01Areas we cover
In Lambeth and Wandsworth
Architectural drawings for Clapham houses, in Lambeth or Wandsworth
The first question about a Clapham house is which council it answers to. The Common is shared between two boroughs, and each has its own conservation area, and its own Article 4 position. We settle that before we draw, then prepare the planning or listed building drawings.
Fixed quote after a free constraints check
- MCIAT chartered architectural technologists
- £2m professional indemnity insurance
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- ICO registered
02The record
Clapham on the record
| Measure | Value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservation area | Clapham | No period | lambeth.gov.uk |
| Local fact | Lambeth's Clapham Conservation Area (CA01), centred on Clapham Common, was first designated in 1968, extended in 1969, 1976, 1980 and 1997, and redefined in 2002; it has many 18th and 19th century buildings. | No period | lambeth.gov.uk |
| Local fact | Wandsworth's Clapham Common Conservation Area was designated on 4 March 1969 and extended on 24 February 1976 and 14 September 1988. | No period | wandsworth.gov.uk |
| Local planning consideration | Clapham Common and its edges straddle two boroughs: about 43 hectares of the common are in Wandsworth and 34 hectares in Lambeth, so the planning authority depends on which side a property stands. | No period | wandsworth.gov.uk |
| Local fact | Clapham Common Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy | adopted (approved by Executive 22 January 2007) | wandsworth.gov.uk |
| Conservation areas | 64 named conservation areas published by the council | No period | planning.data.gov.uk |
| Listed building entries | 953 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary) | No period | planning.data.gov.uk |
A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.
- Clapham: designation date not recorded
- Clapham High Street: designation date not recorded
- Clapham Common: designation date not recorded
03The drawing
Constraints check: Lambeth
What we check first on any address in Lambeth. Counts are for the whole council area.
- A Conservation areas
- 64 named conservation areas published by the council
- B Article 4 directions
- 12 Article 4 directions published by the council
- C Listed building entries
- 953 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)
- D Heritage at Risk entries
- 39 Heritage at Risk Register entries within the LPA boundary (Historic England)
04The brief
Which council decides your Clapham application
Clapham Common and its edges straddle two boroughs: about 43 hectares of the common are in Wandsworth and 34 hectares in Lambeth, so the planning authority depends on which side a property stands. The answer changes the policy, the appraisal and the application route.
On the Lambeth side the record reads: Lambeth's Clapham Conservation Area (CA01), centred on Clapham Common, was first designated in 1968, extended in 1969, 1976, 1980 and 1997, and redefined in 2002; it has many 18th and 19th century buildings. On the Wandsworth side, Wandsworth's Clapham Common Conservation Area was designated on 4 March 1969 and extended on 24 February 1976 and 14 September 1988.
05The detail
The conservation areas, side by side
The list includes Clapham, Clapham High Street and Clapham Common. Clapham High Street Conservation Area (CA22) was designated on 23 October 1997. Clapham Park and Northbourne Road (CA17) were designated as two areas in August and September 1974 and later merged; the boundary last changed on 18 July 2016.
Their documents are not the same kind. The Wandsworth area has the Clapham Common Conservation Area Appraisal & Management Strategy, while Lambeth's document for the Northbourne Road area is the Clapham Park Road and Northbourne Road Conservation Area Statement (2023).
Front gardens and Article 4 around the Common
The Common's appraisal gives a clear rule for frontages: Front gardens are extremely important to the area's character and should not be sacrificed to extensive hard surfacing. A crossover or a hard-surfaced forecourt is therefore a poor place to begin.
On the Lambeth side the record is precise (Lambeth CA17 statement para 1.9: no buildings in the Clapham Park Road and Northbourne Road CA are subject to an Article 4 direction). On the Wandsworth side, Wandsworth's Article 4 conservation-area list (Dover House, Heaver, Latchmere, Putney Lower Common, Roehampton Village, Shaftesbury Park, Totterdown Fields, Wandsworth Common) does not include Clapham Common. Absence from a list is a fact we confirm for your address, not an assumption we make.
Listed houses and what to draw next
A listed house on the Lambeth side sits among 953 borough entries and 64 conservation areas, and Lambeth granted 83.9% of its latest consent decisions. Wandsworth runs its own list and its own decisions, so an owner on the Wandsworth side reads Wandsworth's figures, not these. Start from listed building consent drawings in Lambeth or in Wandsworth.
Roofs and basements are tested separately: mansard roof drawings in Clapham starts at £845, and basement conversion drawings in Clapham at £1,995. Further south-west, see Wimbledon.
06The papers
What the drawings rest on
Flat conversions & change of use
07Correspondence
Questions
Is my Clapham house in Lambeth or Wandsworth?
Clapham Common and its edges straddle two boroughs: about 43 hectares of the common are in Wandsworth and 34 hectares in Lambeth, so the planning authority depends on which side a property stands. Send us the address and we confirm the council in the free constraints check.
Does Clapham Common have an Article 4 direction?
None is listed for it: Wandsworth's Article 4 conservation-area list (Dover House, Heaver, Latchmere, Putney Lower Common, Roehampton Village, Shaftesbury Park, Totterdown Fields, Wandsworth Common) does not include Clapham Common. We confirm the position for your address in the free constraints check.
Does the borough I am in change what I pay?
Our fee does not: a mansard starts at £845 including VAT whether the house is in Lambeth or Wandsworth. The council's application fee is set by, and paid to, whichever council holds your address, so we name that council before you pay anything to either.
64
named conservation areas published by the council
Conservation areas, Lambeth. Source: planning.data.gov.uk
08Further reading
Drawings in Clapham
09Sources
Sources and dates
- lambeth.gov.uk, retrieved
- wandsworth.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- lambeth.gov.uk, retrieved
- wandsworth.gov.uk, retrieved
- lambeth.gov.uk, retrieved
- lambeth.gov.uk, retrieved
- wandsworth.gov.uk, retrieved
- assets.publishing.service.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
- planning.data.gov.uk, retrieved
Licences
- Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- Contains Historic England data © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL).
Send us the address of your house.
We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.