The headline figure for a householder planning application in Wandsworth is £258. Most homeowners stop there. They shouldn't.
That fee covers the application — it doesn't cover everything that determines whether your project succeeds or fails, costs more than expected, or gets refused before it even gets going. If you want to understand what you're actually facing, WhatCanIBuild cuts through the complexity by looking at what's actually happened on your street — not just the rules on paper.
The short version
- The statutory fee for a householder application in Wandsworth is £258
- There's also a £75.83 +VAT service charge for applications submitted online that attract a fee over £100
- Wandsworth has 46 conservation areas and widespread Article 4 directions — your total cost depends heavily on where your property sits
The £258 is just the starting point
The statutory application fee is set nationally. It doesn't change whether you're in Battersea or Balham, whether your house is straightforward or complicated. But the costs that stack up around it absolutely do.
Professional drawings. A planning consultant. Pre-application advice from the council. An architect who understands what Wandsworth's planners actually want to see. These aren't optional extras for complex projects — for many properties in this borough, they're the difference between an approval and a refusal. And a refusal still costs you the fee.
Most homeowners don't realise that resubmitting after a refusal means paying again.
Wandsworth's 46 conservation areas change the calculation
Wandsworth has 46 conservation areas. That's not a small number. Postcodes like SW11, SW12, SW15, SW17, and SW18 all contain streets where the rules are materially different from the street next door.
Inside a conservation area, projects that might be permitted development elsewhere can require full planning permission. That changes your cost, your timeline, and your odds.
Then there are Article 4 directions. In many of Wandsworth's conservation areas, Article 4 directions specifically remove permitted development rights covering windows, doors, roofing, chimneys, and boundary treatments. So a replacement window that costs nothing to approve on one street might need a full application — and a specific justification — two roads away.
Don't assume
Being outside a conservation area doesn't mean you're clear. Article 4 directions, flood zones, and individual property constraints can apply in ways that aren't obvious from an address alone.
The best way to know what applies to your specific property — not your postcode, your property — is to check with WhatCanIBuild, which shows you what's been approved and refused nearby, and what that actually means for your project type.
The hidden cost most people forget
The typical decision time in Wandsworth is 8 weeks. That's 8 weeks from a valid application — not from the day you submit. If your application comes back with queries, or needs to be amended, that clock can reset.
Delay has a cost. If you're working around builders, rental arrangements, or a sale, 8 weeks becoming 16 weeks is a real financial impact. And it's far more likely if the application wasn't right in the first place.
That's where knowing your approval odds before you apply matters. Not just whether you're in a conservation area — that's the easy part — but whether projects like yours, on streets like yours, actually get through. WhatCanIBuild shows you the approval history for your area, the reasons similar applications were refused, and what your specific combination of constraints looks like to a planner.
The fee is £258. What surrounds it is what this borough makes complicated.
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