Planning Permission in Forest Hill | Fixed-Fee Plans

No Article 4 Direction covers Lewisham, which keeps the Forest Hill permitted-development route open on unlisted houses. Forest Hill is Victorian villas, Edwardian terraces; near Horniman Museum that context does most of the work in an officer report. Of the 30 conservation areas Lewisham designates, Lee Green and Blackheath are the ones that most often change how a Forest Hill project is routed. Designation status for the SE23 address is established first.

That mapping of Article 4 directions across Forest Hill happens before design, which is what keeps the Lewisham Council route predictable. Rear wall, floor levels and the Horniman Museum roofline are the three Forest Hill constraints. The borough policy layer over every SE23 address is set out on Lewisham planning. The Forest Hill survey then carries into house extension drawings in Forest Hill if the project runs on to construction.

The Forest Hill clock does not start until London Borough of Lewisham validates — one to two weeks. A surveyor visits the Forest Hill address first; the drawings follow the measurements, never the other way round.

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.

Most Forest Hill householder cases are decided under delegated powers, not committee. Forest Hill clients receive existing and proposed sheets in one indexed set.

Comments on a Forest Hill application are visible on the London Borough of Lewisham portal. Existing structure in the victorian villas is identified at survey, not guessed later.

Shared walls are the norm in Forest Hill; the notice period is not optional. Once consent is granted, architectural drawings follows for the SE23 property.

Forest Hill is characterised by victorian villas, edwardian terraces, concentrated across SE23 in the Forest Hill / Honor Oak area. A Forest Hill scheme is designed around what the victorian villas can actually carry. Translated to the victorian villas here: most applications on these Victorian streets are householder applications validated on existing and proposed plans, elevations, a site plan and a location plan. That is drawn out in the Forest Hill proposed section. Lewisham Council reads a Forest Hill elevation against its neighbours first.

Lewisham sets no special basement rule, so a Forest Hill lower-ground scheme stands or falls on the engineering and the neighbours. Survey once, use it for every SE23 submission that follows.

What the Forest Hill drawing pack contains

This is the full SE23 deliverable at the quoted fee.

• site location plan for the Forest Hill property
• block plan
• existing and proposed floor plans
• existing and proposed elevations
• Design & Access Statement

Streets and landmarks we survey around Forest Hill

• Hyde Park — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Hyde Park extension goes.
• Mayow Park — closet wings that change how a rear extension meets the Mayow Park back addition.
• Crofton Park — roof profiles that set the ridge datum Lewisham Council measures a Crofton Park dormer against.
• Perry Vale — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Perry Vale extension goes.
• Sydenham Hill — gardens deep enough for the 8 weeks householder route on a Sydenham Hill plot.
• South Circular Road — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a South Circular Road extension goes.
• Horniman Museum — proposals within its setting are drawn with the context elevation included.

Getting to a Forest Hill survey

Surveyors travel to SE23 addresses from the studio; the nearest stations are Forest Hill, London Bridge station, London Victoria station, Highbury & Islington station. Appointments are booked in Forest Hill on weekdays and Saturdays, and the measured survey of a standard victorian villas takes two to three hours.

Where Forest Hill sits

on Ordnance Survey grid reference TQ354736. That is the reference the Forest Hill site plan is drawn over. Source.

Practical detail for a Forest Hill submission: the closest stations to a SE23 site are Forest Hill and London Bridge station and London Victoria station and Highbury & Islington station; correspondence uses LONDON; dialling code 020; nearby listed fabric is Grade II listed building. Site plans are drawn to the address as Lewisham Council holds it.

Forest Hill postcode coverage

From SE23 (Forest Hill / Honor Oak), shared with Honor Oak, the Forest Hill process is the same but the constraints are not.

Streets and stations in Forest Hill

Forest Hill addresses we have drawn run to Hyde Park, Mayow Park, Crofton Park, Perry Vale, Sydenham Hill and South Circular Road. most Forest Hill sites are within walking distance of Forest Hill or London Bridge station or London Victoria station. and Grade II listed building is listed, which pulls neighbouring SE23 proposals into a setting assessment.

Areas we cover around Forest Hill

Beyond Forest Hill we cover Spitalfields (E1), Whitechapel (E1), Bethnal Green (E2), Bow (E3), Mile End (E1, E3), Wapping (E1W), and cross into Greenwich. A consent granted a mile from Horniman Museum is not a precedent for the plot next to it.

Two Forest Hill jobs differ in price because of the victorian villas and the Lee Green designation, never because of hours booked.

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.

Forest Hill applicants pay the statutory fee direct to London Borough of Lewisham. London planning approval-rate dataset · Lewisham planning · planning permission across London · planning permission in Spitalfields.

An MCIAT chartered technologist takes the Forest Hill project from survey to decision. Not every Forest Hill scheme is clear-cut. Where Lee Green or the Horniman Museum setting is in play, Lewisham Council pre-application advice comes before the SE23 submission.

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 Forest Hill properties within a few days of instruction. This Forest Hill page was reviewed in August 2026.