Floor plans for Balham homes, SW12

Check your council before you plan

Balham is in the London Borough of Wandsworth, but SW12 is a postcode district rather than a council boundary. The council that decides your application is set by your address, not by the district name. The government's find your local council tool settles it in seconds.

The figures on this page are Wandsworth's. They help if your home is in the borough, and they are only context if it is not.

What Wandsworth's figures show

Wandsworth made 977 householder decisions in the four quarters to 2026 Q2, and 33% of them were prior approvals (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).

Of those decisions that were not prior approvals, 91% were made within eight weeks (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).

Across the eight quarters to 2026 Q2 the council granted or refused 56 larger home extension prior approvals, and 55% of those were granted (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1). Cases where Wandsworth found prior approval was not required are a separate outcome and are not in that count. Larger home extensions are covered in our permitted development glossary entry.

In the same eight quarters it decided 695 certificates of lawful development (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1).

Wandsworth shows 47 conservation-area entries on the national register (our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset), and Wandsworth Council's conservation area map tells you whether a Balham street is among them. See the Wandsworth planning permission page for how applications are handled there.