London postcode districts and what they mean for your drawings
A London district postal code is the first half of a postcode, such as SW7 or E17. It shows roughly where a home sits, but a council, not the postcode, decides a planning application. DrawingsDirect, MCIAT chartered architectural technologists, draws for London and Essex homes whichever district they are in.
Prefer to talk it through?
What a district postal code tells you, and what it does not
The district is the letters and numbers before the space: SE15, NW3, W4. Royal Mail sets it to route post, not to mark a planning boundary, so one district can run across two boroughs and one borough contains many districts.
That matters the moment you plan building work, because the rules, fees and conservation areas that apply to you come from the council your house is in. Enter your postcode on GOV.UK's find your local council tool to see which one that is. Our areas page is the place to start if you prefer to browse by neighbourhood.
North, south, east and west: how the letters group London
The letters name the compass point from the old central post office: E and EC for the east and the City, N and NW for the north, SE and SW for the south side of the river, W and WC for the west and the middle. People searching for south London postcodes are usually looking at SE and SW.
Each district now keeps one area page at most, and most old district pages redirect here. South Kensington, SW7 is one that stays; for the rest, use the council page for your borough from our planning permission service.
Our analysis of MHCLG table PS1 (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) shows London councils determined 3,452 larger home extension prior approvals, granted and refused together, over the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2.
How many householder applications London councils decide
Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS2 (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) counts 23,967 householder decisions, including prior approvals, across the 33 London councils over the four quarters from 2025 Q3 to 2026 Q2.
Of the householder decisions that are not prior approvals, 93% were made within 8 weeks, from the same analysis. These are London-wide totals, so a single borough can sit well above or below them. How the process runs is set out on our planning drawings page.
Conservation areas across the 33 councils
Our analysis of the MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area dataset (bulk snapshot retrieved 19 Oct 2026) finds 1,154 conservation-area entries on the national register across the 33 London councils.
A designation changes what you can build without an application and how an application is judged, and it follows the street, not the postcode. Check your council's own conservation area map, then read our guide to extension rules in London conservation areas.
Extensions and conversions that skip a full application
Our analysis of MHCLG table PS1 (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) shows London councils determined 3,452 larger home extension prior approvals, granted and refused together, over the eight quarters from 2024 Q3 to 2026 Q2. Our guide to prior approval for larger home extensions explains that route.
The same table records 24,335 certificates of lawful development decided across the 33 councils over those eight quarters. If you want written confirmation that work is permitted development, see our lawful development certificate drawings service.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 23,967 | 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 |
| 1,154 | Our analysis of MHCLG Planning Data Platform conservation-area and article-4-direction datasets (bulk snapshot retrieved 19 Oct 2026) | www.planning.data.gov.uk |
| 3,452 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
| 24,335 | Our analysis of MHCLG planning application statistics, table PS1 (district open data table) (released 24 Sep 2026, quarters to 2026 Q2) | www.gov.uk |
Questions people ask
What is a London district postal code?
Which postcodes count as south London?
Is there a list of all London postcodes with a page for each?
Do you draw plans in every London postcode?
Photographs: Tim Green from Bradford (CC BY 2.0).
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