Planning Permission in Pimlico | Fixed-Fee Plans

An Article 4 Direction applies across Westminster, so check it before assuming Pimlico permitted development survives. The fabric of Pimlico is Regency stucco terraces, grid plan, so a SW1V proposal is judged on fit before it is judged on size. Where a Pimlico property sits inside Marylebone or Pimlico — two of Westminster's 56 designations — permitted development narrows and a full Westminster City Council submission is usually quicker. Conservation status is checked against the Pimlico address before design.

Every SW1V job starts with checking Article 4 directions street by street. On a Pimlico house the measurements bite through the regency terraces: it sets the original rear wall, and the roofline around Tate Britain sets what ridge height will pass. The borough policy layer over every SW1V address is set out on Westminster planning. The Pimlico survey then carries into house extension drawings in Pimlico if the project runs on to construction.

Westminster City Council will not register a Pimlico application until validation completes. The Pimlico 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.

After validation a Pimlico application is allocated to an officer, who will visit the SW1V address. Each SW1V drawing carries the address, scale, north point and revision.

Speaking to SW1V neighbours before submission avoids most of it. We measure the SW1V property room by room, including ceiling heights and floor falls.

The party wall step is not optional on shared Pimlico walls, and serving late is what stalls sites. Once consent is granted, architectural drawings follows for the SW1V property.

Pimlico is characterised by regency terraces, post-war estates, concentrated across SW1V in the Pimlico area. SW1V construction is regency terraces-led, and the survey establishes what it carries. The Pimlico version of that is simple: post-war stock here frequently sits inside an estate layout, so the site plan has to show the wider block, not just the curtilage. In SW1V that determines the depth we can draw. The prevailing Pimlico eaves line is the reference Westminster City Council uses, which is why the proposed elevation is drawn with the neighbours on it.

Westminster basement policy restricts to single-storey, typically under 50% of rear garden footprint; lightwells and rooflights strictly controlled in conservation areas. Basement schemes near Tate Britain are scoped against it from day one. If a Pimlico project extends into building regulations drawings for SW1V properties or loft conversion drawings, the survey is already done.

What the Pimlico drawing pack contains

Each Pimlico instruction produces this set of drawings.

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

Streets and landmarks we survey around Pimlico

• Lupus Street — terraced rear elevations — the Lupus Street party wall position is drawn first.
• Belgrave Road — gardens deep enough for the 8 weeks householder route on a Belgrave Road plot.
• St George's Square — closet wings that change how a rear extension meets the St George's Square back addition.
• Vauxhall Bridge Road — front-to-back level changes that drive the Vauxhall Bridge Road section drawings.
• Warwick Square — shared flank walls, so Warwick Square party structure notices go out before work starts.
• Eccleston Square — shared flank walls, so Eccleston Square party structure notices go out before work starts.
• Dolphin Square — roof profiles that set the ridge datum Westminster City Council measures a Dolphin Square dormer against.
• Churchill Gardens — side returns where the 45-degree amenity test decides how far a Churchill Gardens extension goes.
• Tate Britain — height and massing nearby are argued against this frontage.
• Royal Army Medical College — schemes visible from it get closer scrutiny in Westminster.
• Pimlico Academy — it fixes the local datum a Pimlico roof extension is judged against.
• Catholic Church — a Pimlico roof extension is judged against the datum it sets.

Getting to a Pimlico survey

Surveyors travel to SW1V addresses from the studio; the nearest stations are London Victoria station, Battersea Power Station, Pimlico, Victoria. Appointments are booked in Pimlico on weekdays and Saturdays, and the measured survey of a standard regency terraces takes two to three hours.

Where Pimlico sits

on Ordnance Survey grid reference TQ295785, with the River Thames shaping drainage and flood-risk questions on lower-lying SW1V plots. Every Pimlico application opens with a location plan tied to that grid square; get it wrong and Westminster City Council returns the submission unvalidated. Source.

Practical detail for a Pimlico submission: the closest stations to a SW1V site are London Victoria station and Battersea Power Station and Pimlico and Victoria; post town London; dialling code 020. Site plans are drawn to the address as Westminster City Council holds it.

Pimlico postcode coverage

Pimlico work spans SW1V (Pimlico), which Pimlico holds on its own, with the SW1V boundary setting which designations bite.

Streets and stations in Pimlico

Work in Pimlico clusters around Lupus Street, Belgrave Road, St George's Square, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Warwick Square, Eccleston Square, Dolphin Square and Churchill Gardens. most Pimlico sites are within walking distance of London Victoria station or Battersea Power Station or Pimlico.

Areas we cover around Pimlico

Pimlico sits in a patch that also takes in Highgate (N6), Swiss Cottage (NW3, NW6), Gospel Oak (NW5), West Hampstead (NW6), Kensington (W8), Chelsea (SW3, SW10), and we work all of it as far as the City of London boundary.

Price differences between Pimlico projects come from the fabric — the regency terraces, level changes, and any Marylebone 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.

We do not mark up the City of Westminster fee — it is paid at submission. London planning approval-rate dataset · Westminster planning · the London planning permission pillar page · planning permission in Highgate.

The technologist drawing your Pimlico scheme is MCIAT chartered — the professional body for technical design and building-regulations competence. For difficult Pimlico sites — anything in Marylebone, anything overlooking Tate Britain — the pre-application route is cheap insurance.

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 will tell you if a Pimlico project does not need us. This Pimlico page was reviewed in August 2026.