LDC Express

Step 1 of 9

Is your project already built, or planned?

This decides whether you need a Section 192 (proposed) or Section 191 (retrospective) Lawful Development Certificate.

A few yes/no checks

These decide whether your property qualifies for permitted development. If any answer puts you outside what we cover, we will tell you straight away. There is no fee for this.

Is the property in England?
Is the property a house (not a flat or maisonette)?
Is the property listed?
Is the property in a conservation area, National Park, AONB, World Heritage Site, or the Broads?
Is the property in an Article 4 Direction area that removes permitted development rights for your type of project?
Was your house created under an office-to-residential or shop-to-residential prior-approval (Class M, N, P or Q)?
Your property address

We'll use this to pre-validate and to tell the council which property the certificate covers.

Which type of project is it?

Pick the one that matches the work you're planning.

Not sure which class? If the conveyancer's letter just says "LDC" — pick the closest match or "Something else" and we'll sort it from your description.
We'll let you know when we open up

We certify Classes A, B and E. These are the classes where we have enough case law to stand behind our refund guarantee. We are adding more. Leave your details and we'll email you the moment yours is covered.

Rear / side extension details

All measurements in metres. If a measurement breaks a limit, we will tell you straight away.

Is any part of the extension within 2m of a property boundary?

Don't know? Open Google Maps, right-click your property, and use "Measure distance" to trace your plot boundary.

Show me how
  1. Open Google Maps and zoom in on your property in satellite view.
  2. Right-click any corner of your plot boundary, then choose Measure distance.
  3. Click each corner in turn to trace the full boundary of your land.
  4. Click back on your starting corner to close the shape — Maps shows the total area in m².

We pool this against the 50% curtilage cap — Class A and Class E share the same limit.

Does the extension sit forward of the front of the house, or forward of any side that fronts a road?
Is this a side extension?
Is the extension more than one storey?
Do the exterior materials match the existing house (colour, brick, render, roof)?
Loft conversion / roof alteration details

Measure the dormer. Three numbers off a tape measure. We work out the volume from them — you don't need to calculate anything.

Did you measure inside the dormer or outside? Inside is easier and is fine. The rules measure the outside, so if you measured inside we add an allowance for the thickness of the walls and roof, and check it by hand before filing.
Has the roof been enlarged before this work? An earlier dormer, or a hip-to-gable. The rules add every roof enlargement together.
Does any part of the enlargement exceed the highest point of the existing roof?
Is the dormer on the roof slope that forms the front of the house AND faces a road?
Were the original eaves left in place? The bottom edge of the roof with the gutter on it. The rules require it to be kept or put back, and the dormer to sit above it rather than replace it.
Was a chimney, flue or soil pipe added, moved or replaced on the outside? A soil pipe is the wide waste pipe from a bathroom. Adding one outside for a new shower room counts. One routed inside the house does not.
Is there a window in either side wall of the dormer? The cheeks are the sides facing your neighbours, not the window facing the garden.

Materials. The rules ask that the work looks similar to the existing house, so the council needs both described.

Are there rooflights on the front roof slope? Velux-style windows in the roof itself, facing the street.
Is the project a combination of hip-to-gable + crown roof + new dormer + chimney removal?
Outbuilding details
Does it contain a full kitchen (hob + oven + sink beyond a handwash)?
Does it contain a shower or bathtub?
Does it contain a bedroom or sleeping accommodation?
Does it contain a WC only (no shower, no bath)?
Is any part of the outbuilding within 2m of a boundary?
Does it sit forward of the front of the house?

Don't know? Open Google Maps, right-click your property, and use "Measure distance" to trace your plot boundary.

Show me how
  1. Open Google Maps and zoom in on your property in satellite view.
  2. Right-click any corner of your plot boundary, then choose Measure distance.
  3. Click each corner in turn to trace the full boundary of your land.
  4. Click back on your starting corner to close the shape — Maps shows the total area in m².
Is the land clearly part of the domestic garden (not a paddock, field or adjacent parcel)?
Does it have a verandah, balcony, or raised platform higher than 0.3m?
When was it built, and what evidence do you have?

A retrospective certificate relies on one of two arguments. Either the work was permitted development when it was built, which needs no waiting period and is usually the stronger case. Or it has been in place long enough to be immune from enforcement. Since 25 April 2024 that period is 10 years in England; work substantially completed before that date keeps the old 4-year period. If your answers flag a judgement call, we check the case by hand before drafting anything.

You sign your statement online, the same as everything else. A few councils ask for it to be made as a statutory declaration instead, signed in front of a solicitor or commissioner for oaths (the fee is set by law at £5). If yours is one of them, or asks for one later, we'll tell you and send you the document.

Since it was built, has anyone from the council contacted you about it (enforcement notice, warning letter, visit)?
Which best describes your situation? Most loft conversions and extensions built to the permitted-development limits fall into the first group, and that's the stronger case — it doesn't depend on how long the work has been there.
Is the property currently being sold?
Has anyone suggested indemnity insurance for this? Filing an application tells the council about the work, and most indemnity policies require that the council has never been approached. We ask so we don't take a case that would leave you with fewer options than you started with.
Photographs

We need at least 6 photos to submit your application. You'll upload them after payment from your customer dashboard — just confirm you can take them now.

Can you photograph: front elevation from the street, rear elevation, both sides, curtilage showing existing outbuildings, and boundary fences?
How do we reach you?

Asking now so we can save your progress and pick up where you left off if you come back. You won't be charged anything yet.

Do you live at the property this application is about? The council's form asks for your own postal address as well as the address of the property. They are usually the same, but not if you have already moved out or are applying about a place you let.
Check your answers

Choose your service level

LDC Express service fee£349
Council fee (pass-through)£274
Total£623

If the council refuses, we refund our £349 fee in full. The council fee is set by regulation and depends on the project (£274/£548 for an extension or loft, £136/£272 for an outbuilding), paid at filing, and isn't recoverable from us.

Once filed, the council has up to 8 statutory weeks to decide. That's their clock — we can't influence it. What we control (drafting, filing, chasing) we move fast on.

Before you pay

Filing an application puts the work on the council's record. Most indemnity insurance policies require that the council has never been approached about the work, so after we file you will usually not be able to buy one.

If they refuse, we refund our £349 service fee in full. We cannot refund the council fee, and we cannot restore the indemnity insurance option.