Listed building consent drawings in Kensington and Chelsea, for the small jobs too
The Royal Borough has over 3,800 listed buildings, and its own guidance is blunt about how little it takes to need consent: re-plastering, a new opening, gates and railings, and any change to windows, secondary glazing included. We prepare the existing and proposed drawings an application rests on, for a fixed £1,895.
Fixed fee from £1,695 drawings + £200 survey (£1,895 total) · all prices
Prefer to talk it through?
What the Royal Borough says needs consent
The council's listed buildings guide counts over 3,800 listed buildings, and says that larger works such as extensions and removing internal walls need consent. It also lists smaller changes that need it: re-plastering, new openings within walls, changes to gates and railings, and any alteration to windows, secondary glazing included.
For an owner in Chelsea or Holland Park that last item is the one that surprises people. Secondary glazing is often chosen because it is reversible and discreet, and it still goes through the council. A drawing that shows the glazing line, the sash and the fixing is what a decision is made on.
Listed Building Consent Drawings in Kensington and Chelsea
from £1,895
£1,695 drawings + £200 survey (£1,895 total)
Every price is the full fixed fee you pay. No VAT is charged. Council application fees are paid to the council separately.
What you get
- A measured record of the existing rooms, with features of interest marked
- Proposed plans, sections and elevations that show what is kept and what goes
- Window, door or railing details at a larger scale where the work touches them
- Drawings annotated so a conservation officer can read the change at a glance
- A PDF set that goes with your heritage statement
- Notes of any works the drawings suggest may not need consent
- Confirm the listing
Check the building and any curtilage structures on the council's listed building search.
- Record what exists
A measured survey with the original features marked.
- Draw the change
Proposed work set against the existing, with retention and removal annotated.
- Pair with a statement
The drawings sit beside a heritage statement for the officer.
- Submit to the Royal Borough
You or your agent apply; listed building consent carries no application fee.
Listed and in a conservation area at once
The council says 38 conservation areas protect nearly three quarters of the borough. A listed building inside one of them can face two sets of rules at the same time: listed building consent for the building itself and the stricter conservation area controls around it. The council also points owners to check for an Article 4 Direction, which can remove permitted development rights.
That is why we ask for the address first. Whether a garden wall, a rear addition or a basement lightwell is part of the listed building or a separate matter depends on the listing and the curtilage, and it changes what the drawings have to show.
Listed building consent carries a condition that the works begin within three years of the date it is granted, under section 18.
Doing the work without consent
The Royal Borough's guide states it is a criminal offence to carry out works that affect a listed building's interest without consent. It says both the owner and the person who did the work can be fined up to £20,000 for a single offence in the magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court. In law, section 9 of the 1990 Act also allows imprisonment for up to two years on conviction on indictment.
A buyer's solicitor will ask whether past alterations had consent. Drawings of what was done and what the building was before help answer that, and they are the same drawings a retrospective application would need.
No council fee, and what ours covers
Government guidance says there is no fee for submitting an application for listed building consent. Our fixed £1,895 covers the drawings. A heritage statement is a separate fixed-fee service, and a measured survey is priced on its own if you do not already have one.
If you are unsure whether your job needs consent at all, the council's duty planning line is listed on its listed buildings page. We would rather tell you a job is a repair than draw a scheme you do not need.
Consent lasts three years
Listed building consent carries a condition that the works begin within three years of the date it is granted, under section 18. If your builder cannot start within that window, say so before you apply, because the drawings and the programme should agree.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| over 3800 | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Listed buildings explained: (source wording: "With over 3,800 listed buildings") | www.rbkc.gov.uk |
| re-plastering, new openings, gates and railings, windows including secondary glazing | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Listed buildings explained: consent is needed for larger works such as extensions and removing internal walls, and for smaller changes including re-plastering, new openings within walls, gates and railings, and any alterations to windows including secondary glazing | www.rbkc.gov.uk |
| £20,000 | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Listed buildings explained: owner and the person who carried out the works can be fined up to £20,000 for a single offence in the magistrates' court, or an unlimited fine in the Crown Court | www.rbkc.gov.uk |
| 38 conservation areas | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Conservation areas: the borough has 38 conservation areas protecting nearly three quarters of it | www.rbkc.gov.uk |
| check for an Article 4 Direction | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Conservation areas: stricter controls apply in conservation areas, and owners should check whether an Article 4 Direction has removed permitted development rights | www.rbkc.gov.uk |
| two years | Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 s.9(4)(b): on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding (source wording: "two years") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| no fee | Planning Practice Guidance, Historic environment, para 044: (source wording: "There is no fee for submitting an application for listed building consent") | www.gov.uk |
| three years | Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 s.18(1): listed building consent is subject to the condition that works begin not later than the expiration of (source wording: "three years") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
Do I need consent to fit secondary glazing to a listed flat in Kensington?
How many listed buildings are there in Kensington and Chelsea?
Is there an application fee for listed building consent?
Do you need a heritage statement as well?
Photographs: David Howard (CC BY-SA 2.0); Marathon (CC BY-SA 2.0); John Lord (CC BY-SA 2.0).
