Merton validation checklist for lawful development certificate drawings
Merton registers a lawful development certificate application only when the paperwork is complete: the form, the fee and drawings that show what is proposed. DrawingsDirect prepares the drawings and the submission for Merton homes from £645. The council's fee for a householder proposal is £274 from 1 April 2026.
Fixed fee from £445 drawings + £200 survey (£645 total) · all prices
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The checklist, in the order a validation officer reads it
Before anyone judges whether your work is lawful, someone checks that the application is complete. The council's own validation list is the authority, and you should read it on Merton's planning pages before you submit. In practice the checks fall into four: the application form is filled in, the right fee is paid, a location plan is included, and the drawings are readable and consistent.
On the drawings, national planning practice guidance says plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and must show the direction of north. A sheet with no scale or no north point is an avoidable reason for an application to be sent back, which is why we put both on every sheet.
What the drawings must prove once it is valid
The certificate then turns on the drawings alone. For a single-storey rear extension on a house that is not detached, the permitted depth is 3 metres beyond the rear wall of the original house (GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class A.1(f)(i)), so the plans should show the original wall, the proposed depth and the heights, with figures that agree from one sheet to the next.
If the existing drawings are old or missing, a measured building survey in Merton gives you reliable measurements to start from, and floor plans in Merton covers the layout sheets alone. The rules are published on legislation.gov.uk.
Our analysis of the Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026, Casework Database 2609) counts 108 householder appeals decided for Merton, allowed or dismissed, for decisions 2021 to 2026, with 36% allowed.
How Merton has handled householder work
Over the four quarters 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2 Merton decided 759 householder applications, including prior approvals, and granted 93% of them (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2). Excluding prior approvals, 75% of its householder decisions were made within 8 weeks, so a share took longer.
That is why a complete submission matters to the clock: time spent answering a query is time not spent on the decision. In the eight quarters 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2 Merton also decided 270 certificates of lawful development (our analysis of table PS1).
Appeals and designations
Our analysis of the Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026, Casework Database 2609) counts 108 householder appeals decided for Merton, allowed or dismissed, for decisions 2021 to 2026, with 36% allowed. It is a record, not a forecast.
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform datasets (bulk snapshot retrieved 14 Aug 2026) counts 28 live conservation-area entries on the national register for Merton. The register may be incomplete, so check Merton's conservation area map and our guide to Article 4 directions before you rely on a permitted development right.
Our fee, and what the certificate costs
Our fixed fee for the drawings and certificate submission starts at £645, as on the pricing page. A certificate for a proposed use or operation costs half the full application fee: £274, half of £548. If Merton's officer asks for amended sheets, redrawing them costs nothing extra.
See the lawful development certificate drawings service for the full list of what we prepare, and the guide on whether you need a certificate if you are not sure.
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 |
| 759 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 93% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 75% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 108 | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 36% | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 28 | 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 |
| 270 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| identified scale | Planning practice guidance, Making an application, paragraph 023: plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and plans must show the direction of north (source wording: "must be drawn to an identified scale") | www.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
What does Merton check before registering a certificate application?
Why would a certificate application be returned?
How much is the council fee for a certificate in Merton?
Photographs: David Anstiss (CC BY-SA 2.0).
