Measured Building Survey Havering | RM1, RM2

What does a Havering survey have to get right?

Boundaries and levels, because Havering decides so quickly there is little time to correct a drawing: 97.9% of householder decisions inside eight weeks, only 0.6% beyond thirteen. The borough issued 1,637 lawful development certificates, each decided on measured fact alone.

Measure	Havering	London
Decided inside eight weeks	97.9%	—
Decided beyond thirteen weeks	0.6%	—
Lawful development certificates issued	1,637	—
Householder approval rate	81.8%	83.0%
Certificate application fee	£274	statutory, England 2026
Measured survey, floor plans from	£245	our fixed fee

Sources: decision figures from MHCLG District Planning Application Statistics (PS1 and PS2), twelve quarters to March 2026; fee from the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended, 2026 rate; the survey fee is our own published fixed fee. Retrieved 1 September 2026. Havering also agreed an extension of time on 41.9% of applications, so the fast headline conceals a substantial minority of negotiated timetables.

What is a measured building survey package in Havering?

Measured building survey in Havering, a borough of 1930s semi-detached dominates Hornchurch and Upminster; post-war in Harold Hill and Romford; Victorian in older Romford centre, are the full measured-survey-to-submission drawing set London Borough of Havering needs in order to determine an application: existing and proposed plans, elevations and sections at 1:100 and 1:50, a location and site plan, and the supporting statements the case officer asks for.

Planning authority: London Borough of Havering
Postcode districts: RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM7…
Article 4: No borough-wide Article 4 direction on householder permitted development
Typical housing stock: 1930s semi-detached dominates Hornchurch and Upminster; post-war in Harold Hill and Romford; Victorian in older Romford centre
Conservation areas: 15 in Havering
Timeline: 5 working days

Prepared and reviewed by the architectural technologist team at Architectural Drawings London — CIAT Affiliate, professional indemnity insured.Last reviewed 2026-08-03.

What's included

Fully end-to-end in Havering.

On-site laser survey

An architectural technologist does the visit, carrying a Leica Disto and, where the geometry earns it, a BLK360 scanner. A standard Havering two or three bed terrace is measured within 90 minutes; an Upminster detached house with outbuildings and a long boundary takes most of a morning.

Existing floor plans

Drawings are produced in AutoCAD or Revit, at 1:50 for the dwelling and 1:100 for wider site sheets, to a 3mm tolerance. Rooms, openings, fittings, drainage runs and service positions are annotated throughout — the inter-war semis that make up so much of this borough seldom match whatever the original builder drew, so everything is measured rather than inferred.

Elevations & sections

Four elevations plus at least one section, every time. Havering officers set existing against proposed elevations directly, a party wall award needs the flank wall drawn properly, and no engineer will size a beam from a floor plan alone.

3D point-cloud scan

The scanner returns a point cloud of the whole building, which earns its keep on older Romford stock, on any listed building, and on anything with a curved bay or a roof that has moved. Pre-1900 housing is genuinely scarce out here — the VOA counted it at 1.7% of Havering's 108,670 dwellings on 31 March 2025 — and what survives is rarely square.

Drawing formats

You are sent DWG, RVT, PDF and IFC. Between them that covers the drawing office, the structural engineer sizing your steelwork and the builder pricing the job, so no wall has to be drawn a second time.

Survey accuracy statement

Every job ends with an accuracy statement in writing: 3mm from one measured point to the next, 5mm absolute over the survey. It is the evidence a case officer, an insurer, or a party wall surveyor acting on your flank wall needs before signing anything that rests on our dimensions.

Where in Havering does a measured building survey actually get determined?

Each postcode district in Havering, what it was mostly built from, and who signs off a survey produced for it. The fee column carries statutory England application charges for 2026, levied for determining an application rather than for any drawing work.

