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RBKC Planning

Architectural technology in Kensington and Chelsea

Planning drawings, building regulations, loft conversions, house extensions and mansards — delivered across Kensington and Chelsea by MCIAT chartered technologists with deep knowledge of RBKC Planning's policies.

Kensington and Chelsea at a glance

Planning authority
RBKC Planning
Population
143,000
Conservation areas
38
Article 4 Direction
Yes — HMO and more
Postcodes
SW1, SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10, W8, W10, W11, W14
Typical housing
Grand white stucco Regency and Victorian terraces

Architectural planning drawings for a London project — architectural drawings in Kensington & Chelsea

What makes Kensington and Chelsea different?

Designation and withdrawal. 41 conservation areas cover 919 hectares, the council issued only 118 lawful development certificates in three years, and 20.3% of applications were withdrawn before decision — the highest rate in London. Basements dominate: 1,027 applications at 96% approved.

MeasureKensington and ChelseaLondon
Conservation areas41 covering 919 ha1,141 across London
Applications withdrawn before decision20.3%7.4%
Lawful development certificates issued118
Householder approval rate90.2%83.0%
Basement applications in the Datahub1,02796% approved
Mansard applications in the Datahub22997% approved
Householder appeals allowed after refusal42.3% of 23440.8% of 13,067

Sources: conservation areas from planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved 1 September 2026; decision figures from MHCLG PS1 and PS2, twelve quarters to March 2026; Datahub rows from the Planning London Datahub, retrieved 15 August 2026, phrase-matched and comparable within this borough only; appeals from Planning Inspectorate casework decided 2016–2026. The council recorded no larger-extension prior approvals at all in the window, which is what near-total conservation-area coverage looks like in the statistics.

Services available in Kensington and Chelsea

Every architectural service in Kensington and Chelsea — one chartered team.

Planning Drawings in Kensington and Chelsea

Building Regulations Drawings in Kensington and Chelsea

A construction-ready drawing package compliant with every Approved Document — Part A structure, Part B fire, Part L thermal, Part M accessib...

Loft Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Every loft type across every Kensington and Chelsea roof line — dormer, mansard, hip-to-gable, L-shape, Velux. LDC or full planning route, building regu...

House Extensions in Kensington and Chelsea

The whole spectrum — rear extensions, side returns, wraparounds, double-storey, basement digs. Planning-led design with detailed technical p...

Mansard Roof Extensions in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea's most space-efficient loft solution when PD-route dormers are blocked. Our chartered team designs mansards that get approved in ...

Garage Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Turn your unused Kensington and Chelsea garage into a bedroom, home office or open-plan kitchen-diner. Planning route assessment, full building regulati...

Basement Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Full architectural technology service for basement digs and cellar conversions in Kensington and Chelsea — structural underpinning design, waterproofing...

Structural Calculations in Kensington and Chelsea

Chartered structural engineer calculations for every residential intervention in Kensington and Chelsea — steel beams, lintels, pad foundations, wall re...

Measured Building Surveys in Kensington and Chelsea

Measured surveys across Kensington and Chelsea — floor plans, elevations and sections to ±3mm accuracy. Leica Disto laser + BLK360 point-cloud scanning,...

Party Wall Services in Kensington and Chelsea

End-to-end Party Wall Act 1996 service for Kensington and Chelsea — Section 1, 3 and 6 notices, schedule of condition surveys, party wall award coordina...

Rear Dormer Loft Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

London's most popular loft type — the full-width rear dormer. Planning or Permitted Development route assessed for your Kensington and Chelsea property,...

Kensington and Chelsea planning context

Planning in Kensington and Chelsea

Housing stock: Grand white stucco Regency and Victorian terraces; red-brick Queen Anne mansions in Kensington; Edwardian mansion blocks; almost no post-war housing stock.

Character: Internationally wealthy residents; extensive listed building coverage; heritage and streetscape prioritised in every decision.

Notable conservation areas: Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Holland Park, Earls Court

Article 4 Direction: Article 4 Directions covering HMOs, office-to-residential, and basement developments — RBKC has some of the strictest basement policies in London.

