01 · YOUR HOME ARCHITECTS
Residential architects in Islington.
Fixed fees, clear process.
Design, planning, building regulations and the contract on site, from a RIBA Chartered practice. Every service priced before you commit.
PLANNING AUTHORITY
London Borough of Islington
02 · THE PRACTICE
Design to completion, from a RIBA Chartered practice.
Your Home Architects is a service offered by Vision and Design, RIBA Chartered architects based in London. We set it up so London homeowners can see the whole job in advance, with the price for each service agreed before that service begins.
Architects Registration Board
Architect is a title protected by law in the United Kingdom. Only someone on the ARB register may use it. Registration requires seven years of education and examination, is renewed annually, and can be removed for professional misconduct.
ARB REGISTERED ARCHITECTS
RIBA Chartered practice
Registration is held by the practice, not just an individual. It requires a registered architect in charge, professional indemnity cover, a written complaints procedure and continuing professional development.
VISION + DESIGN LTD
Why the title matters to you
An architectural technologist or designer may be excellent, but is not accountable to a regulator. V+D are Chartered Architects, giving you a complaints route, a disciplinary body and mandatory professional indemnity cover.
COVER DETAILS ON REQUEST
03 · THE SERVICE
How we help homeowners in
Islington
Fixed-fee architectural services for London homeowners, in Islington and every other borough, from a RIBA Chartered practice. Islington controls more than almost any borough in London: 40 of its 42 conservation areas carry extra rules, so the rights that survive next door have often been removed here. It pays to assume you need permission and design accordingly. We establish exactly what your address allows first, then price each stage before it starts.
We work on Georgian and early Victorian terraces here: side returns, rear extensions and roof alterations, and the front elevation work that Islington's rules bring into the planning system. Each stage priced before it begins.
04 · PUBLISHED FEES
Fixed fee, stage by stage.
Start with a free report. Instruct the next service only when you want to. Priced on how constrained the site is, not on how ambitious you are.
Straightforward work, straightforward pricing
01 · PLANS
Simple plans from only £1,450
• Permitted development only
• Plans and certificate application
• One design revision included
View full fees
02 · PLANS + REGS
Plans + building regulations from £2,950
• Everything in Simple plans
• Building regulations application
• Builder-ready technical drawings
View full fees
Not sure whether your project needs planning permission? The free report answers that first, at no cost.
Everything else, priced by band
BAND A
Unrestricted property · from £2,500
• Householder Application
• No listing or conservation designation
• From £2,500 for design and planning
View band fees
BAND B · MOST COMMON
Constrained property · from £4,000
• Conservation area
• More detailed planning coordination
• From £4,000 for design and planning
View band fees
BAND C
Complex property · from £5,500
• Listed, complex, or highly constrained
• Specialist consent and coordination
• From £5,500 for design and planning
View band fees
A short conversation about your house fixes the figure for each stage before anything starts.
*Every service is separately instructed and separately priced. Most projects begin with the free report.
**Structural engineers, party wall surveyors, Building Control and builders are appointed directly by you and are not included.
05 · START WITH YOUR ADDRESS
A free property report for London homeowners.
Enter your address and we will tell you whether your home is listed, sits in a conservation area or falls under an Article 4 direction, what you are allowed to build without planning permission, and what your neighbours have already been allowed to build.
Free · Within 48 hours · No obligation
What your report covers
• Listed status, conservation area and Article 4 direction
• What you can build without planning permission, specific to your house
• Your likely planning route
• Existing footprint, plot outline and planning history
• Flood zone, tree preservation orders and decided applications nearby
Download a sample report.
See the address check before you ask us to prepare one for your home.
06 · YOUR ADDRESS, NOT THE AVERAGE
What we check before anything is drawn.
IS YOUR STREET PROTECTED?
42 conservation areas including Canonbury, Barnsbury, Highbury Fields, Clerkenwell and Duncan Terrace. Almost the whole borough is covered, and the council looks closely at anything visible from the street.
WHAT EXTRA RULES APPLY HERE?
In 40 of the 42 conservation areas you cannot change windows and doors, alter the roof, paint brickwork, pave the front garden or alter the front wall without permission. That is close to borough-wide in practice.
WHAT KIND OF HOUSE IS IT?
Georgian and early Victorian terraces, a great many of them now divided into flats. If your home is a flat rather than a whole house, the automatic rights to extend do not apply at all.
WHAT PEOPLE USUALLY BUILD HERE
Side return infills, rear extensions, basements and roof alterations. On terraces this narrow, the side return is usually where the extra room comes from.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT AFFECTS YOUR SITE
Basements need full permission and are judged on the effect on neighbours and on the building itself. Reference: Basement Development SPD 2016, Policy DM4.5, Local Plan adopted September 2023 and the Urban Design Guide SPD.
07 · CHECK IT YOURSELF
Estimate your London extension cost.
Estimate your full project cost — build, interior fit-out, regulatory and professional fees, contingency and VAT — calibrated for Inner and Outer London.
London extension cost calculator
Open calculator
08 · COMMON QUESTIONS
Do I need planning permission to extend in Islington?
Very probably. Islington has 42 conservation areas and 40 of them carry extra rules, so on most streets you cannot change windows, doors, the roof, the front path or the front wall without asking. Rights that survive in neighbouring boroughs have been removed here.
My house has been split into flats. Does that change things?
Yes, considerably. The automatic rights to extend apply to houses only. Once a building is divided into flats, any external change needs permission whatever its size, and your freeholder's agreement is a separate matter from the council's.
Can I dig out a basement here?
It needs permission, and on Georgian and early Victorian houses the real question is structural rather than legal. The existing foundations are shallow, so what the building can take usually decides feasibility before the council does.
07 · CONSULTATION
Book a consultation.
Thirty minutes with a registered architect. Free, and nothing is committed.