Postcode	Area	Dominant stock	What it means for a measured building survey
RM3	Harold Hill	Post-war estate	RM3 lies entirely within the borough boundary, so a Harold Hill survey is validated by Havering Council with no question of which authority applies.
RM4	Havering-atte-Bower	Inter-war semis through Hornchurch and Upminster, post-war housing in Harold Hill and outer Romford, Victorian terraces near the old town centre. On the VOA stock count for 31 March 2025, 31.9% of the borough's 108,670 homes were built between 1930 and 1939, with another 28.0% put up from 1945 to 1964.	RM4 reaches well beyond Havering-atte-Bower into Epping Forest and Brentwood. That makes no difference to the survey itself — measuring a building involves no council at all — but it decides which authority sees the drawings afterwards.
RM5	Collier Row	1930s semi-detached	Collier Row sits wholly inside RM5 and wholly inside Havering, so every application from an RM5 address is determined by the same council.
RM7	Romford / Rush Green	Victorian terraces, 1930s semi-detached, post-war flats	There is no consent to obtain. A survey produces existing plans and sections, and the only judge of it is whoever draws from them. In Romford and Rush Green the RM7 semis usually still have their original back projection, which is small, awkwardly roofed, and worth the extra time.
RM11	Hornchurch / Emerson Park	1930s semi-detached	RM11 covers Hornchurch / Emerson Park only; Havering Council handles the measured building survey.
RM12	Hornchurch / Elm Park	1930s semi-detached	RM12 covers Hornchurch / Elm Park only; Havering Council handles the measured building survey.
RM13	Rainham / Wennington	1930s semi-detached	RM13 covers Rainham / Wennington only; Havering Council handles the measured building survey.
RM14	Upminster / Cranham	1930s semi-detached, Edwardian villas	No one determines the work; it is measurement, ordered by the owner. RM14 in Upminster and Cranham holds some of the deepest plots in the borough, and a detached house set well back from the road needs external stations along both flanks before its elevations can be drawn.

What changes about a measured building survey in each part of Havering?

Pitch, wall construction and plot depth differ across a few hundred yards of this borough, and all three govern what a survey can record and what a scheme can achieve at that particular address.

Romford (RM1, RM2, RM7) — measured building survey work in Romford means victorian terraces, 1930s semi-detached, post-war flats. Romford is Victorian and post-war centre. Victorian terraces here have settled and bowed throughout RM1. Havering Council decides the Romford application, and Romford Market anchors the Romford location plan.
Hornchurch (RM11, RM12) — 1930s semi-detached defines Hornchurch, where 1930s semi-detached set what a measured building survey can do. 1930s semis here are dimensionally consistent across RM11. Any Hornchurch measured building survey is validated by Havering Council, with Hornchurch Tube the usual Hornchurch reference point on the site plan.
Upminster (RM14) — a measured building survey in Upminster starts from 1930s semi-detached, edwardian villas, and Upminster reads as 1930s semi-detached, Edwardian villas. Edwardian back additions here are often out of plumb in RM14. Havering Council assesses Upminster measured building surveys against its own Upminster character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Upminster references Upminster station.
Rainham (RM13) — 1930s semi-detached, village fragments defines Rainham, where 1930s semi-detached set what a measured building survey can do. 1930s semis here are dimensionally consistent across RM13. Any Rainham measured building survey is validated by Havering Council, with Rainham Village the usual Rainham reference point on the site plan.
Harold Hill (RM3) — a measured building survey in Harold Hill starts from post-war estate, and Harold Hill reads as post-war estate. Post-war stock here can carry asbestos and non-standard construction in RM3. Havering Council assesses Harold Hill measured building surveys against its own Harold Hill character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Harold Hill references Harold Hill.
Collier Row (RM5) — measured building survey work in Collier Row means 1930s semi-detached. Collier Row is 1930s semi-detached, post-war. 1930s semis here are dimensionally consistent throughout RM5. Havering Council decides the Collier Row application, and Collier Row Road anchors the Collier Row location plan.
Elm Park (RM12) — 1930s semi-detached defines Elm Park, where 1930s semi-detached set what a measured building survey can do. 1930s semis here are dimensionally consistent across RM12. Any Elm Park measured building survey is validated by Havering Council, with Elm Park Tube the usual Elm Park reference point on the site plan.

Does Havering planning policy restrict a measured building survey?

Conservation areas covering Havering: Havering Council runs 15, and Romford Market, Upminster, Hornchurch are the ones Havering owners meet most. A measured building survey inside a Havering conservation area loses permitted development, so the Havering submission is a householder application at £548 decided in 8 weeks — not a £249 prior approval decided in 6 weeks. In Rainham Village a measured building survey is judged on the street elevation first.

No blanket Article 4 over Havering: Havering Council has not withdrawn permitted development across Havering, so a measured building survey outside a Havering conservation area usually keeps it. The £274 Lawful Development Certificate is still the document a RM1 owner wants on file.

