London pillar
Permitted development in London
Single-storey rear extensions, lofts and side extensions you can build in every London borough without full planning — and the exceptions.
Single-storey rear extensions, lofts and side extensions you can build in every London borough without full planning — and the exceptions.
A great deal. Across the 33 boroughs councils issued 36,657 lawful development certificates in twelve quarters against 77,680 householder decisions, and told 9,067 households that a larger extension needed no prior approval. Of those that did, 1,930 were granted and 3,646 refused.
| Across the 33 boroughs | Twelve quarters to March 2026 |
|---|---|
| Lawful development certificates issued | 36,657 |
| Householder decisions | 77,680 |
| Larger extension: prior approval not required | 9,067 |
| Larger extension: granted | 1,930 |
| Larger extension: refused | 3,646 |
| Larger extension grant rate | 34.6% |
| Conservation areas on the register | 1,141 |
Sources: MHCLG District Planning Application Statistics (PS1 and PS2), twelve quarters to March 2026, summed across the 33 London authorities; a zero in any borough’s return means the measure was not recorded there, so these totals are a floor. Conservation area count from the planning.data.gov.uk register, retrieved 1 September 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Because the larger home extension route is a judgement, not a formality. Across the boroughs whose returns support a published rate, the share of notifications granted runs from 4.3% in Lewisham to 78.6% in Croydon, against 34.6% for London as a whole. The right is national; the neighbour consultation, and what a council does with an objection, is local. That spread is the strongest argument for reading your own borough’s record before choosing between the three metre right and the six metre notification, which costs £249.
No. Part 1 of Schedule 2 applies to a dwellinghouse, and the Order is explicit that a flat, or a building containing one or more flats, is not one. In a city where much of the stock is converted terraces and purpose-built blocks, this is the commonest reason a scheme that looks permitted is not. Maisonettes are caught the same way. If the property is a flat, every alteration outside its own interior needs an application.
It withdraws a right that would otherwise apply, often street by street, and the London map is very uneven. Waltham Forest carries 807 areas on the national register, Southwark 480 and Lambeth 223, while several boroughs have none recorded at all. Treat a zero carefully: the register shows what a council has uploaded, not what it has made, so an absent entry is not a guarantee. The council’s own map is the authority.
Usually. London councils issued 36,657 of them in twelve quarters. It is not permission — it is a formal ruling that permission was never needed — and it is the document a buyer’s solicitor asks for years later, when whoever did the work has gone and a drawing is the only evidence left. Against a £548 householder fee it is also the cheaper way to settle an argument with a neighbour.
All 33 boroughs
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