Catford new build: floor plans and planning
Floor planning for a new build in Catford means scaled plans of each storey, submitted to Lewisham Council, the authority for SE6. DrawingsDirect prepares them within new-build drawings from £1,450. In the latest four quarters the council made 1,256 planning decisions and granted 89% of its householder applications (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics).
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Catford applications go to Lewisham
Catford has no council of its own. Its planning applications are made to Lewisham, so the borough's policies and its validation list apply to a house on your plot. Across the four quarters from 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2 Lewisham made 1,256 planning decisions of every kind (our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2).
Within that total, its householder decisions, which are mostly extensions and alterations, were granted 89% of the time. They tell you how the council behaves on domestic schemes, not what it will do with a new house.
A floor planning checklist for a Catford plot
Start with a measured building survey of the plot and any neighbouring walls, because every later drawing hangs from those dimensions. Next, block out the footprint and the stair, since the stair fixes the room layout more than any other element. Then place bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen and dimension each room, and finish by testing the total area against the space standard.
Only when the plans work do we draw elevations and sections from them. Drawing in that order means a change of room layout late in the process rarely forces a redraw of everything else.
Our analysis of the same MHCLG statistics found 95% of Lewisham's householder decisions, leaving out prior approvals, decided inside that period.
The minimum areas to test first
The national space standard sets minimum floor areas by bedrooms and occupants. For one bedroom and one person the figure is at least 39 m2, or 37 m2 if the home has a shower room in place of a bathroom. Bigger homes carry bigger minimums, listed in the standard itself.
A Catford infill plot that cannot reach the minimum for the layout you want is better discovered on a sketch than in a refusal letter.
Designations to check before you design
The national register carries 30 conservation-area entries for Lewisham (our analysis of the Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset, snapshot of 14 August 2026). A count for the borough cannot say whether your road is inside one, so open Lewisham's own conservation area map and search for your address first.
A designation changes what the council looks for in materials, height and roof form, and it is much easier to design around it than to change a scheme afterwards.
Timing and fees for a Catford application
For an application that is not major development, the council has 8 weeks beginning with the day after it receives the application (article 34 of the 2015 Order). Our analysis of the same MHCLG statistics found 95% of Lewisham's householder decisions, leaving out prior approvals, decided inside that period.
The national planning fee for a full application for fewer than 10 houses is £610 per dwellinghouse, as indexed from 1 April 2026. Our own new-build drawings start from £1,450; the pricing page has the detail. If the whole borough matters to you, the new-build drawings page for Lewisham covers it, and our London new-build drawings service shows the wider offer. The new-build planning permission guide explains the application itself.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 1,256 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 89% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 37 | Technical housing standards, nationally described space standard (DCLG, March 2015), Table 1: a one-bedroom one-person dwelling needs at least 39 m2 gross internal area, or 37 m2 with a shower room instead of a bathroom (source wording: 39 (37)) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| 30 | 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 |
| 8 weeks | DMPO 2015 art 34(2)(b): decision period for an application that is not major development (source wording: "8 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| 95% | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| £610 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed), category 1(3)(a): full application for the erection of fewer than 10 dwellinghouses, per dwellinghouse (source wording: "£610 for each dwellinghouse") | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| £1,450 | DrawingsDirect starting fixed fee for new build house feasibility and planning drawings, from the published price list | drawingsdirect.co.uk |