Kingston Council planning guide: what the Royal Borough asks for, and which report answers it

What Kingston's plan says about design and heritage

The Royal Borough's adopted development plan is made up of the London Plan, the Core Strategy (2012), the Kingston Town Centre Area Action Plan (2008) and the South London Waste Plan (2022). The Core Strategy was adopted on 17 April 2012 and carries the development management policies that decide household work. Our Kingston planning permission page covers drawings for applications in the borough.

Policy DM 10 is headed “Design Requirements for New Developments (including House Extensions)”. It asks that proposals “have regard to the amenities of occupants and neighbours, including in terms of privacy, outlook, sunlight/daylight, avoidance of visual intrusion and noise and disturbance”. Those words are why the validation list wants neighbouring windows on the drawings.

Policy DM 12 covers conservation areas and heritage assets. The council will “allow alterations which preserve or enhance the established character and architectural interest of a heritage asset, its fabric or its setting”, and wants high quality materials and design features that complement the host building or the immediate area.

Flood zones and the documents they trigger

A householder application needs a flood risk assessment if it sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, is subject to surface water flood risk, or falls within a Critical Drainage Area. It is provided on a standard Environment Agency form, and the council's interactive Heritage map is the tool for checking a Critical Drainage Area.

For small extensions in Flood Zones 2 and 3, the council also publishes a one-page guidance sheet whose completed table forms the assessment: either floor levels no lower than existing with flood resilience measures, or floor levels set 300mm above the known flood level. The sheet adds that basements should be avoided in areas at risk of flooding. The Strategic Flood Risk Assessment is the wider evidence. Our Kingston flood risk assessment page goes through it, and a planning constraints report shows the flood zone for your address.

Daylight and sunlight: the 45 and 25 degree plans

This is the part of Kingston's list owners miss. Every householder application with an extension or outbuilding needs “45 Degree” plans and a statement, drawn at 1:50 or 1:100, showing neighbouring buildings and windows and annotated to show the 45 degree rule. The test applies on both floor plans and elevations, and a proposal that fails both must come with a daylight and sunlight report. The list calls the rule “only an indicator”.

Extensions of two or more storeys, or roof extensions above two storeys, also need an elevation showing the 25 degree rule from the centre of the neighbouring window nearest the ground. A scheme that fails it needs a report too. Both tests come from the council's Residential Design SPD. Our daylight and sunlight report is prepared by our own team from your drawings when a scheme fails either test.

Party wall, basements and Kingston's construction management plan

Kingston's building control pages point owners to the Party Wall Act for boundaries and shared walls. It is national law running alongside planning, and our party wall services guide explains the notices.

A basement is where the list becomes a project in itself. It requires a Basement Impact Assessment carried out and signed by a Chartered Civil Engineer or Chartered Structural Engineer, covering land stability, structural stability, heritage and archaeology, and groundwater and drainage. Any basement or subterranean scheme also needs a Construction Management Plan, covering vehicle routing, parking for operatives, loading, hoardings and wheel washing. A basement feasibility visit comes before drawings, and the construction management plan page explains the plan.

Other items Kingston's householder list asks for

A completed Biodiversity Checklist is required for all householder applications, and a Fire Statement is asked of all of them too, with a Reasonable Exception Statement as the route where the policy does not apply to a simple household scheme. A lighting assessment is needed if the work includes external lighting, and a tree survey, arboricultural impact assessment and method statement where trees could be affected. Our tree survey for planning covers that last item.

The list also says writing ‘n/a’ against a checklist item without a reason is not enough, so each item marked not required needs a short written reason. Streetscene elevations are an advisory item rather than a validation requirement, though they help the officer judge height against neighbours.