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Bright finished basement room with a glass-balustrade staircase, high windows and a built-in desk
Photograph: Point3D Commercial Imaging Ltd.

01Greenwich, London

Basement conversion drawings for Royal Greenwich

Greenwich has 23 conservation areas and a World Heritage Site, but our data holds no council basement rule, so the test is London policy, the national rules and your street. We draw to all three, from £1,995 including VAT.

From £1,995 (VAT included)

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    Write to us before 3pm and we reply the same working day. Redraws are free until approval.

    02The brief

    What the council has published on basements

    We found no Greenwich-specific basement rule in our data. The borough's local plan is the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies. The London Plan's basements policy reads: Boroughs should set policies on large-scale basements where this is a local issue.

    Absent a local cap, the practical limits are heritage and neighbours. The free constraints check reads the council's current documents for your address.

    Rear view of brick terraced houses in London with slate roofs and chimney stacks along the shared roofline
    Brick house being extended, with a wide new opening supported over the ground floor
    Photograph: Brett Jordan

    03The record

    Local figures for Greenwich

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    London Plan 2021 Policy D10(A)Boroughs should set policies on large-scale basements where this is a local issueNo periodlondon.gov.uk
    Party Wall etc. Act 1996 s6(1), s6(2), s6(5)Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundationsNo periodlegislation.gov.uk
    Party Wall etc. Act 1996 s5, s6(7)A dispute arises if the adjoining owner does not consent within 14 days of the noticeNo periodlegislation.gov.uk
    Approved Document B Vol 1, para 2.16Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exitNo periodgov.uk
    Householder: alterations/extensions to a single dwellinghouse, from 1 Apr 2026548 GBPNo periodribblevalley.gov.uk
    Local planRoyal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed PoliciesNo periodroyalgreenwich.gov.uk
    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005)23.2 % of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)2005data.london.gov.uk
    Conservation areas23 named conservation areas published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building entries540 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)No periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    World Heritage Sites1 World Heritage Sites intersecting the LPA boundaryNo periodplanning.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.

    Greenwich5 neighbouring councils
    Councils bordering Greenwich

    04The drawing

    A basement in sectionA, Party wall notice for excavation: Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations. B, Escape from basement rooms: Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exitAB

    A basement in section

    A house and garden over a single-storey basement. The lettered marks show the limits the legend gives.

    A Party wall notice for excavation
    Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations
    B Escape from basement rooms
    Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exit
    The basement in three dimensions3D
    Scroll the page: the model turns with it.

    05The detail

    Heritage layers over a basement

    23 conservation areas, 540 list entries and 1 World Heritage Site sit in the borough, so any part of a basement that shows from the street, such as a front lightwell or railing, is read against that setting. A listed house also needs consent, covered by listed building consent drawings in Greenwich.

    Domestic gardens make up 23.2% of the borough's land in the Greater London land-use data, so we show soil depth above the slab on the section.

    Party wall, escape and alarms

    Adjacent excavation notice at least 1 month before work: within 3 m and deeper than the neighbour's foundations, or within 6 m and cutting a 45° line from their foundations. If the neighbour does not reply, the Act treats it this way: A dispute arises if the adjoining owner does not consent within 14 days of the notice.

    Habitable basement rooms are covered by fire rules: Basement storeys with habitable rooms need an escape window or external door, or a protected stair to a final exit. Detection: All dwellings: fire detection and alarm system minimum Grade D2 Category LD3 (BS 5839-6), mains-operated smoke alarms to BS EN 14604.

    Cost, CIL and the roof

    The council's householder fee is £548, separate from our fee. No CIL where new build gross internal area is under 100 m², unless one or more dwellings are created. Residential extensions and annexes can claim exemption (claim before commencement).

    For Greenwich's rules on a new roof storey, see mansard roof drawings in Greenwich.

    Planning sheet for a single-storey rear extension: proposed ground floor plan and rear elevation, with the Property Architecture title block
    Sample drawing. Proposed plan and rear elevation from a planning application set, sheet 03 at 1:50.

    06The papers

    What the drawings rest on

    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in LondonListed building consent
    Photograph: Lorenc Memaga
    Structural calculation sheet for a steel beam over a new rear opening, with the load diagram, loading table and section checks
    Sample drawing. Beam B1 over a new rear opening: loading, bending moment and section checks.

    07Correspondence

    Questions

    Does Greenwich have a basement policy?

    Not one we can cite. Greenwich works from the Royal Greenwich Local Plan: Core Strategy with Detailed Policies, and the London Plan leaves basement policy to boroughs where large basements are a local issue. Our free constraints check reads the current documents for your street.

    Does a basement in a conservation area need extra drawings?

    Usually the visible parts do: lightwell, railings, stair and front elevation. We draw them to the same datum as the survey so the officer can read them against the street.

    What does the drawing fee include?

    From £1,995 including VAT for surveyed and proposed drawings, checked by a second technologist. Structural calculations and council fees are separate.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    23.2%

    of land that is domestic garden (GLUD 2005)

    Domestic gardens share of land (GLUD 2005), Greenwich, 2005. Source: data.london.gov.uk

    Photograph: Altaf Shah

    08Further reading

    Other services in Greenwich

    Basement conversion drawings nearby

    09Sources

    Sources and dates

    Licences

    Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

    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.

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    Basement conversion drawings in Greenwich