Call 020 7131 9703Request a fixed quote
Front of a stucco house on Chester Square in Belgravia, with a pillared porch, black door, iron balconies and climbing plants
Photograph: Pierrette13 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01Planning

Discharging the conditions on your London planning permission

A planning permission is rarely free of strings. Conditions about materials, joinery details, landscaping or a construction plan must be approved by the council before work can properly start. We prepare the evidence and the application, for up to three conditions. From £375, fixed before we start.

From £375

  • MCIAT chartered architectural technologists
  • £2m professional indemnity insurance
  • LABC Partnered
  • ICO registered

Fixed fee, no VAT to add

Ask for a fixed fee

Photographs or current plans (optional)

Drag files here or browse your device

Up to 10 files, 90 MB in total: PDF, JPG, PNG or DWG

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

    02The fee

    One fixed fee, published

    Discharge of planning conditions

    from £375

    The total you pay. No VAT to add.

    Ask for your fixed fee

    What you get

    • A reading of your decision notice, with every condition and its trigger listed in plain English
    • Samples, sheets and specifications written to what each condition actually asks for
    • The discharge application and the council's fee form, completed and submitted
    • Follow-up with the officer, with replies in five working days
    • A free redraw if the officer wants a different brick, window or detail

    The council's fee for discharging conditions on a householder permission is £89, and £309 on any other permission. It is paid to the council, not to us, and our fee carries no VAT to add.

    03How it runs

    Clearing the conditions, one by one

    Clearing the conditions, one by oneList every condition and when it bites; Prepare the sheet or sample each one asks for; Apply to the council with the fee; Officer decides within eight weeks; Approval letter filed with the permissioni

    List every condition and when it bites

    ii

    Prepare the sheet or sample each one asks for

    iii

    Apply to the council with the fee

    iv

    Officer decides within eight weeks

    v

    Approval letter filed with the permission

    The pre-commencement conditions come first: work started before they are cleared can be unlawful.
    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London

    8 weeks

    Time the council has to decide an application for approval required by a condition, or longer if agreed in writing. Source: legislation.gov.uk

    Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

    04Planning

    Why a condition is a deadline

    Conditions come in kinds. Some must be cleared before you start on site, usually called pre-commencement conditions, and building first and applying later puts the permission itself at risk. Others bite before occupation, or before a particular stage such as the roof going on.

    We read the decision notice and make a dated list, so the builder is never told to stop for a missing approval. On a listed or conservation-area house the long ones tend to be materials, window and door details, and the method of making good the old fabric.

    White stucco terrace houses on Eaton Square in Belgravia, with columned porches and first-floor balconies
    Eaton Square, Belgravia: stucco colour, porch details and railings are the kind of matters conditions reserve.Photograph: CVB, CC BY-SA 4.0

    05Planning

    The eight-week clock and what the fee covers

    The council must decide an application to approve details within eight weeks of receiving it, or a longer period that you agree in writing. A sensible officer will often ask for a sample board or a drawing first, so we send both with the application rather than waiting to be asked.

    One application can cover several conditions, which is why our fee is for a pack of up to three. If your permission carries more, we say so before you commit, and quote the extra conditions as a fixed addition.

    What clearing the conditions costsPack of up to three conditions, our fee: £375; Council fee, householder permission: £89; Council fee, any other permission: £309; Changes the officer asks for: no charge£Pack of up to three conditions, our fee£375£Council fee, householder permission£89£Council fee, any other permission£309£Changes the officer asks forno charge
    Council fees from the national table in force from 1 April 2026.

    06Planning

    When the problem is the condition itself

    Sometimes a condition cannot be met as written: the named brick is no longer made, or a window detail clashes with building regulations. Then the right step is not to discharge it but to ask the council to vary it, which needs a different application. The fee for varying a condition on a householder permission is also £89.

    If the change touches the design as well, a planning amendment may be the better route. We tell you which is which from the decision notice, and if the original drawings came from us, our planning drawings are already on file.

    Number 37 Dover Street in Mayfair, a white stucco Georgian townhouse with arched ground-floor windows and iron railings
    A Mayfair townhouse: window and door details here often sit behind a condition.Photograph: stevecadman, CC BY-SA 2.0

    07The record

    Figures that shape the job

    1. 8 weeks

      Time the council has to decide an application for approval required by a condition, or longer if agreed in writing.

      Source: Development Management Procedure Order 2015, article 27, checked 25 Oct 2026

    2. £89

      Fee to discharge conditions on a householder permission, from 1 April 2026.

      Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026

    3. £309

      Fee to discharge conditions on any other permission, from 1 April 2026.

      Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026

    4. £89

      Fee to vary or remove a condition on a householder permission, from 1 April 2026.

      Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026

    5. s73

      A section 73 application can vary or remove conditions, and results in a new permission with the original left intact.

      Source: Planning Practice Guidance, Flexible options for planning permissions, checked 25 Oct 2026

    6. 56

      Conservation areas published by Westminster City Council, where conditions on materials and details are common.

      Source: planning.data.gov.uk, conservation areas dataset, checked 7 Oct 2026

    08Questions

    What clients ask before they instruct us

    Do I have to discharge conditions before I start work?

    Pre-commencement conditions, yes: they say so in their wording. Starting before they are cleared can put the whole permission in doubt, so we sort the order of conditions at the start.

    What if I disagree with a condition?

    You can ask the council to vary or remove it, or appeal against it. Which is right depends on the condition, and we give you a written view before any fee is spent.

    What does your fee include?

    The reading of the notice, the evidence and sheets for up to three conditions, the application and the follow-up with the officer. It starts at £375 and carries no VAT to add.

    Can you discharge conditions on a permission another firm won?

    Yes. Send the decision notice and the approved drawings and we will write back with the conditions, their triggers and a fixed fee for each pack.

    Does the listed building route have conditions too?

    Yes, and they are often stricter. See listed building consent drawings for how we handle the detail required.

    09Related

    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.

    Ask for a fixed feeCall 020 7131 9703WhatsApp
    Discharge of Planning Conditions London | £375