Borough is characterised by georgian and victorian terraces, warehouse conversions, concentrated across SE1 in the
Bermondsey / Borough / Waterloo area. Borough rewards a survey-first approach: the georgian and victorian terraces rarely matches its own original drawings. Locally that resolves to this: applications on Georgian stock here almost always need a heritage statement alongside the drawings. That is the Borough constraint Southwark Council will look for. Because the Borough streetscape near Borough Market is consistent, departures in ridge height read immediately in an officer report.
Southwark sets no special basement rule, so a Borough lower-ground scheme stands or falls on the engineering and the neighbours. If a Borough project extends into loft conversion drawings for SE1 properties or house extension drawings, the survey is already done.
What the Borough drawing pack contains
Everything a Borough submission needs is in the list below.
- site location plan for the Borough property
- block plan
- existing and proposed floor plans
- existing and proposed elevations
- Design & Access Statement
Streets and landmarks we survey around Borough
- Watling Street — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Watling Street extension goes.
- Borough High Street — front-to-back level changes that drive the Borough High Street section drawings.
- Tabard Street — front-to-back level changes that drive the Tabard Street section drawings.
- Tooley Street — gardens deep enough for the 8 weeks householder route on a Tooley Street plot.
- Borough Market — massing on adjoining SE1 plots is tested against it.
- Tate Modern — it fixes the local datum a Borough roof extension is judged against.
- Tower Bridge — the surrounding georgian and victorian terraces takes its scale from it.
- London Bridge — it fixes the local datum a Borough roof extension is judged against.
- Vauxhall Bridge — sightlines from here are part of the Southwark Council character assessment.
- Kingston Bridge — sightlines from here are part of the Southwark Council character assessment.
Getting to a Borough survey
Surveyors travel to SE1 addresses from the studio; the nearest stations are
Spa Road, London Bridge station, King William Street, Borough. Appointments are booked in Borough on weekdays and Saturdays,
and the measured survey of a standard georgian and victorian terraces takes two to three hours.
Where Borough sits
on Ordnance Survey grid reference TQ325795, with the River Thames shaping drainage and flood-risk questions on lower-lying SE1 plots, inside the Bermondsey and Old Southwark parliamentary constituency. The SE1 block plan is set out from that grid square. Source.
Practical detail for a Borough submission: Borough is served by Spa Road and London Bridge station and King William Street and Borough; the postal town here is LONDON; dialling code 020. Site plans are drawn to the address as Southwark Council holds it.
Borough postcode coverage
SE1 (Bermondsey / Borough / Waterloo), shared with Waterloo, Bermondsey, Elephant and Castle — all within our Borough survey radius.
Streets and stations in Borough
Recent Borough jobs sit on Watling Street, Borough High Street, Tabard Street and Tooley Street. most Borough sites are within walking distance of Spa Road or London Bridge station or King William Street.
Areas we cover around Borough
Borough aside, we also cover Streatham (SW16), Stockwell (SW9), Vauxhall (SE11, SW8), West Norwood (SE27), Tulse Hill (SE27, SW2), Waterloo (SE1) and the City of London boundary.
