Dropped kerbs

Once you have received a positive written answer from us, you then need to make an application to the planning team to obtain a certificate of lawfulness or planning permission.

You should apply for a certificate of lawfulness if you meet all of the following conditions:

1. You live in a house which is occupied by your household only and that is not subdivided into flats or bedsits, or the crossover is needed in connection with a hard standing to be constructed under permitted development rights at a shop, an office, a hospital or university, or an industrial premises.

2. You do not live on a classified road.

3. You have an existing hard standing which has been in place since before 1 October 2008, or, any new driveway or hard standing to be constructed will use appropriate permeable or porous surfaces. The government has also published useful guidance on paving front gardens, which includes advice on meeting the permitted development conditions.

4. You will not be erecting new gates, walls, fences or other means of enclosure adjoining the highway that is more than one metre high.

5. Your property is not a listed building or you are making no changes to gates, walls, fences or other means of enclosure.

6. You live in a conservation area but are not going to demolish a wall, fence or other form of enclosure as a part of the development.

7. Your property does not have an Article 4 direction that restricts such works.

8. To create a level access to the property from the crossover, you do not need to undertake significant excavation or embankment works.

If you do not meet the above conditions, you should apply for full planning permission for your crossover. In this case it is worth considering the following points before proceeding, in order to understand your chances of a successful application:

• For works involving access on Transport for London-owned classified roads you should review Transport for London advice on crossovers.
• If there are any works that will affect trees on the highway, please see the online advice from Lambeth’s Parks and Open spaces team.
• If there are any related works to trees on private land, you should review policies Q10, Q14 and Q22 of the Lambeth Local Plan 2015.
• If there will be works to boundaries and front gardens, please refer to polices Q14, Q15 and Q22 of the Lambeth Local Plan 2015 and the Building Alterations and Extensions Supplementary Planning Document 2015.
• If there will be works to listed buildings, please refer to policies Q20 and Q23 of Lambeth Local Plan 2015.
• Our optional paid pre-application planning advice can provide guidance on the likely acceptability of an application, or suggest changes that might make it acceptable.

Also, please also note that whichever form of application you make for your crossover (a certificate of lawfulness or full planning permission), in some circumstances, you may also need to apply for other consents too:

• If there will be works to listed buildings, please refer to policy Q20 of the Lambeth Local Plan 2015.
• Our optional paid pre-application planning advice would also identify any additional planning consents required.

With your application you must submit:

• An application form: In most cases this will be a certificate of lawfulness, or householder application form, but please read the guidance notes that accompany the form for confirmation.
• A CIL form: The CIL Additional Information form must be submitted with all applications. The Planning Portal also provides accompanying guidance notes for the form.
• The correct fee: The Planning Portal provides a useful fee calculator and written guidance on planning application fees and exemptions.
• Layout plans: Existing and proposed layout plans at a scale of 1:50 showing the exact location of the crossover in relation to the road, the footpath and the property. The plan should show the exact location of any street trees and street 'furniture', and road markings or trees on the site. The layout plan should clearly show the areas of hard and soft landscaping, including trees, and boundary treatment.
• Elevation drawings: Existing and proposed elevation drawings at a scale of 1:50 of the front elevation and side boundaries showing the context of the site with the immediately adjacent properties. The elevations should show any changes to the existing boundary treatment, for example, fences or walls, and any changes in land levels.
• Approval letter: A copy of the approval letter from the transport team that you received after completing the first stage of this process.
• Photographs: Recent photographs of the property that include the location of the proposed crossover would also be useful.