Planning and building regulation drawings in Whitechapel (E1)

If you own a whole house in one of those pockets, the usual jobs are familiar: a rear extension, a loft conversion or a split into flats. The difficulty is that the pockets are the very parts the council has protected. Ford Square and Sidney Square, the London Hospital area and Myrdle Street are all conservation areas, and a further Article 4 direction known as Whitechapel 2 takes away permitted development rights across the land it covers. Work that would be routine elsewhere therefore needs a full application here, and the drawings have to show how a new roof or rear wing sits against the old brickwork next door.

Flat owners face a different set of questions. Flats and estate homes do not have the householder permitted development rights that houses have, so even a modest external change such as a new window opening usually starts with planning and, in most cases, the freeholder's written consent as well. We help leaseholders and small landlords sort out which of those routes applies before any money goes on design.

Planning in Whitechapel: what to know before you apply

Tower Hamlets protects the surviving historic pockets of Whitechapel through its three conservation areas, and the Whitechapel 2 direction removes permitted development rights on the land it covers. Where either applies, expect to make an application, with drawings that show the existing and proposed elevations clearly against the houses next door. If a building is listed, listed building consent is needed for internal changes that affect its character as well as external ones. The borough has separate controls on turning homes into shared houses in parts of its area, so a change of use is judged apart from a normal extension. We check which designations touch your address before we start drawing, so the submission answers the questions the case officer will raise.

Applications are decided by London Borough of Tower Hamlets — its planning pages.