Pre-Application Planning Enquiries in London 2025: When and How to Use Them

A pre-application planning enquiry (also called a pre-app, pre-submission enquiry, or planning advice meeting) is a request to the local planning authority for informal planning advice on a proposed development before a formal application is submitted. The enquiry is submitted with a description of the proposed works, drawings or sketches of the proposal, and a fee (set by the individual London borough). The LPA then provides a written response (and, in some cases, an officer meeting) setting out: whether the proposed development is acceptable in principle (in planning policy terms); the relevant policies and design guidance that apply to the proposal; any specific concerns about the design, scale, massing, materials, or impact on neighbouring amenity; any additional information that would be required with a formal application (e.g., heritage impact assessment for a listed building, flood risk assessment, ecology survey, design and access statement). Pre-application enquiries are typically available for: Householder development (extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings, basements on existing residential dwellings). Residential development (new dwellings, change of use to residential). Commercial and mixed-use development. Listed buildings and heritage assets (pre-apps are particularly valuable for listed buildings and buildings in conservation areas, where the heritage officer's input can prevent costly refusals). Is a pre-application enquiry binding? A pre-application enquiry is not binding on the LPA — the formal planning decision is made independently of the pre-app advice, and a different officer may determine the formal application. However, in practice: where a formal application is submitted in accordance with the pre-app advice, it is much more likely to be approved; where the pre-app advice identifies specific concerns and the applicant addresses them in the formal application, the risk of refusal is significantly reduced; where a formal application is submitted contrary to the pre-app advice without addressing the concerns raised, the LPA is likely to refuse it on the same grounds.

Each London borough sets its own pre-application enquiry fee. Fees vary widely between boroughs and are also tiered by project type and value: Typical pre-application enquiry fees in London (2025) for householder development (extension, loft conversion, basement): Smaller and outer London boroughs (e.g., Bexley, Havering, Sutton): £100-£300 for a written officer response without a meeting. £200-£600 for a written response plus an officer meeting. Inner London boroughs (e.g., Camden, Islington, Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster): £250-£800 for a written officer response without a meeting. £500-£1,500 for a written response plus an officer meeting. Pre-application enquiry fees for larger residential or commercial development: £500-£5,000+ depending on the borough and the scale of the development. Why is there such variation in London borough pre-app fees? Some London boroughs have invested significantly in their pre-application service and offer a genuine and well-resourced officer-level response within 4-6 weeks. Others treat the pre-app as a less formal process and may take longer or provide less detailed advice. The City of London, Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea have particularly rigorous pre-application services — and charge accordingly. Timescales for pre-application responses in London (2025): Written response without meeting: typically 4-8 weeks from receipt of the enquiry and fee. Written response plus officer meeting: typically 6-12 weeks (including time to arrange and hold the meeting). For listed buildings or particularly complex proposals, allow 8-16 weeks for a full pre-application response. This timeline should be factored into the overall project programme — if a pre-app is required, the pre-app enquiry should be submitted 3-4 months before the intended start on site, to allow time for the pre-app response, to make any design changes, and to prepare and submit the formal planning application.

A pre-application enquiry is particularly valuable in the following London project scenarios: Listed buildings and conservation areas: any significant works to a listed building (Grade I, II*, or Grade II) or any development in a conservation area where the LPA has strong design policies should be preceded by a pre-app. The heritage officer's input can prevent costly refusals and, on a listed building, avoid the risk of enforcement action for works carried out without Listed Building Consent. Basements and subterranean development: basement development in London is one of the most contentious planning issues. Most London boroughs have specific basement policies (triggered by the London basement boom of 2010-2020) restricting basement depth, footprint relative to the garden, neighbour impact, construction method, and drainage. A pre-app on a proposed basement project will identify whether the LPA is likely to support it and on what conditions. New dwellings and change of use: where the proposal is to add a new self-contained dwelling (garden flat, mews house, new house in the garden) or to change the use of a property to residential, a pre-app is strongly advisable. London LPAs have specific policies on housing density, housing mix, affordable housing obligations, and small sites policy. Extensions that are close to permitted development limits: where a rear extension is being proposed that comes very close to the PD limits (e.g., a 5.5m deep extension on a terraced house, or a 7.5m deep extension on a detached house), a pre-app on the borderline proposal may clarify whether full planning permission is needed and what the LPA's view is on the principle of the proposed depth. When is a pre-application enquiry NOT necessary? For straightforward PD extensions (e.g., a 3m deep rear extension on a detached house well within all PD limits): a pre-app is not necessary — submit a Certificate of Lawful Development (LDC) application instead. For standard householder applications (extension or loft conversion) that are clearly compliant with the relevant London borough's Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) for residential design: a pre-app may not add significant value, and the designer or architect should be able to assess the likely outcome from the policy context. For time-critical projects where the pre-app lead time would cause an unacceptable programme delay: sometimes it is better to submit a well-prepared formal application directly, rather than waiting 8-12 weeks for a pre-app response.