Measured building survey in Barnsbury, N1
A measured building survey in Barnsbury records your property's real dimensions with a laser and turns them into accurate existing plans, from a fixed fee of £200 with no VAT to add. It is the starting point for any extension, loft or conversion application to Islington, because every proposed drawing is built on top of the existing ones.
Fixed fee from £200 · all prices
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What a measured survey gives you, and what it is not
A measured building survey is a set of existing drawings made from measurements taken on site: floor plans first, then elevations and sections where the project needs them. We take the measurements with a laser, so the drawings reflect the building as it stands rather than as an old plan once showed it.
It is not a valuation, and it is not a homebuyer's report. Searches for a house or flat valuation in Barnsbury lead to a different service, which puts a price on the property. A measured survey puts dimensions on it. If a mortgage lender or buyer asked for a valuation, this is not the document they mean.
The published price for Barnsbury
Our starting fixed fee for a laser-measured building survey with existing plans is £200, with no VAT to add, taken from our published price list. There is no form to fill in before you can see it.
The price is a starting fee, so a larger or more complicated property can sit above it. You will be told the fee for your own property in writing before any work begins, and you can compare it with the published starting figure.
The Planning Inspectorate has decided 180 householder appeals in Islington over recent years, and 25% of them were allowed.
Why the survey comes before the design
Planning guidance says plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and must show the direction of north. A location plan should typically be at a scale of 1:1250. Drawings that do not meet those basics can hold up an application before anyone has looked at the design.
Existing drawings made from measurement also protect the proposal. If the existing floor plan is a few centimetres out, every wall you add or move is drawn from the wrong starting line, and the error shows up later on site or at building control.
Islington's householder decisions, in the council's own figures
Islington council decided 337 householder applications in the latest four quarters of published government data, and 93% of them were granted. Those are the council's figures from the government's planning statistics, not a record of our own work, and they say nothing about whether your particular application will succeed.
In the same data, 97% of householder decisions, excluding prior approvals, were made within eight weeks. For a Barnsbury homeowner that suggests the wait after the council accepts an application is usually short, so most of the time you can control is spent before it, getting the drawings right.
Appeals and designations to check before you draw
The Planning Inspectorate has decided 180 householder appeals in Islington over recent years, and 25% of them were allowed. An appeal is a slow and uncertain route, which is a good reason to make the first application complete and accurate.
Islington has 41 live conservation areas on the government's planning data platform. We do not state here which of them covers your street, because that depends on your address. Check the council's map for your property before you commission drawings, so the survey records what a conservation-area officer will want to see, such as original features and boundary walls.
Surveys that support a lawful development certificate
A survey is also the base for a certificate of lawful development, which confirms that works are lawful without needing planning permission. Islington decided 270 of these certificates over eight quarters of published figures, so the route is in regular use locally.
A certificate application needs accurate existing and proposed drawings that match each other. Starting with a measured survey keeps the two sets consistent.
Measured survey or topographic survey
A topographic survey records ground levels and features outside a building: boundaries, trees, steps and the slope of a garden. A measured building survey records the building itself. Some projects need both, for example a rear extension on a sloping Barnsbury garden.
The fixed fee above is for the laser-measured building survey with existing plans. If you also need levels, say so when you enquire, and we will tell you in writing what is and is not included before you commit.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| £200 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for a laser-measured building survey with existing plans, with no VAT to add, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.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 |
| 1:1250 | Planning practice guidance, Making an application, paragraph 024: a location plan should typically be at a scale of 1:1250 or 1:2500 (source wording: "The scale should typically be 1:1250 or 1:2500") | www.gov.uk |
| 337 | 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 |
| 97% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 180 | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 25% | Our analysis of Planning Inspectorate Casework Database (released 1 Oct 2026 (Casework Database 2609)) | www.gov.uk |
| 41 | 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 |