01 · YOUR HOME ARCHITECTS
Residential architects in Tower Hamlets.
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 Tower Hamlets
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
Tower Hamlets
Fixed-fee architectural services for London homeowners, in Tower Hamlets and every other borough, from a RIBA Chartered practice. Most homes here are flats rather than houses, so the work is usually reordering what you have rather than extending outwards. Where there are houses, in Bow, Mile End and Spitalfields, 58 conservation areas mean the detail matters. We establish exactly what your address allows first, then price each stage before it starts.
Our work here divides in two: rear extensions and loft conversions on the terraced stock in Bow, Mile End and Spitalfields, and internal reordering of flats and warehouse conversions across the Docklands.
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?
58 conservation areas including Spitalfields, Wapping Pierhead, Tredegar Square, Narrow Street and Victoria Park. Each has its own published description of what the designation is protecting.
WHAT EXTRA RULES APPLY HERE?
Conservation area rules remove the usual allowances across many streets. Separate rules on shared houses apply in parts of the borough but do not affect ordinary householder extensions.
WHAT KIND OF HOUSE IS IT?
Georgian terraces in Spitalfields, Victorian terraces in Bow and Mile End, extensive post-war estates and one of the largest concentrations of new build flats in the country. Houses are the minority here.
WHAT PEOPLE USUALLY BUILD HERE
Rear extensions and loft conversions on the terraces. Elsewhere the work is internal, because most homes are flats and extending outwards is not an option.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT AFFECTS YOUR SITE
Large areas along the tidal Thames sit in a flood zone, including the Isle of Dogs, Wapping and Limehouse, which adds a flood report to any application. Reference: Local Plan to 2031, adopted January 2020.
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 Tower Hamlets?
For most people here, the question does not really arise. The great majority of homes in Tower Hamlets are flats, and flats have none of the automatic rights that houses do, so any external change needs permission whatever its size.
How do I find out what my conservation area protects?
Every one of the 58 areas has a published description setting out what the designation protects. Reading the one covering your street is the most reliable guide to what will be acceptable, and it is free and public.
Does flood risk affect building here?
Substantially. Large parts of the borough sit in a flood zone along the tidal Thames, including the Isle of Dogs, Wapping and Limehouse. That means a flood report with the application and closer attention to floor levels.
07 · CONSULTATION
Book a consultation.
Thirty minutes with a registered architect. Free, and nothing is committed.