Waltham Forest Council planning guide: the 2025 householder checklist and what it asks of your drawings
Waltham Forest rewrote its validation lists in 2025, and the householder checklist now carries stricter drawing rules than most boroughs: the neighbours' windows must always be shown, every plan needs a scale bar of 5 metres, and a fire safety statement is asked for even on house extensions. This guide reads that checklist beside the Local Plan adopted in February 2024 and the council's 2026 guidance on residential alterations, and says which report answers each item. Start with a planning constraints report for your address, £19.
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The 2025 checklists and the plan behind them
Waltham Forest's page on what your application must include links a set of checklists, each marked V1-2025, including a separate Householder Planning Application Checklist. The council says an incomplete application gets a letter within 10 working days and that you then have 21 days to make it valid. Our Waltham Forest planning permission page covers drawings for applications in the borough.
The plan behind the lists is Local Plan Part 1: Shaping the Borough 2020-2035, adopted on 29 February 2024. Its Policy 57 on amenity says new development should respect neighbours by “avoiding harmful impacts from overlooking, enclosure and/or the loss of privacy, outlook and daylight/sunlight”. The council's supplementary guidance page lists a Residential Alterations and Retrofit SPD (2026), which it says replaces the 2010 Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD, so older guides to the 2010 rules are out of date.
Waltham Forest Council Planning Guide
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
- A plain reading of the Householder Planning Application Checklist, version V1-2025
- Local Plan Part 1 policies on design, amenity and conservation areas, quoted from the plan
- Which reports your address triggers, each linked to its own fixed-fee page
- Conservation area, Highams Article 4 and flood points for Waltham Forest in one place
- A planning constraints report for your address from £19
- Fixed fees shown before you ask, and no VAT charged
- Is it a householder job?
Alterations to flats and changes in the number of homes need a full application, not the householder form.
- Draw to the drawing rules
Title, drawing number, print size, scale at that size, a 5 metre scale bar and the neighbours' windows.
- Check the address
Conservation area, Highams estate, flood maps and trees decide which extra documents you need.
- Add the short statements
A fire safety statement and a surface water note are asked for on most extensions.
Is it a householder application at all?
The checklist defines householder applications as the alteration, improvement or enlargement of an existing dwellinghouse, or development in its curtilage for purposes incidental to the house. It then says this does not include a change of use, alterations to flats, or a change to the number of dwellings in a building, and that these need a full planning application.
That matters for anyone converting a house to flats or extending a flat: the drawings, the fee and the checklist all change. For a conversion see our flat conversion drawings; for a house that stays a single home, the householder list below applies.
The Local Plan lists 15 conservation areas, including Walthamstow Village, Lloyd Park, Leucha Road, Chingford Green and Woodford Green.
Drawing rules that catch applicants out
The general guidance in the checklist is unusually specific. Every drawing needs a title and number, its print size and the scale at that size, and “a scale bar of 5 metres highlighting each metre”. The wording “do not scale” must not be used. Plans must be at a recognised scale, and electronic documents should be PDFs of a single page size, with no editing restrictions so the council can redact them.
Three further rules are worth noting. The checklist says the neighbouring properties and neighbouring windows must always be shown on plans, elevations and sections, existing and proposed. Existing and proposed ground levels must be shown for any extension, and on sloping sites a site section is needed. And for householder applications, existing and proposed plans can share a drawing, while floors or elevations that do not change can be covered by a statement saying they remain unchanged.
The location plan is at 1:1250 or 1:2500 with at least two named roads, and the block plan at 1:200 or 1:500 shows trees on the site and on adjacent land where affected. Our planning drawings and house extension drawings are set out to these rules from the start, and a measured building survey gives the levels.
Fire safety on a house extension
This is the item most householders do not expect. The checklist says householder and non-major development that does not create extra units, alter the external wall materials, alter communal areas that support evacuation, or include a lift must submit a Planning Fire Safety Strategy or a Reasonable Exception Statement if parts of London Plan Policy D12A are considered not relevant. For a straightforward extension the short exception statement is the usual route, and our fire safety statement page covers it.
Heritage: 15 conservation areas and the Highams
The Local Plan lists 15 conservation areas, including Walthamstow Village, Lloyd Park, Leucha Road, Chingford Green and Woodford Green. Policy 72 says all proposals within them must pay special attention to preserving or enhancing their character, and that Article 4 Directions will be used where appropriate. Trees that contribute to a conservation area's character are protected.
The householder checklist asks for a heritage statement for all applications within or affecting conservation areas, listed buildings, locally listed buildings, archaeological remains and Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and says this includes householder applications. Photographs are asked for where development affects a conservation area or listed building. See our heritage statement page.
