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Design and access statements for £235

Some applications are invalid without one. We write a short, specific statement that explains your design and how people reach the building, in plain English, for a fixed fee.

£235 fixed fee, no VAT to add

Get a fixed fee for your house

We will send your fixed fee here.

Handy if a quick call is easier.

We check conservation areas and other limits for this address.

In a sentence or two: your plans, and any feedback from the council so far.

Optional. PDF, JPG, PNG, HEIC or DWG. Up to 10 files, 28 MB in total.

Write before 3pm and you hear back that working day.

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The short answer

A design and access statement is a concise report that accompanies certain planning applications. It explains the design principles behind the scheme, how the design responds to its context, and how people can get into and around it. Our fee is £235, no VAT to add, when you need the statement on its own.

Design and access statement

from £235

Fixed fee
£235
VAT
None to add
  • A short statement written for your scheme and your street, not adapted from a template
  • An appraisal of the site and its context: the street, the neighbours and the policies that apply
  • The design principles, with sketches or extracts from your drawings to show them
  • An access section: the route in, levels, doors and what has been done for people with limited mobility
  • A combined heritage section where a conservation area or listed building is involved
  • A final read against the council’s validation list before it goes in

£235. A starting fee: we confirm one fixed figure after checking your address. The council’s own fee, where there is one, is paid to the council.

Get my fixed fee

Our fee here is £235, no VAT to add. The main page for this service is on our sister site Fixed Fee Plans, run by the same team.

How the statement is written

  1. Read the scheme

    You send the drawings or the brief, and we read the application and the council’s validation list.

  2. Appraise the context

    We look at the site, the street and the policy, and note what the officer will look for.

  3. Write

    We explain the design principles and how the scheme responds to its surroundings, then the access.

  4. Check

    We check every statement against the drawings, so nothing is described that the plans do not show.

  5. Deliver

    You receive a PDF ready to upload with your application.

Do you need one?

The Planning Practice Guidance lists the applications that must be accompanied by a design and access statement: major development; development in a designated area, meaning a conservation area or World Heritage Site, where it consists of one or more dwellings or buildings of 100 square metres or more; and listed building consent applications.

Applications for a material change of use, and applications to amend the conditions on a permission, do not need one. A householder extension outside a conservation area usually does not either, but your council’s local list may ask for one, and we check it.

  • Major development
  • One or more dwellings, or 100 m² or more, in a conservation area or World Heritage Site
  • Any application for listed building consent
  • Not needed for a change of use or for varying conditions

What goes in it

For a planning application the statement must explain the design principles and concepts applied, and demonstrate the steps taken to appraise the context and how the design takes it into account. It must also set out the approach to access, how local plan policies were taken into account and any consultation on access.

The guidance says the level of detail should be proportionate to the complexity of the application, and it should not be long. We write to that: a statement on a house extension is a few pages, not twenty.

Listed buildings and heritage

A statement for listed building consent must explain how the works take account of the building’s special architectural or historic importance, the physical features that justify its listing, and its setting. Where a planning application and a listed building application go in together, a single combined statement should cover both.

Where both a design and access statement and a heritage assessment are needed, the guidance says the heritage assessment can be included within the statement to avoid duplication. If you need both, see our heritage statement.

Heritage statement · Planning permission drawings

Design and access statements in numbers

Questions about design and access statements

Is the statement included in your planning drawings fee?

This is the standalone fee for the statement, for applications where the drawings exist already or someone else is drawing them. If we are also drawing your application, tell us and we will confirm what is covered.

How long should it be?

As short as the scheme allows. For a house, a few pages with sketches. The guidance asks for a concise document.

Source: Planning Practice Guidance: making an application (GOV.UK)

Will it help my application succeed?

It helps the officer understand your design, which is its job. It cannot make a poor scheme acceptable, and we do not promise outcomes.

Can you write one for a scheme someone else drew?

Yes, from the drawings and a conversation with you. We will say if the drawings leave questions that the statement cannot answer.

Explain the design in your own context

Send the drawings or a brief. We reply with the scope and a fixed fee of £235.

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