Planning Permission in Earl's Court | Fixed-Fee Plans

An Article 4 Direction applies across Kensington and Chelsea, so check it before assuming Earl's Court permitted development survives. What defines Earl's Court is that it is Victorian stucco terraces, mansion blocks, and design decisions here answer to that rather than to a pattern book. Of the 38 conservation areas Kensington and Chelsea designates, Kensington and Chelsea are the ones that most often change how a Earl's Court project is routed. Designation status for the SW5 address is established first.

Before drawing anything for Earl's Court, we check Article 4 directions against the SW5 boundary. Measure a SW5 property and the stucco terraces answers most of it — where the original rear wall sat, and what height the Earl's Court street will carry. The borough policy layer over every SW5 address is set out on Kensington and Chelsea planning. The Earl's Court survey then carries into house extension drawings in Earl's Court if the project runs on to construction.

Before RBKC Planning determines anything, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has to validate the Earl's Court submission — one to two weeks, longer if a plan is missing. The Earl's Court job starts with a laser survey, not a sketch.

Statutory periods: 8 weeks from validation for a householder application, 13 weeks for a major scheme, 6 weeks for prior approval with a 21 days neighbour consultation, and 5 weeks for a full plans building control submission. A party structure notice requires one month notice and two months where excavation is involved.

A Earl's Court case only reaches committee if it draws significant objection. The Earl's Court pack is validated against Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea requirements before submission.

Objection volume on Earl's Court cases is public — we read it before advising. We measure the SW5 property room by room, including ceiling heights and floor falls.

Serve party wall notices early where SW5 neighbours share a flank wall — on Earl's Court terraces they nearly always do. Once consent is granted, architectural drawings follows for the SW5 property.

Earl's Court is characterised by stucco terraces, edwardian mansion blocks, concentrated across SW5 in the Earl's Court area. Earl's Court rewards a survey-first approach: the stucco terraces rarely matches its own original drawings. What that means for a SW5 address: edwardian houses here typically need the same householder set plus a roof plan where a dormer is proposed. That is drawn out in the Earl's Court proposed section. Because Earl's Court rows are consistent, the proposed elevation is drawn with neighbours on it.

Lower-ground schemes in Earl's Court answer to neighbours and groundwater. The Earl's Court measured survey is reused across building regulations drawings for SW5 properties and loft conversion drawings, so the cost lands once.

What the Earl's Court drawing pack contains

Here is what a SW5 instruction actually produces.

• site location plan for the Earl's Court property
• block plan
• existing and proposed floor plans
• existing and proposed elevations
• Design & Access Statement

Streets and landmarks we survey around Earl's Court

• Grosvenor Gardens — shared flank walls, so Grosvenor Gardens party structure notices go out before work starts.
• Holland Park — gardens deep enough for the 8 weeks householder route on a Holland Park plot.
• Earl's Court Square — terraced rear elevations — the Earl's Court Square party wall position is drawn first.
• Nevern Square — roof profiles that set the ridge datum RBKC Planning measures a Nevern Square dormer against.
• Talgarth Road — closet wings that change how a rear extension meets the Talgarth Road back addition.
• Boltons Place — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Boltons Place extension goes.
• Harrington Gardens — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Harrington Gardens extension goes.
• Drayton Gardens — roof profiles that set the ridge datum RBKC Planning measures a Drayton Gardens dormer against.
• Earl's Court station — proposals within its setting are drawn with the context elevation included.
• Swedish Academy — nearby stucco terraces takes its scale from this frontage.
• Imperial College — sightlines from here are part of the RBKC Planning character assessment.
• Brompton Cemetery — the surrounding stucco terraces takes its scale from it.
• Princess Beatrice Hospital — sightlines from here are part of the RBKC Planning character assessment.

Getting to a Earl's Court survey

Surveyors travel to SW5 addresses from the studio; the nearest stations are Earl's Court, West Brompton station, Gloucester Road. Appointments are booked in Earl's Court on weekdays and Saturdays, and the measured survey of a standard stucco terraces takes two to three hours.

Where Earl's Court sits

on Ordnance Survey grid reference TQ254784. Every Earl's Court application opens with a location plan tied to that grid square; get it wrong and RBKC Planning returns the submission unvalidated. Source.

Practical detail for a Earl's Court submission: transport for Earl's Court runs through Earl's Court and West Brompton station and Gloucester Road; Royal Mail routes it as London; dialling code 020; Grade II public house and Grade I Philbeach Gardens and Grade II Earl's Court tube station are listed and sit within the setting. Site plans are drawn to the address as RBKC Planning holds it.

Earl's Court postcode coverage

Earl's Court work spans SW5 (Earl's Court), which Earl's Court holds on its own, with the SW5 boundary setting which designations bite.

Streets and stations in Earl's Court

Work in Earl's Court clusters around Grosvenor Gardens, Holland Park, Earl's Court Square, Nevern Square, Talgarth Road, Boltons Place, Harrington Gardens and Drayton Gardens. most Earl's Court sites are within walking distance of Earl's Court or West Brompton station or Gloucester Road. and Grade II public house, Grade I Philbeach Gardens, Grade II Earl's Court tube station are listed, which pulls neighbouring SW5 proposals into a setting assessment.

Areas we cover around Earl's Court

Beyond Earl's Court we cover Kilburn (NW6), Queen's Park (NW6), Harlesden (NW10), Mapesbury (NW2), Kensal Green (NW10), Willesden (NW10), and cross into Brent. A consent granted a mile from Earl's Court station is not a precedent for the plot next to it.

Price differences between Earl's Court projects come from the fabric — the stucco terraces, level changes, and any Kensington heritage requirement.

Statutory application fees are set by regulation, not by the council: £548 householder, £610 for a new dwelling, £274 for a lawful development certificate, £249 for prior approval.

The statutory element is payable to Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, not to us. London planning approval-rate dataset · Kensington and Chelsea planning · planning permission in London · planning permission in Kilburn.

MCIAT chartered technologists handle every SW5 submission we make. Where a Earl's Court case is borderline — a corner plot near Earl's Court station, a Kensington frontage, a flank wall hard onto a SW5 neighbour — we buy pre-application advice from RBKC Planning rather than gamble the statutory 8 weeks.

Drawings are produced by chartered members of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (MCIAT), the professional body for technical design and building-regulations competence. First-time approval across our London caseload is 98%. Statutory fees shown are those in force in England in 2026 under the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) Regulations. Confirm your local authority at gov.uk and submission requirements on the Planning Portal. Studio: 71–75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ.

We survey Earl's Court properties within a few days of instruction. This Earl's Court page was reviewed in August 2026.