The headline fee for a householder application in Ealing is £548. Most homeowners see that number, do a quick calculation, and assume they know what they're in for. They don't — until you see what your specific address in Ealing actually triggers before you spend a penny.
The short version
- Householder planning applications in Ealing cost £548 in statutory fees
- That fee is just the starting point — your property's constraints can add layers of cost and complexity
- Ealing has over 30 conservation areas, active Article 4 Directions, and high listed building density, all of which change what's required
The £548 fee is only part of what you'll pay
The statutory application fee is fixed. But it doesn't include pre-application advice, architect drawings, heritage statements, design and access statements, or any specialist reports your local planning authority might require. In a borough like Ealing — where Ealing Council's conservation enforcement is consistently active — the likelihood that you'll need supporting documentation is higher than many homeowners expect.
For works that don't require planning permission at all, you might pay nothing. For works that trigger a heritage assessment in a conservation area, the professional costs on top of the application fee can multiply quickly. Most homeowners don't realise there's that much distance between those two outcomes until they're already committed.
Your street matters more than you think
Ealing has over 30 conservation areas. Bedford Park — England's first garden suburb — is one of the most strictly controlled, with notoriously tight design standards and high listed building density. Ealing Common, Hanwell, Northfields, and Walpole each come with their own character and their own expectations.
But here's what trips people up: being inside a conservation area boundary doesn't tell you what that means for your specific project. The rules that apply to a mid-terrace on one side of a street aren't always the same as those on the other. Article 4 Directions in Bedford Park and other heritage areas remove permitted development rights for things like window replacements and external alterations — work that would be free to carry out elsewhere can require a full application here.
Important
If your property is in a conservation area or subject to an Article 4 Direction, works you assumed were permitted development may require a full application — and a fee. The best way to know which rules apply to your address is to check before you commit to any design work.
Knowing you're near Bedford Park is not the same as knowing what Bedford Park's constraints mean for your loft conversion, your rear extension, or your replacement windows. The best way to understand that gap is to check whether the Article 4 restrictions in your area affect your specific project type.
What gets refused matters as much as what gets approved
Ealing's 8-week decision window is the statutory target. But the real cost question isn't just about fees — it's about whether a project like yours, on a street like yours, has a realistic chance of approval. A refused application costs you the fee, the preparation time, and potentially months of delay if you want to revise and resubmit.
What's been approved and refused on your street — and why — is the kind of intelligence that changes how you approach a project. It's also the kind of detail most homeowners have no easy way to access on their own.
WhatCanIBuild pulls together approval history, local constraint data, and project-type outcomes so you're not going in blind. Before you book an architect or pay any fee, see the approval record for projects like yours in your part of Ealing — free, no signup needed.
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