Planning Location Plan & Block Plan London | Fixed Fee

What must a planning location plan show?

A location plan shows the site in its surroundings on an up-to-date map, at a standard scale of typically 1:1250 or 1:2500. The site is edged clearly in red, including any land needed for access, and any other land you own close to or adjoining it is edged in blue. It must show north and enough roads or buildings to pinpoint the site.

That is the national requirement in the government's guidance on making an application. Councils apply it strictly, because the red line defines the land the decision covers.

• Up-to-date mapping at 1:1250 or 1:2500, with the scale identified
• Application site edged in red, including access to the road
• Other land you own or control near the site edged in blue
• A north point
• Enough surrounding roads and buildings to place the site, with at least two named roads where possible

What must a block plan show?

A block plan, which the Planning Portal calls a site plan, shows the proposed development in relation to the site boundaries. The Planning Portal gives the usual scales as 1:200 or 1:500. It shows the existing building, any extension, the position and use of other buildings within the plot, and the position and width of adjacent streets, with a north arrow.

We also dimension the new work to each boundary, because that is how officers judge impact on neighbours. On a London terrace or semi, where a side extension may sit close to the boundary, those distances carry real weight.

What scale and paper size should the plans be?

Use 1:1250 or 1:2500 for the location plan and 1:200 or 1:500 for the block plan, with the scale stated on each sheet. The Planning Portal says the location plan should fit on A4, and government guidance says plans should fit A4 or A3 where possible. A scale bar is not a legal requirement, but the guidance calls it useful for electronic submissions, so we include one.

Plans are uploaded as PDFs. A drawing with no stated scale, or one rescaled by a printer or scanner, is hard to measure on screen, so we supply true-to-scale PDFs and state the sheet size and scale on each.

Why do London councils reject location and block plans?

The usual reasons are a red line that does not reach the public road when access crosses other land, no blue line where you own adjoining land, a missing north point, no stated scale, and out-of-date mapping. Each can stop an application being validated, which delays the start of your decision period.

Local validation lists differ between London boroughs and are updated from time to time, so we check the borough's current list before drawing, including any extra requirement such as a scale bar on block plans.

• Red line drawn around the house only, leaving out the shared drive or path to the road
• Blue line missing where you own the garden behind or the land beside
• No north point, or a scale that is not stated on the sheet
• Mapping that does not show a recent extension to a neighbouring property
• Block plan with no distances to the boundaries

Can I draw my own location plan or buy a map online?

You can prepare your own, and a bought map is a legitimate starting point. The difficulty is the detail. Ordnance Survey mapping is Crown copyright and has to be licensed for this use, so a screenshot from a free map site is not a safe basis for a submission. The red and blue lines must also follow the legal extent of the land, not just the visible fence.

A prepared plan avoids the guesswork: licensed mapping, correct edging, the right scale, and a block plan that matches your proposed drawings. It is a small cost against an application sent back for correction.

What is included in our location and block plans?

We supply licensed Ordnance Survey mapping, so you do not have to arrange a map licence. You get a site location plan with the site edged red, other land edged blue, a north point and a scale bar, plus a block plan showing your proposal against the boundaries with dimensions. Both come as scaled PDFs ready to upload, usually within two working days.

We draw the block plan from your proposed drawings, so the two never disagree, and if the council raises a point on either plan at validation we correct and reissue it.

• Site location plan at 1:1250 or 1:2500, as the site requires
• Block plan at 1:500 or 1:200, with boundary distances
• Licensed Ordnance Survey mapping supplied by us
• Scaled PDFs sized for the Planning Portal
• Included free in every planning and LDC package