Flat conversion drawings in Richmond upon Thames
Splitting a Richmond upon Thames house into self-contained flats counts as development under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, so the council has to grant permission for it. Our fixed fee for house-to-two-flats drawings, covering full planning and Building Regulations, starts at £1,195.
Fixed fee from £995 drawings + £200 survey (£1,195 total) · all prices
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Why a conversion into flats always goes to the council
Section 55(3)(a) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 treats the use of a building previously used as a single dwellinghouse as two or more separate dwellinghouses as a material change of use. A material change of use is development, and development needs permission. The wording is on legislation.gov.uk.
That is the difference from a shared house, where a small change can be permitted development. A split into self-contained flats is an application to Richmond upon Thames Council every time, and our guide to converting a house into flats sets out how the test works.
What the planning fee adds
Alongside our drawing fee sits the council's application fee. From 1 April 2026, the national fee for changing a single dwellinghouse to fewer than 10 dwellinghouses is £610 for each additional dwellinghouse, taken from the MHCLG fee schedule. A conversion that creates more than one extra home therefore costs more in fees.
We list that separately because it is paid to the council, not to us. Our own starting fee for house-to-two-flats drawings is £1,195, the figure on our pricing page, and we confirm the fixed price for your property before we begin.
The Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (release 2609, 1 October 2026) records 383 householder appeals from the borough decided as allowed or dismissed over 2021 to 2026.
Richmond's record on householder applications
A flat conversion is not a householder application, but the borough's householder record is the nearest published guide to how Richmond upon Thames treats work on homes. Our analysis of the MHCLG planning application statistics (table PS2, released 24 September 2026) shows the council decided 1,302 householder applications over the latest four quarters, and 83% were granted. Of its householder decisions excluding prior approvals, 99% were made within 8 weeks.
Across all types of application the council decided 1,825 over the same four quarters. Statutory timing is set by article 34 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, which gives 8 weeks for an application that is not major development, though a flat conversion can take longer if the council asks for changes. Our page on planning permission in Richmond upon Thames follows the process from submission to decision.
Appeals and conservation areas change the odds
The Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (release 2609, 1 October 2026) records 383 householder appeals from the borough decided as allowed or dismissed over 2021 to 2026. Our analysis shows 43% were allowed. An appeal is a record of the past, not a forecast, and it says nothing about any single application.
For designated areas, our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform counts 85 live conservation-area entries on the national register for the borough. The register is only a starting point, so check the council's own conservation area map before you plan the front elevation. Where entrances, windows or bin stores change in a conservation area, the drawings need to show that clearly.
How we work on a Richmond conversion
We begin with the layout. A measured record of the house comes first, either from your own survey or our measured building survey service, then we draw the existing and proposed floor plans, the elevations and the details the council expects with a change of use. The full service is described on our flat conversion drawings page.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| £1,195 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for house to two flats drawings (full planning and building regulations), from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
| two or more separate dwellinghouses | Town and Country Planning Act 1990 s55(3)(a): using a building previously used as a single dwellinghouse as two or more separate dwellinghouses is a material change of use (source wording: "the use as two or more separate dwellinghouses of any building previously used as a single dwellinghouse") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| £610 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed), category 12(1)(a): change of use of a single dwellinghouse to fewer than 10 dwellinghouses, per additional dwellinghouse (source wording: "£610 for each additional dwellinghouse") | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| 1,302 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 83% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 99% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 383 | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 43% | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 85 | Our analysis of MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area and article-4-direction datasets (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
| 1,825 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 8 weeks | DMPO 2015 art 34(2)(b): decision period for an application that is not major development (source wording: "8 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
How much do flat conversion drawings cost in Richmond upon Thames?
Do I need planning permission to convert a house into flats in Richmond?
Do I need planning permission for a loft conversion in Richmond upon Thames?
Photographs: David Howard (CC BY-SA 2.0); Tim Green from Bradford (CC BY 2.0).
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