Alternatives — pricing, credentials, and scope compared against London architectural alternatives.
How the chartered architectural technologist route compares with an architect, a permitted-development consultant and a design-and-build contractor.
Two professional routes exist for householder work in England, and the difference between them is scope rather than seniority. An ARB-registered architect is educated through Parts 1, 2 and 3 with design synthesis at the centre. A chartered architectural technologist holds the CIAT chartered grade and is assessed on technical resolution — survey accuracy, regulatory compliance and the evidenced planning case. Neither route holds a reserved activity, because English planning law does not create one.
For a householder extension, loft or mansard in London there are four common routes: an ARB-registered architect, a chartered architectural technologist, a permitted-development consultant, or a design-and-build contractor carrying the design. All four can lawfully produce and submit the application — English planning law reserves the activity to nobody. They differ in scope, in cost and in who ends up owning the documents.
The statutory framework does not move. A householder planning application costs £258 and is determined in eight weeks. A lawful development certificate is £129. The larger home extension prior approval route is £120, with a 21-day neighbour consultation and a six-week determination. A full application for a new dwellinghouse is £578. A Full Plans building regulations submission is determined in five weeks. Party wall notices run one month under section 2 and two months under section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
Those figures are the same whoever prepares the application, which is why the comparison that matters is scope and fee, not statutory route.
Appoint an architect where the value is in the design concept or you want full contract administration. Use a chartered technologist where the value is in technical accuracy and a well-argued planning case — which is most householder work, at around 30% less. Buy a lawful development certificate rather than a consultant's opinion, because £129 buys a binding determination and an opinion buys none. Keep the drawings independent of the contractor so that tenders can be compared and the permission stays yours.
How alternatives plays out in Ealing: London Borough of Ealing (Ealing Council) maintains 30 conservation areas, the Ealing Broadway Conservation Area and the Pitshanger Conservation Area among them, and an Article 4 direction is in force there, so permitted development cannot be assumed. Anyone dealing with alternatives at a Ealing address is therefore working to a £258 householder application decided in 8 weeks, or a £120 prior approval over 6 weeks where alternatives still qualifies. Our Ealing drawings are fixed at £840 for Essentials and £1,750 for Complete — about 30% below typical London architect rates — and the instruments behind alternatives are the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the GPDO 2015 and the Building Regulations 2010.
| Householder application | £258, decided in 8 weeks |
|---|---|
| Lawful development certificate | £129 |
| Prior approval | £120, 6 weeks |
| Full application, new dwellinghouse | £578 |
| Our fixed fees | £840 Essentials to £1,950 basement |
| Coverage | All 33 London boroughs |
For householder work, the chartered technologist route, at around 30% below typical London architect rates for the same statutory outputs. The statutory fees themselves — £258, £129, £120 — are fixed by regulation and identical whoever applies.
Approval turns on whether the scheme complies with the local plan and whether the application is valid and well evidenced. Our first-time approval rate on householder applications is 98%, which reflects scoping the planning route correctly before designing rather than any advantage of title.
Yes, provided you hold the drawings. That is the practical argument for keeping the design independent of the contractor: the permission is granted to you as applicant and the package can be re-tendered without redrawing anything.
MCIAT chartered drawings for planning, building regs, lofts and extensions — fixed fees 30% below typical London architects. Tell us what you need and we’ll reply the same working day.
