Loft conversion drawings in Southwark from £625
Camberwell, Peckham, Dulwich and Bermondsey: we draw the loft and the fire-safety paperwork Southwark asks for with every householder application.
£625 £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total), no VAT to add
Prefer WhatsApp? Send us a message · +44 7592 201353
The short answer
A Southwark loft application carries something most London councils leave out: a fire safety strategy, or a signed reasonable-exception form, with every householder application. We prepare it with the drawings. Our fee is £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total), no VAT to add; the council’s own application fee is separate.
Loft conversion drawings
from £625
- Drawings
- £475
- Measured survey
- £150
- Total you pay
- £625
- VAT
- None to add
- A measured survey of the roof, the stair and the landing below
- The fire safety strategy or reasonable-exception form Southwark asks for, with the escape route drawn
- A site plan at 1:100 or 1:50 with each adjoining building labelled and numbered
- Plans, elevations and a stair section, with the roof-volume check
- Submission to Southwark for you, with the CIL information
- An independent check of every sheet and free redraws until approval
£475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total). 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 feeHow a Southwark loft job runs
Address and constraints
We check your road against Southwark’s conservation area and Article 4 directions, such as the Sunray Estate.
Survey
We measure the roof and the stair, and note the neighbouring buildings the site plan must label.
Draw with the escape route
The new floor’s way out is drawn first, as the fire strategy needs it, and the loft is laid out around it.
Submit
We send everything together; Southwark gives an estimated decision date at 8, 13 or 16 weeks after validation.
The fire safety form on a Southwark loft
Southwark’s householder checklist asks for a fire safety strategy or a reasonable exception form under London Plan Policy D12, plus CIL information, with every application. For a loft the sensible reading is that the new storey and its way out are the part that matters: Approved Document B asks for a protected escape route once a new floor is above 4.5 metres.
We draw the escape route before the room, so the strategy is a drawing and not an afterthought. Doing it with the drawings keeps the file complete from day one, which matters when the council’s own aim is a decision 8, 13 or 16 weeks after validation.
Sunray Estate and the other places the right has gone
Southwark has conservation areas across the borough and a smaller number of Article 4 directions. For example, the Sunray Estate Conservation Area, confirmed in 1987, makes external alterations on Sunray Avenue, Sunray Gardens, Casino Avenue and Nairne Grove, and parts of Red Post Hill and Herne Hill, need planning permission. A rear roof extension that would sit under Class B elsewhere has to go through the council there.
Changing a house to a small HMO also needs permission on Henshaw Street SE17 and Bywater Place SE16. That matters if you plan a loft room to let.
What to put on the plans, and CIL
Southwark wants a site plan at 1:100 or 1:50 that labels and numbers all immediately adjoining buildings, and elevations of the front, back and both sides. It also asks that no personal information, such as names, number plates or photographs of people, appears in any document, or the application can be invalidated. The Householder Development SPD of July 2025 is the guidance for design.
Southwark’s CIL runs in three zones at £435, £218 and £54 a square metre before indexation, with Mayoral CIL in band 2 on top. CIL does not arise on under 100 square metres of new build unless a dwelling is created, so an ordinary loft is outside it.
Loft conversions in Southwark in numbers
424 of 435
Householder decisions by Southwark Council between July 2025 and June 2026 (prior approvals left out) that were made inside 8 weeks.
Source: MHCLG live table PS2, district planning application statistics, July 2025 to June 2026 (GOV.UK)
D12
London Plan policy behind the fire safety strategy or reasonable-exception form Southwark requires with every householder application.
Source: Planning checklists: householder application (Southwark Council)
1:100 or 1:50
Scale of the site plan, on which every adjoining building is labelled and numbered.
Source: Planning checklists: householder application (Southwark Council)
1987
Year the Sunray Estate Conservation Area direction was confirmed, controlling external alterations on its named streets.
Source: Article 4: Sunray Estate Conservation Area (Southwark Council)
No personal data
Names, number plates and photographs of people must stay out of the documents, or the application may be invalidated.
8, 13 or 16 weeks
The estimated decision date Southwark gives after validation, depending on application type.
Source: After you apply for planning permission (Southwark Council)
£435 / £218 / £54
Southwark residential CIL per square metre in Zones 1, 2 and 3, before indexation.
£72.73
Mayoral CIL per square metre for permissions granted in 2026 in Southwark, which is in band 2 (£60 when set in 2019). It applies only where CIL is due at all.
Source: Mayoral CIL: Annual CIL Rate Summary 2026 (London.gov.uk)
4.5 m
Height of a new storey above which a protected escape route is expected.
Source: Approved Document B (fire safety) volume 1: Dwellings (GOV.UK)
40 m³ / 50 m³
The roof-space limit for a terraced house and for any other house under Class B.
Source: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1, Class B: roof additions (legislation.gov.uk)
Questions about loft conversions in Southwark
What is a reasonable exception form?
Southwark lets an applicant explain why a full fire safety strategy is not needed for the scheme. For a house loft we usually prepare the strategy, since the new floor and its escape route are the whole point. The council sets out its requirement on its householder checklist.
Do I need pre-application advice in Southwark?
Not usually for a loft. Southwark charges for it, with written-only and meeting options, and most standard lofts go straight in with a clean pack. See the council’s pre-application page.
Do I pay CIL on a Southwark loft?
No, not on an ordinary loft. New-build floor area under 100 square metres is exempt unless the work creates a dwelling.
Get your Southwark loft drawn with its fire strategy
Send the address and a photo of the back of the house. We reply with the route and a fixed fee, from £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total).