Apply for planning permission
Preparing and submitting your application
Preparing your application
When you've decided what you want to do, you need to prepare your application. This involves getting all the information about your development ready. It's really important that you follow our guidance on how to prepare a valid planning application. This will help ensure you get your application right the first time and avoid delays.
Submitting your application
When your application is ready, you can choose how you want to submit it to us.
Submit online via the Planning Portal website
The Planning Portal website is the fastest and easiest way to apply. Your fee payment will be taken on the Planning Portal when you submit your application.
Submit planning application via Planning Portal
If you are submitting a Lawful Development Certificate application, then we recommend that you use our new online application portal. Your fee payment will be taken when you submit your application.
Submit by email
We also accept applications by email. A member of our Planning Support team will contact you to explain how to pay your fee after we receive your email. You can see all application forms and download the form you need from the Planning Portal website.
In your email, you must:
- confirm what type of application you're submitting
- attach your completed application form
- attach all other forms, drawings and supporting documents
- tell us how you want to pay; if you pay online, let us know in your email
Submit by post
You can post your application to: Planning, 5th Floor Hub 2, Southwark Council, PO Box 64529, London, SE1P 5LX
You must:
- confirm what type of application you're submitting
- send two copies of your completed application form. You can see all application forms and download the form you need from the Planning Portal website.
- send two copies of all other forms, drawings and supporting documents
- tell us how you want to pay and if you're paying with a cheque, send this in the letter
What we do when we receive your application
We will let you know:
- when we've received your application
- when we have made it valid
Once we've made your application valid, a Planning Officer will be responsible for looking at your case. They will decide whether the works you want to do are acceptable and will contact you if they need more information.
See our planning FAQs for commonly asked questions about everything that happens after you've submitted a planning application.
What we will do if there are issues with your application
If we find a mistake in your application or if there is any information missing, we will not make your case valid. We will tell you what you need to do to make it valid. You will have 21 days to respond to us and to fix any mistakes or send us missing information. If we do hear from you after 35 days, we will close your application and you will need to apply again.
Page last updated: 21 November 2023
