Pre-application advice is the one point in the planning process where you can ask the council what it thinks before you commit. Used well, it turns a guess about what an officer will accept into a written steer. Used badly, it costs a fee and several weeks and produces a letter that says “further information is required”. This guide covers how London boroughs run the service, what to prepare, and how to get a useful answer.
What is pre-application advice?
Pre-application advice (a “pre-app”) is a paid service offered by every London borough in which a planning officer reviews your proposal and gives a written view on whether it is likely to be acceptable, what policies apply and what would need to change. Depending on the borough and the tier you pay for, it may include a meeting (in person or online), a site visit, or a written response only.
The advice is not a decision and is not binding. It does not involve neighbours, councillors or statutory consultees. It is, however, the best available indication of how the case officer will approach the formal application, and following it reduces the risk of a refusal.
When is a pre-app worth paying for?
Not every project needs one. Our rule of thumb for London householder and small commercial work:
| Project | Pre-app usually worth it? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Single-storey rear extension within the borough’s published guidance | No | The guidance already answers the question; apply directly (8 weeks, £528; verify before applying) |
| Rear dormer loft outside a conservation area | No | Usually permitted development; apply for a Lawful Development Certificate instead |
| Extension or loft in a conservation area | Often | Design judgement is subjective; the officer’s view on materials and massing is valuable |
| Two-storey rear extension on a tight terrace | Often | Daylight and outlook to neighbours are the deciding issues and the officer can flag them |
| Basement | Yes | Most inner boroughs have specific basement policies and technical requirements |
| Class MA or other change of use | Yes | Article 4 coverage, noise and daylight are best confirmed before purchase |
| New-build house or flats on a garden or infill plot | Yes | Principle of development, access and density all need testing |
Pre-app fees are set by each council and vary by borough and by tier. Householder pre-apps in London are generally priced in the low hundreds of pounds, with higher charges for meetings and for larger schemes; check the council’s pre-application page for the current schedule.
What should I submit with a pre-app request?
Officers can only respond to what they are given. A good householder or small-scale pre-app pack contains:
- Site location plan at 1:1250 with the site outlined in red.
- Photographs of the house from the street and the garden, and of the neighbours’ rear elevations where they are affected.
- Existing plans and elevations, even if only from a measured survey without full detail.
- Proposed sketch plans, elevations and a section, drawn to scale. Sketch quality is fine; scale is essential, because the officer will measure depth, height and distance to boundaries.
- A one-page brief stating what you want to do, why, and the specific questions you want answered.
- A short policy note listing the Local Plan policies, design guide paragraphs and conservation area appraisal you have read, and how the scheme responds to them.
- Any known constraints: conservation area, Article 4, protected trees, flood zone, previous refusals on the street.
For a Class MA or change-of-use pre-app, add the use history, floor areas and a draft unit schedule against the space standard.
What questions should I ask the officer?
Vague requests produce vague answers. Ask closed questions that the officer can answer directly:
- Is the principle of a two-storey rear extension acceptable on this terrace, and if so what depth would you expect?
- Does the council consider this conservation area suitable for a mansard, or only for a rear dormer set below the ridge?
- Which policies and design guide paragraphs will you assess this against?
- Would you require a daylight and sunlight report, and to which windows?
- Is this address within an Article 4 direction removing Class MA, and if not, which prior approval matters do you expect to be contentious?
- Are there recent decisions or appeals on this street that you would treat as precedent?
- Is there anything in the proposal that you would recommend against as drawn?
Ask, too, whether the officer who answers is likely to handle the formal application. In smaller boroughs it often is; in Southwark or Camden it may not be, which makes the written record more important than the conversation.
What happens after the meeting?
Most London councils issue a written response within a published target period after the meeting or receipt of the pack; the target varies by borough and by tier. The letter typically covers the principle of development, design, amenity impacts, any technical reports required and the documents needed for validation.
From there, three routes:
- Positive response. Finalise the design in line with the advice, prepare the drawings and submit. We issue planning drawings 2–3 weeks after the measured survey and submit within 2 working days of your sign-off.
- Conditional response. Amend the scheme to address the points raised, and consider a short follow-up email to confirm the amendments do what the officer asked.
- Negative response. Decide whether to redesign, to submit with a robust case and accept the appeal risk (a householder appeal by written representations typically takes 4–6 months), or to change the project.
Keep the response letter. Quote it in the design statement of the formal application and, if the application is refused on a point the pre-app supported, put it in front of the Inspector at appeal.
How do we help with pre-apps?
A pre-app is only as good as the pack. We prepare the survey, the sketch design and the policy note so that the officer is answering the right question, attend the meeting where the borough offers one, and translate the response into a design that can go straight to a formal application. Our written fixed-fee quote arrives within 24 hours of enquiry and states what the pre-app stage includes, separate from the council’s own charge.
For projects in Camden, Islington, Richmond, Southwark and other boroughs with detailed design guidance, we read the guidance first and often find the pre-app can be skipped; where it cannot, we make sure the questions are the ones that will save you an 8-week refusal.
Related services
- Feasibility studies and pre-application: constraint checks, sketch options and pre-app packs.
- Design review: an independent read of a scheme before it goes to the council.
- Householder planning applications: full applications following a pre-app.
- Planning documentation: design statements and policy notes.
- Borough guides: Camden and Islington.
- Get an instant estimate for a pre-app pack.
