Rear extension on an interwar semi in Greenford UB6, planning drawings for Ealing Council approval

Greenford · UB6 · Ealing

Measured Building Survey in Greenford UB6

Fixed-fee, MCIAT-chartered measured building survey for Greenford (UB6) homeowners — London Borough of Ealing validation and local constraints handled from the start.

Greenford (UB6) is classic outer-west-London Metro-land: broad avenues of interwar semis with deep gardens, ideal for rear and wraparound kitchen extensions, loft conversions with rear dormers, and garage-to-room conversions. Most householder projects here fall squarely within permitted development or a straightforward Ealing Council householder application.

The one sensitivity is the Canalside conservation area on the neighbourhood's north-west flank near the Grand Union, where materials and rear massing get closer scrutiny. We prepare drawings that hold the interwar building line and gap-to-boundary rhythm Ealing's officers expect, and flag any canal-edge or former-industrial plot early so ground and drainage issues are designed out.

Proposed floor plan

Greenford UB6

Greenford (UB6) — planning at a glance

Council: London Borough of Ealing
Postcode district: UB6
Planning portal: View the Ealing planning portal
Housing stock: Greenford is dominated by 1920s-30s bay-fronted semis and short terraces laid out along wide suburban avenues, many with generous rear gardens and original hipped roofs. Nearer the Grand Union Canal and the old Rockware/Lyon works, plots give way to former industrial land and later flat-roofed infill.
Article 4: London Borough of Ealing does not publish its Article 4 directions to the national planning register, so permitted development rights in Greenford (UB6) can’t be confirmed from open data alone — we check the direction schedule with the council before recommending a route, as part of the fixed fee. No published householder Article 4 in Greenford; the main control is the canalside conservation area to the north-west and the industrial fringe along the Grand Union
Conservation: Canalside (north-west part)
Sample streets: Oldfield Lane North · The Fairway · Costons Avenue · Rockware Avenue
Local constraints: Canalside conservation-area control on the north-west edge affecting works visible from the Grand Union corridorInterwar semis where side-return and rear extensions must respect the established building line and gaps between pairsIndustrial and former-works land near the canal carrying potential contamination and drainage considerationsMature street trees on avenues such as The Fairway that may be TPO-protected

Planning in Greenford (UB6): what to know before you apply

No published householder Article 4 direction in Greenford, so most extensions and lofts run under permitted development or a standard Ealing householder application. Properties bordering the Canalside conservation area lose some permitted-development rights, and rear/side extension depths are assessed against the neighbouring semis' building line.

Typical Greenford housing stock

Greenford is dominated by 1920s-30s bay-fronted semis and short terraces laid out along wide suburban avenues, many with generous rear gardens and original hipped roofs. Nearer the Grand Union Canal and the old Rockware/Lyon works, plots give way to former industrial land and later flat-roofed infill.

Streets we regularly draw for in Greenford

Oldfield Lane North · The Fairway · Costons Avenue · Rockware Avenue

What UB6 is actually built of

Measured from 299 classified residential buildings in UB6, not from a description of the area.

Greenford UB6 housing mix

Residential building form across the UB6 postcode district, from 299 classified buildings.

Attached on more than one side	44%
Attached on one side	54%
Detached	2%
Median building footprint	62 m²
Addresses per buildingAbove about 2 means flats and maisonettes dominate	1.52
Buildings classified	299

Source: Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (derived statistics). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Extracted 2026-08-17.

Measured Building Survey for Greenford (UB6) homes: the package and the process

A measured survey is the foundation every later drawing is checked against. We record the building as found — floor plans, elevations, sections, levels and, where needed, the position of structure and services — to a stated tolerance, so nothing downstream rests on an assumption about what is there.

The deliverable is chosen for what happens next. A conversion or extension design wants a layered CAD file that a designer can build on; a party wall or dilapidations matter wants dimensioned PDFs that stand on their own as a record. We agree that before the survey, because it changes what we capture.

Survey effort follows the building, not the floor area. A regular detached house measures quickly; a terrace with a rear outrigger, split levels, and a century of alterations takes longer because the survey has to record what was actually built rather than what the plan form implies.

Why does a planning or building regulations application need a measured survey?

A planning or building regulations application needs to show the existing building accurately alongside the proposed changes, so the council or Building Control can judge the impact of the work against what is actually there. Existing plans, elevations and sections drawn from an accurate measured survey give the borough confidence that the proposal has been designed against real dimensions, and give your builder a reliable set of drawings to price and build from — an application based on inaccurate or assumed dimensions risks queries, delays, or a design that does not translate cleanly on site.