Basement policy: RBKC's basement policy (post-2015) limits to single-storey under 50% of garden area; double-storey basements effectively prohibited in residential streets.

Areas within Kensington and Chelsea

Drawings across Kensington and Chelsea by area

An architectural technologist checking a printed set of house drawings, marking a proposed elevation in red — architectural technology in Kensington and Chelsea
Every set is checked line by line against the validation checklist before it leaves the office.
Nearby boroughs

Boroughs adjacent to Kensington and Chelsea

Stucco Georgian townhouses in Kensington W8
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All services in Kensington and Chelsea

What we do in Kensington and Chelsea

Planning Drawings in Kensington and Chelsea

Building Regulations Drawings in Kensington and Chelsea

A construction-ready drawing package compliant with every Approved Document — Part A structure, Part B fire, Part L thermal, Part M accessib...

Loft Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Every loft type across every Kensington and Chelsea roof line — dormer, mansard, hip-to-gable, L-shape, Velux. LDC or full planning route, building regu...

House Extensions in Kensington and Chelsea

The whole spectrum — rear extensions, side returns, wraparounds, double-storey, basement digs. Planning-led design with detailed technical p...

Mansard Roof Extensions in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea's most space-efficient loft solution when PD-route dormers are blocked. Our chartered team designs mansards that get approved in ...

Garage Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Turn your unused Kensington and Chelsea garage into a bedroom, home office or open-plan kitchen-diner. Planning route assessment, full building regulati...

Basement Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

Full architectural technology service for basement digs and cellar conversions in Kensington and Chelsea — structural underpinning design, waterproofing...

Structural Calculations in Kensington and Chelsea

Chartered structural engineer calculations for every residential intervention in Kensington and Chelsea — steel beams, lintels, pad foundations, wall re...

Measured Building Surveys in Kensington and Chelsea

Measured surveys across Kensington and Chelsea — floor plans, elevations and sections to ±3mm accuracy. Leica Disto laser + BLK360 point-cloud scanning,...

Party Wall Services in Kensington and Chelsea

End-to-end Party Wall Act 1996 service for Kensington and Chelsea — Section 1, 3 and 6 notices, schedule of condition surveys, party wall award coordina...

Rear Dormer Loft Conversions in Kensington and Chelsea

London's most popular loft type — the full-width rear dormer. Planning or Permitted Development route assessed for your Kensington and Chelsea property,...

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Architectural technology in Kensington and Chelsea — a London terraced street of the type we survey
A london terraced street of the type we survey — architectural technology in Kensington and Chelsea.

Which Kensington and Chelsea postcodes does this drawing package service cover?

Every Kensington and Chelsea postcode district we draw in, the stock that dominates it and the authority that validates a drawing package there. Kensington and Chelsea fees below are the statutory England rates for 2026, not drawing package estimates.

PostcodeAreaDominant stockWhat it means for a drawing package
W10North Kensington / Ladbroke GroveVictorian terraces, post-war estatesA drawing package at an W10 address in North Kensington / Ladbroke Grove is determined by RBKC Planning under its own Local Plan policies for North Kensington / Ladbroke Grove.
W11Notting Hill / Holland ParkVictorian stucco terracesW11 covers Notting Hill / Holland Park only; RBKC Planning handles the drawing package, and Notting Hill / Holland Park case officers apply the W11 conservation-area map.
SW1XKnightsbridge / BelgraviaRegency stucco terraces, listed buildingsKnightsbridge / Belgravia is split at SW1X. Either Westminster City Council or RBKC Planning can determine a drawing package here, so the SW1X address is checked against both policies maps first.
W14West Kensington / Barons CourtVictorian and Edwardian villasWest Kensington / Barons Court is split at W14. Either Hammersmith & Fulham Council or RBKC Planning can determine a drawing package here, so the W14 address is checked against both policies maps first.
SW3Chelsea / BromptonGeorgian and Victorian terraces, listed buildingsSW3 covers Chelsea / Brompton only; RBKC Planning handles the drawing package, and Chelsea / Brompton case officers apply the SW3 conservation-area map.
SW5Earl's CourtStucco terraces, Edwardian mansion blocksEarl's Court sits wholly inside SW5, so RBKC Planning validates every drawing package submitted from an SW5 address.
SW7South Kensington / KnightsbridgeStucco terraces, mansion blocks, listed buildingsSouth Kensington / Knightsbridge is split at SW7. Either RBKC Planning or Westminster City Council can determine a drawing package here, so the SW7 address is checked against both policies maps first.
SW10West Brompton / World's EndGeorgian and Victorian terraces, listed buildingsA drawing package in West Brompton / World's End may land with RBKC Planning or Hammersmith & Fulham Council — SW10 crosses the boundary, and the SW10 policies map decides it street by street.

