PLANNING
APPLICATIONS

We prepare, submit and manage planning applications for homeowners and small developers across Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire. In over 20 years we have submitted and managed more than 500 applications, from single-storey extensions to new homes on tight infill plots.

​

We deal with the council on your behalf from validation to decision, so you are not left chasing a case officer or second-guessing a consultation response.

Extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings and other changes to a single house usually need a householder application. New homes, changes of use and work to flats need a full planning application.

​

Many smaller projects need no application at all because they fall within permitted development. We tell you which route applies before you spend money on drawings.

Councils will not start the clock until an application is valid. That means the right forms and ownership certificate, a location plan with the site edged in red, scaled existing and proposed drawings, the correct fee and every document on the council’s local validation list.

​

Depending on the site, that list can include a design and access statement, heritage statement, tree survey, flood risk assessment or ecology report. We check what your authority and your site need before we submit, which avoids weeks lost to an invalid application.

Councils have a statutory target of 8 weeks for most applications and 13 weeks for major development. In practice, expect 8 to 14 weeks from validation to decision.

​

Preparing the application takes 2 to 3 weeks if drawings already exist, or 6 to 12 weeks if we are producing the drawings as well.

Our fee for preparing and managing an application starts from £500 plus VAT. More complex sites are quoted individually once we have looked at the constraints.

​

The council’s application fee is separate and set nationally. Since 1 April 2026 it has been £548 for a householder application and £610 per new home for schemes of fewer than ten homes.

Most councils offer pre-application advice: an informal view from a planning officer on a specific proposal before you apply. It is most useful for larger or more sensitive schemes, and councils charge for it.

​

We decide with you whether it is worth it, prepare the enquiry and attend any meeting, so the advice that comes back is specific enough to act on. Inside the South Downs National Park we usually complete our own research instead.

A refusal is rarely the end of a project.

​

Where an application is refused, we study the reasons, redesign and resubmit, or advise on an appeal where the case is strong.

The quickest way to find out what your project needs is a planning surgery: 45 minutes at our Haslemere office or on Teams, for a flat £95 plus VAT. We research your site’s constraints beforehand, so the time is spent on answers rather than background.

​

Prefer to talk first? Call us on 01428 892198.