Lawful development certificate drawings in Harold Wood, RM3
A lawful development certificate does not settle right of light: it confirms that work is lawful under planning rules, while a neighbour's right to light is a separate private right. DrawingsDirect prepares the drawings that support a certificate application for Harold Wood homes, from £645, a fixed fee.
Fixed fee from £445 drawings + £200 survey (£645 total) · all prices
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Certificate or right of light survey: which one do you need?
You may have looked for a right of light survey while planning a rear extension or loft in Harold Wood, perhaps because a neighbour has raised the loss of light. The two documents answer different questions. A right of light survey, carried out by a specialist surveyor, looks at whether a neighbouring window has an established right to light that your building could infringe. A lawful development certificate asks whether the work is permitted under planning law.
You may want both. The certificate gives the council's formal view that the work needs no planning application; the survey addresses a civil dispute the council does not decide. Our guide on whether you need a lawful development certificate sets out when the certificate is worth having.
What the drawings for a certificate must show
The council can only certify what it can see, so the drawings need to show the existing house and exactly what you propose, with measurements that can be checked against the limits. Two of the limits people test most: a single-storey rear extension on a house that is not detached can be 3 metres deep (GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A.1(f)(i)), and a roof space addition on a terrace house is capped at 40 cubic metres (Class B.1(d)).
The limits are published on legislation.gov.uk. If your measurements are not reliable, a measured building survey gives the drawings a sound base.
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset (snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) finds 11 conservation-area entries recorded for Havering on the national register.
How Havering handles certificates and prior approvals
Harold Wood is in the London Borough of Havering. In the eight quarters 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2 Havering decided 1,102 certificates of lawful development (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1).
In the same period it determined 109 larger home extension prior approvals and granted 41% of them (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1), and in the four quarters 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2, 42% of its householder decisions were prior approvals (our analysis of table PS2). Our guide to prior approval for a larger home extension covers that route, which is not the same as a certificate.
Conservation areas and what they change
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset (snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) finds 11 conservation-area entries recorded for Havering on the national register. Permitted development rights are narrower in some designated areas and where an Article 4 direction applies, and a certificate would be refused for work the direction takes out of permitted development.
Check your RM3 address on Havering's conservation area map first. Our Article 4 direction explainer shows how.
Our fee and the council's certificate fee
DrawingsDirect's lawful development certificate drawings start from £645, as a fixed fee. The council's fee for a certificate of lawfulness for a proposed use or operation is half the full application fee: £274, half of the £548 householder fee, from 1 April 2026. See the lawful development certificate drawings service for what is included.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 1,102 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 109 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 41% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 42% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 11 | 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 |
| £274 | Statutory fee from 1 April 2026: certificate of lawfulness, proposed use or operation, half the full application fee (half of the £548 householder fee) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| 3 metres | GPDO 2015 Sch 2 Pt 1 Class A.1(f)(i): single-storey rear extension max depth, 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): roof space volume addition limit, terrace house (source wording: 40 cubic metres) | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| £645 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for lawful development certificate drawings, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |