Formal Pre-application Advice service

Why you should apply for pre-application advice before submitting an application

The Pre-application Advice fees have increased from 20 November 2023.

We strongly recommend you seek pre-application advice from us before formally submitting an application although you are not required to do so.

The pre-application procedure provides the following benefits:

• avoid costly mistakes and save time
• understand planning policy requirements and constraints that apply to your site
• identify potential problems early on and work to explore potential solutions
• receive advice about how to improve your development proposal.

Pre-application Advice guidance and fees

Read the guidance that explains the pre-application procedure and fees.

Pre-application Advice request form

After reading the guidance note, you should use our online planning permission portal to submit your pre-application proposals.

Submit proposals

Planning Performance Agreements

For major development proposals we advise applicants to use a Planning Performance Agreement.

Help yourself and speed up the process

We want to provide you with the best advice we can. By doing some work yourself before you ask for advice you can speed up and simplify the process. You can find details of Islington’s planning policies and check:

• if any constraints apply to your site
• previous planning applications at your site and neighbouring properties
• what information is required to be submitted with your application
• the fee for your application.

We also suggest that you think about who might be affected by your development proposals and talk to them about your plans.

Permitted Development

If you believe the works you are proposing are Permitted Development but would like confirmation of this, you can apply for a Certificate of Lawfulness (proposed). The interactive house on the Planning Portal is a useful tool for understanding Permitted Development rights for dwelling houses.

Duty Officer

The council continues to provide advice to residents that may be affected by a development proposal through the Duty Officer Service that operates Mon-Fri from 9am- 1pm.

Find out more about the service and book an appointment.

Building Control

Many development works require Building Regulations approval. This is completely separate from planning permission. You can contact the Council’s Building Control Team for advice on Building Regulations requirements.

Choosing an architect

The Architects Registration Board (ARB) was set up by Parliament as the independent UK regulator of architects. ARB maintains the Architects Register which lists every architect in the UK. For an individual to use the title architect they must be registered with the ARB. There are around 34,000 registered architects and you can search online to find an architect near you.

Party Wall Agreement

If proposals include development that would affect the shared party wall between two properties you may need a party wall agreement. This is a civil matter between two private landlords in which the council would not get involved. Advice about party walls can be found here.