What changes about a drawing package in each part of Kensington and Chelsea?

Roof pitch, wall build-up and plot depth change every few Kensington and Chelsea streets, and each one changes what a drawing package can achieve at that address.

How do conservation areas and Article 4 affect a drawing package in Kensington and Chelsea?

Conservation areas covering Kensington and Chelsea: RBKC Planning runs 38, and Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill are the ones Kensington and Chelsea owners meet most. A drawing package inside a Kensington and Chelsea conservation area loses permitted development, so the Kensington and Chelsea submission is a householder application at £548 decided in 8 weeks — not a £249 prior approval decided in 6 weeks. In Earls Court a drawing package is judged on the street elevation first.

What Article 4 removes near Kensington and Chelsea: Article 4 Directions covering HMOs, office-to-residential, and basement developments — RBKC has some of the strictest basement policies in London. Before pricing a drawing package we check whether the SW3 address is inside the mapped area, because RBKC Planning draws the Kensington and Chelsea boundary street by street rather than across the whole of Kensington and Chelsea.

Kensington and Chelsea below-ground policy: RBKC's basement policy (post-2015) limits to single-storey under 50% of garden area; double-storey basements effectively prohibited in residential streets. Any drawing package in Kensington and Chelsea that goes below existing foundations triggers two months notice under section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, and RBKC Planning will want the SW3 ground and groundwater position set out.

The building fabric around Kensington and Chelsea: Grand white stucco Regency and Victorian terraces; red-brick Queen Anne mansions in Kensington; Edwardian mansion blocks; almost no post-war housing stock. Internationally wealthy residents; extensive listed building coverage; heritage and streetscape prioritised in every decision. A drawing package in Kensington and Chelsea 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 RBKC Planning.

Which neighbouring authorities border Kensington and Chelsea?

Sources for this Kensington and Chelsea drawing package 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.

What are the chances of approval in Kensington and Chelsea?

Over the 12 quarters from 2023 Q2 to 2026 Q1, Kensington and Chelsea decided 2,072 householder planning applications and approved 90.2% of them — 7.2 percentage points above the London average of 83%. That places Kensington and Chelsea 6th of 32 London boroughs on householder approval rate. These are decisions the council reported to MHCLG, not our own sample.

90.2%of householder applications approved
1,868approved in Kensington and Chelsea
204refused over the same period
97.2%decided within 8 weeks
Kensington and Chelsea planning decisions, 2023 Q2 to 2026 Q1
MeasureKensington and ChelseaContext
Householder applications decided2,07277,680 across London
Householder approval rate90.2%83% London average
Decided within 8 weeks97.2%6th fastest of 32 boroughs
Took longer than 13 weeks1.9%the applications that overran the statutory target
Minor dwellings approval rate91.5%new-build and conversion schemes under 10 units
All application types90.6%across 6,796 decisions
Certificates of lawfulness issued118confirmations that work was permitted development

Speed matters as much as the odds. Kensington and Chelsea decided 97.2% of householder applications inside the eight-week statutory period and let 1.9% run past thirteen weeks. A drawing package that is complete and correctly described at validation is the part of that timeline you control; the rest belongs to the council's caseload.

Source: MHCLG District Planning Application Statistics (PS1 and PS2), 2023 Q2 to 2026 Q1, published quarterly by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Counts are decisions made in the window, not applications submitted. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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Neighbourhoods we cover in Kensington and Chelsea

9 Kensington and Chelsea neighbourhoods

We've delivered architectural drawings across every part of Kensington and Chelsea. Each neighbourhood has its own conservation context and dominant housing stock — click through for area-specific guidance.

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