The building fabric around Havering: 1930s semi-detached dominates Hornchurch and Upminster; post-war in Harold Hill and Romford; Victorian in older Romford centre. Outer east London; Metropolitan Green Belt covers north of the borough; permissive residential planning; strong PD use. A measured building survey in Havering is scoped against that stock first, because it decides whether the scheme runs as permitted development, a £274 Lawful Development Certificate, or a full £548 application to Havering Council.

What happens if a Havering property sits on a boundary?

Barking and Dagenham — adjoining Havering, with 9 conservation areas centred on IG11.
Redbridge — the Redbridge boundary runs against Havering, so a measured building survey a street from Havering is decided by Redbridge Council instead. Redbridge runs 14 conservation areas across E11 and its neighbours, which is why measured building surveys priced for Havering are re-checked against Redbridge policy whenever the Havering address sits on that edge.

Sources for this Havering measured building survey page: borough policies maps and conservation-area registers (2025–26), Royal Mail postcode district boundaries, the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (England) Regulations, the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 as amended, and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.

Havering FAQs

Measured Building Surveys in Havering — your questions answered.

Straight answers to what Havering homeowners ask before booking: whether the survey is really needed, how accurate it is, and what actually lands in the inbox afterwards.

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How much does a measured building survey cost in Havering?

It helps to set the fee against what the building is worth. HM Land Registry's price paid returns put the 2025 median sale in this borough at £452,000 over 3,206 transactions, with semi-detached homes at £515,000 and terraces at £436,000, so a survey opening at £245 for a two-bedroom terrace is roughly 0.05% of the asset it describes. Size and complexity move it from there: a three-bed semi costs more, a four-bed detached more again, and flat conversions are quoted per unit drawn. Listed or unusually large Havering properties are quoted after a look at the building, and nothing is billed by the hour. Contains HM Land Registry data (c) Crown copyright and database right 2026

How long does a measured survey take in Havering?

Reckon on 60 to 120 minutes at the property for most Havering houses, with drawings back inside 5 working days, or 48 hours at a premium where a date is already fixed. Bigger plots around Emerson Park and Upminster, where outbuildings and boundaries all have to be picked up, usually need a second visit rather than extra drawing time.

What accuracy do you achieve on measured surveys in Havering?

Three millimetres point to point, five millimetres absolute. The instrument is a Leica Disto X3, backed by a BLK360 scanner on anything awkward. The output is RICS-compliant and is worked from by Havering Council planning and Building Control, by engineers sizing steelwork, and by party wall surveyors preparing awards across Romford, Hornchurch and Upminster.

Do you survey period properties and listed buildings in Havering?

Yes — Havering's 1930s semi-detached dominates Hornchurch and Upminster period stock is our core work. We survey listed buildings, conservation area properties and complex geometries using BLK360 point-cloud scanning. The 3D scan captures every architectural detail for heritage statements and planning applications.

What deliverables do I get from a Havering measured survey?

You receive .dwg for AutoCAD, .rvt for Revit, a flat PDF set and an IFC, plus the point cloud file where we scanned. Plans, elevations, sections and levels are annotated and go straight to your architect, your engineer or a Havering Council portal upload without further work.

Can you survey a flat or HMO in Havering?

Yes — flats, maisonettes, HMOs and conversions across all Havering postcodes (RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM7, RM11, RM12, RM13, RM14). We handle communal areas, staircases and party walls between dwellings — essential for flat conversion planning applications or lease drawings.

Do I need a measured survey for planning permission in Havering?

Yes. Havering Council decided 3,218 householder applications across MHCLG's quarterly returns from April 2023 onwards and granted 2,633 of them. That works out at 81.8%, where the 33 boroughs pooled sit at 83.0%. Validation is the earlier hurdle and much the cheaper one to clear: existing plans that disagree with the proposed drawings are returned before a case officer reads the scheme at all. The same measured base then becomes the building regulations set. Source: MHCLG live planning statistics

What postcodes do you cover for measured surveys in Havering?

We cover all Havering postcodes — RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM7, RM11, RM12, RM13, RM14 — and adjacent boroughs. Survey appointments within 3 working days, no travel charges within Greater London.

Measured Building Surveys in Havering

What does a Havering survey have to get right?

What is a measured building survey package in Havering?

Quick facts · Measured Building Surveys in Havering

How does planning policy in Havering affect your measured building survey?