Listed building consent drawings for Westminster, at the scales the council asks for
Westminster's guidance on repairs and alterations to listed buildings says what a drawing set should look like: metric plans, sections and elevations at 1:50 in most cases, with windows, doors and railings at 1:20 or full size. We draw to that, for a fixed £1,895, so the conservation officer is not left reading a sketch.
Fixed fee from £1,695 drawings + £200 survey (£1,895 total) · all prices
Prefer to talk it through?
The council tells you how to draw it
Westminster's Repairs and Alterations to Listed Buildings guidance says applications should be supported by drawings that show the existing building and the proposed alterations clearly and accurately, to a metric scale. In most cases, it says, plans, sections and elevations at 1:50 will suffice, annotated to show what is kept and what is removed.
For alterations to decorative features such as windows, doors and railings, it says drawings usually need a scale such as 1:20 or even full size. It adds that good quality dated photographs of historic features, cross-referenced to the drawings, are helpful and should always accompany proposals for major alterations or refurbishment.
Listed Building Consent Drawings in Westminster
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
- Measured plans, sections and elevations of the existing building at 1:50
- Proposed drawings annotated to show what is retained and what is removed
- Window, door or railing details at 1:20 where the work touches them
- Existing features of interest recorded and cross-referenced
- A PDF set ready for the council's online form
- A note of anything that may not need consent
- Confirm the listing
Check the building and any curtilage structures against the listing.
- Measure and record
A measured survey of every floor and the features of interest.
- Draw at the right scales
1:50 for the building, 1:20 for decorative details.
- Annotate retention and removal
Every wall, door and finish marked for what happens to it.
- Apply with a statement
Drawings go in beside a heritage statement.
An old document, still the clearest on the point
The guidance was adopted in 1995 and its own cover note warns that the policies it cites may have changed. We treat the drawing advice as a sensible baseline and check the council's current validation list before we issue, because a requirement can be added without the leaflet being rewritten.
The leaflet also says the city has approximately 11,000 listed buildings and structures and that the council receives over 1,000 applications a year to alter them. Those are 1995 figures, so read them as an indication of volume, not a count.
Carrying out works to a listed building without consent is an offence under the 1990 Act, and on conviction on indictment section 9 allows imprisonment for up to two years.
Listed and in a conservation area
The council's conservation areas page says there are 56 in Westminster, and that some are affected by special controls it calls Article 4 Directions. It also says you need planning permission to demolish buildings in a conservation area, and that you must give six weeks' notice before pruning or felling a tree there.
A listed house in Marylebone, Pimlico or Bayswater is therefore often governed twice, by listed building consent for the building and by conservation area controls for what surrounds it. Which rules apply to a particular wall or lightwell depends on the listing, so we start from the address.
No council fee, three years to start
Government guidance says there is no fee for submitting an application for listed building consent. Our fixed £1,895 covers the drawings, and a heritage statement is a separate fixed-fee service.
Consent carries a condition that works begin within three years of the grant under section 18 of the 1990 Act, so the drawings and your builder's programme should agree before you apply.
What an unauthorised alteration costs
Carrying out works to a listed building without consent is an offence under the 1990 Act, and on conviction on indictment section 9 allows imprisonment for up to two years. Drawings that record what the building was before you started are your evidence of what you changed and what you did not.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 1:50 | Westminster City Council, Repairs and Alterations to Listed Buildings SPG (adopted 7 December 1995), 4.2 Application drawings: (source wording: "In most cases plans, sections and elevations at a scale of 1:50 will suffice") | www.westminster.gov.uk |
| 1:20 or full size | Same guidance, 4.2: alterations to decorative features such as windows, doors and railings (source wording: "usually require drawings at a scale such as 1:20 or even full size") | www.westminster.gov.uk |
| dated photographs cross-referenced to drawings | Same guidance, 4.2: (source wording: "Good quality dated photographs of historic features, cross-referenced to drawings are helpful") | www.westminster.gov.uk |
| approximately 11000 | Same guidance, introduction (1995): (source wording: "approximately 11,000 listed buildings and structures in the city, and the City Council receives over 1,000 applications annually for consent to alter them") | www.westminster.gov.uk |
| 56 | Westminster City Council, Conservation areas: (source wording: "There are 56 conservation areas in Westminster") | www.westminster.gov.uk |
| six weeks' notice for trees | Westminster City Council, Conservation areas: planning permission is needed to demolish buildings in a conservation area and six weeks' notice is needed before pruning or felling a tree; some areas have Article 4 Directions | www.westminster.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 |
| 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 |
Questions people ask
What scale should listed building consent drawings be in Westminster?
How many conservation areas are there in Westminster?
Is there a fee for listed building consent?
Is the guidance current?
Photographs: John Lord (CC BY-SA 2.0); John Lord (CC BY-SA 2.0); Richard Symonds (CC BY-SA 4.0); Marathon (CC BY-SA 2.0).
