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A newly built rear extension with blockwork walls, glazed doors and scaffolding still up, the stage at which many owners learn they needed permission

Retrospective planning applications from £625

Already built, or halfway there, without the permission it needed? We measure what stands, draw it as built, write the case and submit it to your council for a fixed fee.

£625 £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total), no VAT to add

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

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The short answer

A retrospective application asks the council to grant permission for work that already exists, under section 73A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It is judged like any other application, on the same plans and policies. Our fee is £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total), no VAT to add; the council fee is separate.

Retrospective planning application

from £625

Drawings
£475
Measured survey
£150
Total you pay
£625
VAT
None to add
  • A measured survey of the work as it stands, plus the house and the boundaries
  • Existing and as-built plans, elevations and a section, with location and block plans
  • A short planning statement that sets out why the work is acceptable
  • The forms, the ownership certificate and the submission to your council
  • Answers to the planning officer, and redraws of our drawings until approval
  • An independent check of the set before it goes in

£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.

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How a retrospective application runs with us

  1. Tell us what was built

    Send the address, a few photos and any letter from the council. We check the planning history and any enforcement notice first.

  2. We survey what stands

    One visit to measure the extension, loft or outbuilding as built, and the neighbours’ windows that the officer will look at.

  3. Drawings and the case

    We draw the work exactly as it is, never as it was meant to be, and write the statement that answers the policies it touches.

  4. Submission

    We submit through the Planning Portal with the forms and the council fee, and tell the enforcement officer, if there is one, that it is in.

  5. Officer questions

    We answer the officer and redraw at no charge until a decision. If changes on site would win permission, we draw those too.

When a retrospective application is the right move

Most of our retrospective jobs start with one of three things: a letter from the council’s enforcement team, a buyer’s solicitor asking for the planning paperwork, or a neighbour’s complaint. In each case the quickest way to settle the question is usually to put the work in front of the council properly, with drawings that match what is on the ground.

Sometimes no application is needed at all. If the work fits permitted development, a Lawful Development Certificate proves it is lawful instead, and we will tell you so before you pay for anything else.

  • An extension, loft dormer or outbuilding built bigger than permitted development allows
  • Work that departs from the approved drawings: a deeper extension, a different roof, new windows
  • A building used for something it has no permission for, such as a garden room let out as a flat

What happens if you do nothing

Building without permission is not itself a criminal offence, but ignoring an enforcement notice is, and the council can serve one for years after the work is finished. For operational work substantially completed on or after 25 April 2024, the Planning Practice Guidance gives councils 10 years to act.

Councils use these powers. In April to June 2026 alone, English councils issued 1,071 enforcement notices, according to the GOV.UK planning statistics. A sale can stall long before that point, because the buyer’s solicitor will ask for the permission.

You get one clear chance, so make it count

The guidance is blunt: a person has only one opportunity to get permission after the event. Once an enforcement notice has been issued, the council can decline to decide a later retrospective application under section 70C, and an appeal on the planning merits may be closed off too.

That is why we draw the work exactly as built, deal with the neighbour’s window and the boundary first, and suggest any small change on site that would make the scheme acceptable before the application goes in.

Building regulations for work already done · All our fees

Retrospective planning by the numbers

Questions about retrospective planning

Can I sell a house with an extension that never had planning permission?

You can, but the buyer’s solicitor will usually ask for the permission or proof that the work is lawful, and a lender may want the same. A retrospective application, or a Lawful Development Certificate where the work was permitted development, gives them the paper they are looking for.

Will the council treat me worse because I built first?

The application is judged on its planning merits, the same as one made before building. The guidance asks councils to act proportionately, and many breaches are settled by an application rather than enforcement.

Source: Planning Practice Guidance: enforcement and post-permission matters (GOV.UK)

What if the application is refused?

Talk to us before anything else happens. A refusal can lead to an enforcement notice, and the options narrow after that. Often a smaller change on site, drawn and submitted again, is what gets the work accepted; our redraws of the drawings are free until approval.

Do I also need building regulations approval?

Usually, yes: planning and building regulations are separate. For building work already done, the council’s building control team handles a regularisation application, and we draw that set too.

Get the work on paper, the right way

Send the address, what was built and any council letter. We reply with the route and a fixed fee, from £475 drawings + £150 survey (£625 total).

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