Measured Building Survey in Greenwich SE10
Fixed-fee, MCIAT-chartered measured building survey for Greenwich (SE10) homeowners — Royal Borough of Greenwich validation and local constraints handled from the start.
Greenwich (SE10) is among the most heritage-sensitive places to build in London: most of its period housing sits within one of the Royal Borough's conservation areas — West Greenwich, Greenwich Park, East Greenwich or the Ashburnham Triangle — and three of those carry Article 4 directions that pull nearly all external work into the planning system. Side-return and rear extensions on the Victorian and Georgian terraces are the staple, but they are judged carefully on materials, proportion and detail.
SE10 also sits within, or beside, the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site: the inscribed core is the Old Royal Naval College, Queen's House, Royal Observatory and Cutty Sark, with the surrounding streets in the buffer zone. That means townscape and setting weigh heavily on how schemes are assessed. We check exactly which conservation area — and which Article 4 direction — applies to a Greenwich address before advising on a permitted-development or full-application route.
Planning in Greenwich (SE10): what to know before you apply
Most SE10 houses fall inside the West Greenwich, Greenwich Park, East Greenwich or Ashburnham Triangle conservation areas, and the first three carry Article 4 directions removing permitted-development rights for re-roofing, windows, doors and other external changes. The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site and its buffer zone add further townscape scrutiny. We confirm the conservation area and Article 4 status for a specific property before recommending a route and drawing to the Royal Borough's guidance.
Typical Greenwich housing stock
Georgian and early-Victorian terraces around Royal Hill and Crooms Hill, the Victorian terraces of the Ashburnham Triangle, and the streets of West and East Greenwich framing the town centre and Greenwich Park.
Streets we regularly draw for in Greenwich
Royal Hill · Crooms Hill · Ashburnham Grove · Gloucester Circus
What SE10 is actually built of
Measured from 310 classified residential buildings in SE10, not from a description of the area.
Greenwich SE10 housing mix
Residential building form across the SE10 postcode district, from 310 classified buildings.
| Attached on more than one side | 70% |
|---|---|
| Attached on one side | 26% |
| Detached | 4% |
| Median building footprint | 54 m² |
| Addresses per buildingAbove about 2 means flats and maisonettes dominate | 2.79 |
| Buildings classified | 310 |
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 Greenwich (SE10) 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.
| 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 |
Measured Building Survey in Greenwich SE10 — FAQs
How much does a measured building survey cost?+
How long does a measured survey take?+
Is a measured survey the same as a floor plan?+
Do I need a measured survey if I am only doing internal work?+
Can the survey be used for more than one purpose?+
Do I need planning permission for an extension in Greenwich?+
How does the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site affect my project?+
Can I extend a home in Blackheath or Westcombe Park?+
How long does the Royal Borough of Greenwich take to decide?+
How much do planning drawings cost in Greenwich?+
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Tell us your Greenwich (SE10) address and ambition — we'll confirm feasibility, local constraints and a fixed fee within one working day.