North London is the half of the capital where Article 4 directions bite hardest. Camden, Islington and Haringey have all withdrawn permitted development rights across substantial areas, so the first question on any North London project is which route it takes, not what it looks like.
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.
Six boroughs make up North London for planning purposes, and they behave very differently from one another. Barnet and Enfield are large, suburban and dominated by interwar semi-detached stock with wide permitted development scope. Camden and Islington are dense, heavily designated, and among the most restrictive planning authorities in England. Haringey and Harrow sit between the two.
An Article 4 direction withdraws a permitted development right in a defined area, so work that would be automatic elsewhere needs a full planning application at £258 instead of a £129 certificate. North London carries more of these directions than any other part of the capital, and their boundaries are frequently drawn street by street — sometimes one side of a road only.
Camden operates directions covering roof alterations and changes to front elevations across large parts of the borough, alongside more than forty conservation areas. Islington is similarly designated, with the Georgian and early Victorian terraces around Barnsbury, Canonbury and Clerkenwell under tight control on anything visible from the street. Haringey has directions aimed at the Edwardian terraces of Harringay and Crouch End, and Hackney and Waltham Forest apply similar controls immediately to the east.
Barnet and Enfield are the counterweight. Both are dominated by 1920s and 1930s semi-detached housing outside designated areas, where a rear dormer within the 50 cubic metre allowance and a 3 metre rear extension remain genuinely permitted development. That is why an identical brief produces a certificate in Enfield and a full application with a heritage statement in Camden.
| Package | Fixed fee | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials — measured survey, existing and proposed plans | £840 | 14–20 working days |
| Loft conversion package — survey, plans, sections, elevations | £1,225 | 14–20 working days |
| Mansard / roof rebuild package | £1,575 | 18–24 working days |
| Complete — planning plus building regulations drawings | £1,750 | 20–28 working days |
Statutory application fees are set nationally, so they are identical in every North London borough. What differs is validation practice and workload — the busiest boroughs take longer to register an application, and the eight-week clock does not start until they do.
| Application type | Statutory fee | Determination |
|---|---|---|
| Householder application (extension, loft, dormer) | £258 | 8 weeks |
| Full application — new dwellinghouse | £578 | 8 weeks |
| Lawful Development Certificate (proposed) | £129 | 8 weeks |
| Listed building consent | No fee | 8 weeks |
| Prior approval — larger rear extension | £120 | 6 weeks |
We submit through the Planning Portal in your name, respond to every case-officer query and issue amended drawings as needed through to the decision notice, at no additional charge.
For planning purposes we treat Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Islington and Harrow as North London. Each is a separate local planning authority with its own Local Plan, validation list and Article 4 directions, so the route your project takes depends on the borough and often on the individual street.
In Barnet, Enfield and much of Harrow, usually yes — a rear dormer within 40 cubic metres on a terrace or 50 on a semi. In Camden, Islington and designated parts of Haringey, Article 4 directions and conservation-area status frequently remove the right, converting it into a full £258 application.
The borough publishes its directions and conservation-area boundaries on its own planning maps, and the boundary is often one side of a road. We check the designation for your specific address before quoting, because getting it wrong costs eight weeks.
No. The fee is fixed by package, not by borough. A designated property needs more supporting material — a heritage statement, a fuller design justification — and that is inside the quoted fee rather than added afterwards.
Eight weeks from validation for a householder application, plus one to three weeks before that for registration in the busier boroughs. Applications decided at planning committee rather than under delegated powers add a further three to six weeks.
Send the postcode. We check the Article 4 and conservation-area position for your street before quoting.
Get a fixed-fee quoteBefore you commit, it is worth understanding fixed fees, 30% below London architects and seeing why work with us. You can find your service to find the right fit, or open a client account to track your project. When you are ready, get a quote today — most homeowners have a fee in minutes — or contact us about your project and a chartered technologist will be in touch.