Policy 76 protects the Highams Area of Special Character, which is not a conservation area. The plan says the council has made an Article 4 Direction there requiring planning permission for property extensions and changes to roof profiles, and that applicants should refer to it. Check the address before assuming a rear extension or loft is permitted development. The council's design and conservation page leads to its conservation area and tree preservation order information.
Flood, surface water and basements
A flood risk assessment is asked for development in Flood Zone 2 or 3, including minor extensions with a footprint of less than 250sq.m, for basements in groundwater flood risk areas, and for sites in medium or high flood risk areas on the latest national mapping. Separately, a surface water drainage assessment is asked for any building, non-permeable hard surfacing or extension that increases the area of impermeable surface, which can include a large patio.
Basements get their own test. A basement impact assessment is required for any new or deepened basement, to be prepared and self-certified by a chartered engineer or geologist, and covering groundwater, structural stability and cumulative impact. A landscaping scheme is asked for with front garden hardstanding and for basements extending beyond the building footprint. A flood risk assessment, a SuDS and drainage statement and a basement feasibility visit cover these.
Daylight, trees, materials and building control
A daylight and sunlight assessment is required if a proposal is likely to have an adverse effect on light to adjoining sensitive land uses, and it must follow the BRE guide. That test is wider than the major-scheme triggers many councils use, so a deep extension beside a neighbour's kitchen window may attract the request. See our daylight and sunlight report. A tree survey and arboricultural implications report is asked for wherever trees on the site, on adjacent land or in the street could be affected: see tree surveys for planning.
The checklist also asks for details of materials with all building work, and a CIL additional information form on all applications. Waltham Forest's building control pages cover building regulations, applications for full plans, building notices and demolition, and a page on party walls. Our building regulations reports guide and party wall services guide sit alongside them.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 29 February 2024 | Waltham Forest Local Plan Part 1 page: (source wording: "Local Plan Part 1: Shaping our Borough 2020 to 2035 was adopted on 29 February 2024.") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| Residential Alterations and Retrofit SPD (2026) | Waltham Forest supplementary planning documents and guidance page lists the Residential Alterations and Retrofit SPD (2026), which replaces the 2010 Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| V1-2025 | Waltham Forest "What your application must include" page links the Householder Application Checklist -V1-2025; the document is titled Householder Planning Application Checklist 2025 | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| neighbouring windows | Waltham Forest Householder Planning Application Checklist 2025, General Requirements: (source wording: "The neighbouring properties and neighbouring windows must always be shown on plans, elevations and sections (both existing and proposed).") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| a scale bar of 5 metres highlighting each metre | Waltham Forest Householder Planning Application Checklist 2025, All Drawings and Plans: (source wording: "a scale bar of 5 metres highlighting each metre;") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| 15 | Waltham Forest Local Plan Part 1, paragraph 2.10: (source wording: "There are 15 conservation areas in the borough") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| Highams Area of Special Character | Waltham Forest Local Plan Part 1, Policy 76 and paragraph 16.34: (source wording: "the Council has made an Article 4 Direction to ensure elements of the character of the estate are preserved and enhanced through the planning process, requiring planning permission be applied for property extensions and changes to roof profiles") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| Planning Fire Safety Strategy | Waltham Forest Householder Planning Application Checklist 2025, Fire Statement: (source wording: "Householder & Non-major developments must submit a Planning Fire Safety Strategy (PFSS) or a Reasonable Exception Statement") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| 250sq.m | Waltham Forest Householder Planning Application Checklist 2025, Flood Risk Assessment: (source wording: "Development in Flood Zone 2 or 3 including minor development which relates to extensions with a footprint less than 250sq.m") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
| avoiding harmful impacts from overlooking, enclosure and/or the loss of privacy, outlook and daylight/sunlight | Waltham Forest Local Plan Part 1, Policy 57 Amenity, part A: (source wording: "Avoiding harmful impacts from overlooking, enclosure and/or the loss of privacy, outlook and daylight/sunlight") | www.walthamforest.gov.uk |
Every report on this page, with its fixed fee
| Report | Fixed fee | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Planning constraints report | £19 | Conservation area, listing, Article 4 and flood zone checked for your address Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Heritage statements | £595 | Waltham Forest asks for one on householder work in a conservation area too Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Fire safety statements | £135 | The householder checklist asks for a strategy or a reasonable exception statement Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Flood risk assessments | £395 | For Flood Zones 2 and 3 and medium or high flood risk areas Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| SuDS and drainage statements | £315 | Surface water assessment where an extension adds impermeable area Written up on fixedfeeplans.co.uk. |
| Basement conversion feasibility | £495 drawings + £200 survey (£695 total) | A visit before a basement that needs a basement impact assessment |
| Tree surveys for planning | £445 | Where trees on or next to the site, street trees included, could be affected Written up on www.propertyarchitecture.co.uk. |
| Daylight and sunlight reports | £895 | Where a scheme may harm light to a neighbour's windows 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 terraces and semis |