A planning permission report for your exact property
Enter a London postcode or address and the check returns the conservation-area and Article 4 designations that actually bind that property, the planning route your project is likely to take, indicative build-cost ranges and real sold prices — free, with the source named against each answer and the gaps stated as gaps.
That is the data half of the question. The other half — whether your particular scheme will be supported, what condition the building is in, which notices have to be served — needs a person. When you get there, this site hands you to one of two independent, separately regulated practices: ARB-registered architects for design, drawings and consent, or an RICS-regulated chartered surveying firm for condition, defects and party wall matters. Nothing on this site is for sale.
Check a postcode or address — free
A full postcode gives you the area report. Select your exact property and the check runs at that property's own coordinates instead of its borough.
Two free checks, no signup
Postcode- and district-level: what is designated around you, and what property there has actually sold for.
- Named conservation areas and Article 4 directions
- Real HM Land Registry sold prices for the postcode
- Borough planning context and average-price trend
- Links straight to the official council register
Address-level: the constraint test runs at that property's own coordinates, so a designation that stops at the end of the street is not applied to you.
- Conservation-area and Article 4 state at the property's coordinates
- Planning route for each project type — permitted development, prior approval or a full application
- Build-cost ranges (low / expected / high), never one number
- An explicit list of what a desk check cannot establish for you
Both are free and neither asks for payment. The check is an early-stage feasibility view built from official data — not a planning decision, not a valuation, and never a confident “none” where the dataset is silent: it tells you to verify on the council register instead.
What a professional adds over the free data
Judgement on your actual scheme
Anything that needs eyes on the building
Processes that are served, not looked up
Where the official datasets are silent
Who to talk to next
This check is free and always will be. When you need someone to actually do the work, there are two doors: design and consent on one side, condition and neighbour process on the other. Many projects need both — on a rear extension the architects design it and submit the application, the surveyors serve the party wall notices.
The architect's door: designing the scheme and getting it consented — drawings, the planning application and the building-regulations package.
- Residential design for extensions, lofts, basements and conversions
- Planning applications, pre-application advice and appeals
- Lawful development certificates
- Building-regulations and technical design drawings
- Conservation-area design and listed building consent applications
The chartered-surveyor door: professional judgement on condition, risk, party wall matters and leasehold process.
- Building surveys, RICS home surveys and defect diagnosis
- Party wall matters and awards
- Technical due diligence before a purchase
- Leasehold and major-works advisory (Section 20)
- Dilapidations and building pathology
Both practices are independent and separately regulated — Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy is an RICS-regulated firm (Firm Reg. 923064); Hampstead Architecture and Planning are ARB-registered architects. We publish no fees for their work: each quotes directly for the job in front of them. Your enquiry goes to the practice you choose — we never pass your details to builders or other third parties.
Not another automated AI report
Checked, not guessed
No approval-likelihood theatre
Ranges and sources, not confident single numbers
The next step is a named, regulated practice
What a planning permission report should contain
A planning permission report should answer three questions about one specific address: which designations bind it (conservation area, Article 4 direction, listed status), what planning route your project therefore takes (permitted development, prior approval or a full application), and what the work realistically costs as a range. A report that skips the address-level constraint check is guesswork with a PDF wrapper.
Ours checks the official planning.data.gov.uk geometry against the property's own coordinates rather than its borough, so a designation that stops at the end of the street is not applied to you by mistake — and where the national dataset genuinely doesn't hold the answer, it says so instead of guessing. What it does not do is judge your scheme: a report cannot tell you how a case officer will read a design, which is where an architect starts.
A planning risk assessment before you buy
Buying a London house on the assumption you can extend it is the most expensive planning mistake there is. A conservation area, an Article 4 direction or a listed designation can remove the permitted-development route you were counting on. Your conveyancer's local search will surface the designation eventually — but weeks in, after you have committed to fees, and as a bare fact rather than a judgement on the scheme you actually have in mind. A standard homebuyer survey does not cover it at all.
Run the free check on the postcode before you offer, and on the exact address once you have one. Before you exchange, the remaining questions are condition and risk — a chartered surveyor's building survey and technical due diligence — and, if the purchase only makes sense because you intend to extend or convert, an architect's read on whether that scheme is realistic at this address. Both practices are named above, with their regulator references.
Reports, answered straight
What is a planning permission report?
A report that establishes, for one specific property, which planning constraints actually apply — conservation-area status, Article 4 directions, listed-building risk — plus the realistic planning route for the work you have in mind, indicative build-cost ranges and a sensible next step. This site produces that part for free, checking the property's own coordinates against official planning.data.gov.uk geometry rather than summarising borough-level generalities.
What does the free check actually tell me?
For a full postcode: the named conservation areas and Article 4 directions that apply, real HM Land Registry sold prices and borough planning context. For a specific address: the same constraint check at the property's own coordinates, the planning route for each of the five project types the tool covers (rear extension, side return, loft conversion, basement, garden room), indicative build-cost ranges as low/expected/high bands, and an explicit list of the things a desk check cannot establish.
Does it cost anything?
No. The check is free and there is nothing to buy — Planning Permission Checker does not sell reports and takes no payment. When you need work done, the site points you to one of two independent practices: Hampstead Architecture and Planning (ARB-registered architects) for design, drawings and planning applications, or Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy (RICS-regulated, RICS Firm Reg. 923064) for surveys, defects and party wall matters. Each quotes directly for the job in front of them; no fees for their work are published here.
Should I speak to an architect or a surveyor?
Design and consent go to the architects: extensions, lofts, basements, garden rooms, internal alterations, Licence to Alter packages, planning applications, prior approval, lawful development certificates, pre-application advice and appeals. Condition, risk and neighbour process go to the chartered surveyors: pre-purchase surveys and technical due diligence, defects, damp and movement, party wall notices and awards, dilapidations, Section 20 major works and fire-safety or EWS1 questions. Plenty of jobs need both — on a rear extension the architects design it and submit the application while the surveyors serve the party wall notices.
How is this different from a cheap automated AI planning report?
Two ways. First, the constraint answers are not generated by a language model — they come from testing your property's coordinates against the official constraint geometry, and anything the datasets cannot settle is stated as unchecked rather than guessed. Second, there is deliberately no "approval likelihood score": no algorithm can honestly score a London planning decision, so every figure is cited and confidence-labelled instead. And where you need judgement rather than data, the next step here is a named, independently regulated practice rather than a longer prompt.
Can I use this before buying a house?
Yes — a pre-purchase check is one of the most common uses, and buying on the assumption you can extend is the most expensive planning mistake there is. Run the free check on the postcode before you offer: it shows the conservation-area and Article 4 state, the likely planning route and the cost ranges. Before exchange, condition and risk are a chartered surveyor's judgement rather than a data lookup, and if the purchase depends on being able to extend or convert, an architect can test whether that scheme is realistic at the address.
Is this planning advice or a planning decision?
Neither. The check is an early-stage feasibility view built from official data — not a planning decision, not a valuation, and not a substitute for the council's own pre-application advice or for advice you can rely on from a regulated professional. It exists so that when you do spend money on professionals, you spend it in the right order and already know the constraint state of your property.
Planning Permission Checker provides planning and cost intelligence for early feasibility only. It is not legal, planning, valuation, architectural, structural, or surveying advice. All estimates are indicative and must be verified by qualified professionals before purchase, design, planning submission, or construction.
Cost estimates are indicative only — not a quotation. Final price depends on survey, specification, structure, access, party wall matters, VAT, professional fees, and contractor availability.
Planning outcomes are not guaranteed. Local planning authorities make final decisions.