and house extension drawings are set out to this A3 rule, and the Kensington and Chelsea planning permission page covers drawings for applications in the borough.

Basements: Policy CD11, the method statement and the traffic plan

Policy CD11 is the strictest basement policy this guide covers. The council will require all basement development to “not exceed a maximum of 50 per cent of each garden or open part of the site” and to “not comprise more than one storey”, with exceptions possible on large sites. It also requires at least one metre of soil above any part of the basement beneath a garden, a sustainable drainage system, and design that safeguards the structural stability of the existing building and nearby buildings.

The validation list says what to bring. A Construction Method Statement is required for all applications involving a new or enlarged basement, following the council's Basements SPD of April 2016. A Construction Traffic Management Plan is required for basements and other schemes with the potential to cause disruption, on the council's own pro forma; the list warns that failing to complete the pro forma could result in the document being rejected.

Our basement feasibility visit tests the 50 per cent and one-storey limits against your garden first. The construction management plan page explains the document that follows.

Conservation areas: full applications and heritage statements

The national Planning Data register lists 41 conservation areas for the Royal Borough. Policy CD4 says the council will “require full planning applications in conservation areas”. For a house there, that is a practical point: the application route is set by the location, so check your street before you plan around a simpler form.

On documents, the validation list asks for a Heritage Statement on all listed building consent applications, on substantial or total loss of a building in a conservation area, and on works affecting the setting of a listed building or a conservation area. For listed buildings it asks for elevations and sections of window and door changes at 1:20 or less, with finer features at 1:5 or less.

Our heritage statement and listed building consent drawings are written to these rows, and the Kensington and Chelsea heritage statement page and listed building consent page cover the borough detail.

Building control, party wall and the CIL form

The Royal Borough's building control page offers a full plans application for all types of work, a building notice for internal alterations to domestic premises only, and a regularisation certificate where no application was made before the works were completed. Our building regulations reports guide sorts which report fits your project.

The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is national law, separate from planning, and applies to work on or near a shared wall and to excavation beside a neighbour. Our party wall services guide explains the notices. Developments that add 100 sq m or more of new floor space also need a CIL liability form, covered by our CIL form preparation.