Planning Drawings in City of London
Fixed-fee, MCIAT-chartered planning drawings for City of London homeowners — City of London Corporation validation and local constraints handled from the start.
The City of London is the Square Mile: overwhelmingly commercial, with a small residential population concentrated in the listed Barbican and Golden Lane estates, the Inner and Middle Temple, and a scattering of conversions and mansion flats. Almost every home sits within a conservation area or a listed building, so permitted development can rarely be assumed and most alterations — even internal ones — need planning permission or listed-building consent from the City of London Corporation.
Near-comprehensive conservation-area coverage spans Charterhouse Square, Smithfield, Whitefriars, Fleet Street, Bank and the Barbican and Golden Lane, and Article 4 directions remove permitted development across these areas. A high density of listed buildings — including the Grade II-listed Barbican estate — means listed-building consent is usually required for external and many internal changes, and the Corporation's estate-management rules on the Barbican, Golden Lane and Temple frequently apply alongside planning. Strict townscape, protected-view and tall-building control run throughout the Square Mile. Because the residential stock is almost entirely flats within managed listed estates rather than houses, the work here centres on planning, architectural and building-regulations drawings rather than extensions or lofts.
We prepare City of London planning, architectural and building-regulations drawings that respond to this uniquely controlled setting, screening conservation, listing and estate-management constraints for your exact address before any design begins and preparing the heritage-led drawings and justification the Corporation expects. Because most applications are determined within the statutory eight-week period once validated, we work validation-first to avoid the queries that cause delays. The fee is fixed and agreed up front, drawings typically follow within about seven days, and we offer free redraws until consent is granted — the same Corporation-accepted drawings an architect would produce, usually at around 30% less.
Planning in City of London: what to know before you apply
In the City of London, permitted development can rarely be assumed: near-comprehensive conservation-area coverage and a high density of listed buildings — including the Grade II-listed Barbican estate — mean a full planning application, and often listed-building consent, is usually required even for modest works. Estate-management rules on the Barbican, Golden Lane and Temple frequently apply alongside. Because the residential stock is almost entirely flats within managed listed estates, we focus on planning, architectural and building-regulations drawings rather than house extensions or lofts.
Typical City of London housing stock
A very small residential population concentrated in the listed Barbican and Golden Lane estates, the Inner and Middle Temple, and a handful of conversions and mansion flats — almost all within conservation areas or listed.
Areas we regularly draw for in City of London
Barbican · Golden Lane · Smithfield · Temple · Blackfriars · Aldgate · Bank
Planning Drawings for City of London homes: the package and the process
Every planning drawings we prepare for a City of London property is drawn to City of London Corporation’s validation standards and tuned to the local constraints above. Here is what the drawing package covers and how the process runs from first survey to approval.
Planning drawings are the scale drawings a London council uses to judge your application: existing and proposed floor plans, elevations, sections and site plans that show the design, scale and neighbour impact of your project. DrawingsDirect produces complete, validation-ready planning drawing sets for extensions, lofts and conversions across London.
What is included in a planning drawing set?
A council will only validate an application that contains the right drawings at the right scale. Our standard planning set covers everything a London validation team expects.
- Site location plan (1:1250) and block plan (1:500)
- Existing floor plans, elevations and sections
- Proposed floor plans, elevations and sections
- Roof plans where relevant, with heights and materials annotated
- A design and access or heritage statement where the borough requires one
How are planning drawings different from building regulations drawings?
Planning drawings show what the building will look like and how it sits in its context. Building regulations drawings show how it will be built safely — structure, insulation, fire escape and drainage. Most projects need both; our Complete package covers the two together with structural calculations coordinated in-house.
| Drawing | Typical scale | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Site location plan | 1:1250 | The property in its street context, site edged red |
| Block plan | 1:500 | The building's footprint and position in the plot |
| Floor plans (existing & proposed) | 1:100 / 1:50 | Room layout, walls, openings and the proposed changes |
| Elevations (existing & proposed) | 1:100 / 1:50 | Each face of the building and how it changes |
| Sections | 1:100 / 1:50 | A cut through showing heights, levels and roof form |
Planning Drawings in City of London — FAQs
What scale should London planning drawings be?+
Do I need an architect to produce planning drawings?+
How many revisions are included in the fee?+
Can you draw from my existing plans?+
Do planning drawings guarantee approval?+
Do I need planning permission for works in the City of London?+
Can I alter a flat in the Barbican or Golden Lane estate?+
What kinds of drawings do you prepare in the City of London?+
How long does the City of London Corporation take to decide?+
How much do drawings cost in the City of London?+
Get your free City of London planning assessment
Tell us your City of London address and ambition — we'll confirm feasibility, local constraints and a fixed fee within one working day.