What does a measured building survey capture?

The survey records everything needed to produce accurate existing drawings: internal room dimensions and floor-to-ceiling heights on every level, the position, width and height of every door and window, wall thicknesses, staircase dimensions and headroom, roof shape and pitch, chimney breasts and structural features, and the external footprint and boundary relationship of the property. Where relevant to the project, we also record ground levels, existing drainage runs and neighbouring boundary conditions.

This is captured with a laser distance meter rather than a tape measure, which keeps the survey accurate to within a few millimetres across a whole property and removes the cumulative measuring error that can creep into a hand-measured survey of a larger or more complex building.

Can I reuse an old survey or estate agent floor plan instead?

Generally, no — estate agent floor plans are produced for marketing purposes and are not dimensionally accurate enough to design an extension or loft conversion against, and a previous owner's drawings may not reflect alterations made since, or may simply be inaccurate to begin with. A fresh measured survey is a modest cost relative to the overall project and is the single best way to avoid a redesign once a builder is on site and finds the real dimensions differ from the drawings.

What a measured survey feeds into
Output drawing	Relies on the measured survey for
Floor plans	Accurate room dimensions and layout for sale, letting or lease use
Planning drawings	Existing plans, elevations and sections to compare against the proposal
Building regulations drawings	Accurate existing structure to design technical compliance against
Structural calculations	True spans, floor-to-ceiling heights and existing structural elements

Sheet from a measured building survey package drawn for a Greenford property in UB6, showing the existing and proposed arrangement at scale — A sheet from the measured building survey package we submit to London Borough of Ealing for Greenford (UB6) properties.

Also in Greenford UB6

Planning Permission Planning Drawings Architectural Drawings Building Regulations Drawings Loft Conversion Drawings Measured Building Survey across Ealing Measured Building Survey across London

FAQ

Measured Building Survey in Greenford UB6 — FAQs

How much does a measured building survey cost?+

A measured building survey starts from £450, or is included as the first stage of a planning, building regulations or architectural drawing package, depending on the size and complexity of the property.

How long does a measured survey take?+

The site visit itself typically takes a few hours depending on the size of the property, with existing drawings produced from the survey data shortly afterwards as the basis for the next stage of your project.

Is a measured survey the same as a floor plan?+

A measured survey is the site data-capture process; floor plans are one of the outputs drawn from it. The same survey can also produce elevations, sections and the existing-layout base drawing for a planning application.

Do I need a measured survey if I am only doing internal work?+

Usually yes if you are removing or altering walls, since accurate existing dimensions and structural features are needed to design and calculate the changes safely, even where no planning application is required.

Can the survey be used for more than one purpose?+

Yes — a single measured survey typically underpins floor plans, planning drawings, building regulations drawings and structural calculations for the same project, so it only needs to be carried out once.

Do I need planning permission for a rear extension in Ealing?+

Many Ealing semis and terraces keep permitted development rights for a single-storey rear extension, so a full application isn't always needed. But the borough-wide Article 4 direction on HMO conversions, and conservation areas such as Bedford Park and Pitshanger, remove or restrict those rights in places. We check your address against the designations first and, where it qualifies, confirm permitted development with a Lawful Development Certificate.

What extra control applies in Bedford Park?+

Bedford Park is one of West London's most tightly controlled conservation areas, with detailed control over materials, rooflines, windows and front elevations. A standard permitted-development dormer or cladding change usually won't apply; instead we design to the area's Arts-and-Crafts character and prepare a full householder application with the elevations and materials the council expects — the reliable route to approval there.

How long does Ealing Council take to decide a householder application?+

Ealing determines most householder applications within the statutory eight-week period once they are validated. The commonest cause of delay is a validation query over missing or inconsistent drawings, so we prepare Ealing submissions to the council's validation checklist — correctly scaled existing and proposed plans, elevations and a location plan — to avoid that back-and-forth.

Can you help with a loft conversion on a 1930s Ealing semi?+

Yes. Ealing's Metro-land semis in Perivale, Greenford and Northolt suit hip-to-gable and dormer loft conversions, which frequently qualify as permitted development on semi-detached homes within the volume limits. We confirm eligibility against those limits and any Article 4 or conservation constraint, then produce the planning and building-regulations drawings.

How much do planning drawings cost in Ealing?+

We work to a fixed fee agreed before we start, typically around 30% below an architect's charge for the same council-accepted drawings, with free redraws until Ealing grants approval. The exact figure depends on the project — a single-storey rear extension differs from a double-storey or a loft — so we quote once we understand your scheme rather than on an open-ended hourly basis.

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