Do you need a lawful development certificate in London?
A lawful development certificate is a document from your council confirming that existing work is lawful, or that proposed work would be. You do not need one to build under permitted development, but it gives you written proof that the work was within the rules. Our drawings and submission start at £645.
Prefer to talk it through?
What the certificate is, and what it is not
The certificate is not planning permission. It is the council's formal view that a stated project falls within the law as it stands, so no application for permission is needed. There are two kinds: one for work or a use that already exists, and one for a project you intend to carry out.
The proposed kind matters most for homeowners, because it lets you check a permitted development scheme before the builder starts. Our glossary entry on the certificate gives the short definition.
Projects that suit a certificate
The usual candidates are schemes that sit near a limit in the General Permitted Development Order 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 (legislation.gov.uk). A single-storey rear extension may extend beyond the rear wall of the original house by up to 3 metres for a house other than a detached one (Class A.1(f)(i)). A roof addition may add up to 40 cubic metres to the roof space of a terrace house (Class B.1(d)(i)).
Outbuildings have their own cap: under Class E, buildings, enclosures, pools and containers must not cover more than 50% of the curtilage. A garden room, a shed and a pool on one plot can use up that allowance faster than an owner expects, which is the case for checking in writing before building.
Rights can be removed. An Article 4 direction or a conservation area changes what counts as permitted, so the certificate application starts with the address.
In our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (released 24 Sep 2026), the 33 London councils decided 24,335 certificates of lawful development across the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2.
What the council charges
The council fee for a certificate for a proposed use or operation is half the full application fee. For a householder project that is half of £548, or £274, by our arithmetic from the fee table in force from April 2026.
Our starting fixed fee for lawful development certificate drawings and the certificate submission is £645, as listed on the pricing page. The council fee is paid on top. The lawful development certificate drawings service shows what the package covers.
How common the certificate is in London
In our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (released 24 Sep 2026), the 33 London councils decided 24,335 certificates of lawful development across the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2. The count covers every kind of certificate and does not separate householders from other applicants, so treat it as a sign of how routine the route is, not as a count of home extensions.
The certificate also has a place after the event. If work was built without permission, our planning enforcement guide explains how time limits and a certificate for existing work fit together.
What the application needs from us
The council judges the certificate on the drawings, so they carry the weight. Measured plans, elevations and a clear statement of the dimensions against each limit let the officer test the scheme without chasing you. We survey the house, draw the existing and proposed layout, and prepare the submission.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| £645 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for Lawful Development Certificate drawings and certificate submission, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |
| £274 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed): certificate of lawful development for a proposed use or operation is half the full application fee; for a householder project that is half of £548 (source wording: "Half the Full Application fee"; the £274 is our arithmetic) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| 3 metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(f)(i): a single-storey rear extension may extend beyond the rear wall of the original house by up to 3 metres, house other than detached (source wording: 3 metres) | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 40 cubic metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class B.1(d)(i): roof additions may add up to 40 cubic metres to the roof space of a terrace house (source wording: "40 cubic metres in the case of a terrace house") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 24,335 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 50% | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class E para E.1(b): total ground cover of buildings, enclosures, pools and containers must not exceed 50% of curtilage | www.legislation.gov.uk |