Chester is England, not Wales — the rules are different from Deeside's — and whether your extension needs permission depends on where the house sits, what has already been built and what you want to do. The city's conservation areas, the Green Belt around it, estates where the rights were removed and the Dee floodplain all change the answer, and none of it shows from the street. Mike is 15 minutes away and checks all of it before you pay the £548 fee.
⚡ Get an instant estimate 📋 Book a £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting ⓘ In Wales instead?Before anything else: four things decide whether your extension needs an application in Cheshire West and Chester, and plenty of homes are caught by at least one of them without their owners knowing. Mike checks all four at the Initial Site Appraisal Meeting — only after those checks can anyone say whether permission is needed.
Chester has a great many of both — the city centre and the older suburbs and villages. Inside a conservation area Permitted Development is cut back (no cladding, no side extensions, single-storey only) and a listed building needs consent for almost anything.
Much of the land around the city is Green Belt. Extensions there are judged on whether they are a disproportionate addition to the original house — a rule that can stop a large extension on a small cottage even when everything else is fine.
A house that has already been extended may have used up its allowance, and many newer estates had Permitted Development removed by a planning condition when they were built. Both are invisible from outside — Mike checks the planning history.
Handbridge, the Sealand side and the low ground along the river sit in flood zones. The council can ask for a flood risk assessment with an application. Better to know on day one.
One thing England has that Wales does not: a larger rear-extension route with neighbour consultation. It is not automatic, it has its own limits, and Mike will say if it applies to this house.
Sometimes you may not need it. Chester is in England, under Cheshire West and Chester, so the rules are not the Welsh ones a mile away in Deeside. A single-storey rear extension can sometimes go ahead without an application — within strict limits. Conservation areas, listed buildings and a bigger two-storey extension are different, and you cannot tell from the street. That is the £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting.
If you do need it, the householder fee is £548 plus the £149 Planning Portal charge, paid to them, not to Mike. He prepares the drawings and deals with the case officer. He does not build it.
England also has a larger rear-extension route that Wales does not. Mike will say if it applies to this house.
Chester has a lot of conservation areas and listed buildings, and in those places work that is automatic elsewhere may need an application. Mike checks the boundary on the visit, before a line is drawn. He covers the city and the border villages: Saltney, Lache, Blacon, Upton, Hoole, Boughton, Great Boughton, Vicars Cross, Christleton, Waverton and Tarvin. The Chester plans page shows how a typical job runs; in Wales, start with planning permission in Wales.
Mike works to a fixed written fee, agreed before any work begins. Council fees are separate and paid directly by you — never through Mike.
| Item | Cost | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Mike’s fee — drawings & application handling | £750 – £1,800 by project | Mike (fixed, written) |
| Householder planning application | £548 | Cheshire West and Chester |
| Prior approval — larger home extension | £249 | Cheshire West and Chester |
| Planning Portal service charge (Band 2) | £149 inc VAT | Planning Portal |
| Building control (approx.) | £450 – £2,000 by project | Council / inspector |
Council fees are reviewed each April — Mike confirms the current figure with the council before anything is submitted. Note the £548 English fee is lower than the £585 charged in Wales, and the 8-metre prior approval route at £249 is lower again.
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Mike's fee plus the council fees for planning and building control — the full professional stage, before a builder is involved. Two taps for a figure — no obligation.
Mike’s fee covers the complete design and approvals stage:
Why the range? Every home is different. The lower end covers a straightforward project — standard drawings, no planning application needed. The higher end covers larger or more complex work — a full planning application, more detailed drawings, or structural design to coordinate.
Before any work begins, Mike gives you a detailed written fee proposal — so you know exactly what you are paying and what it covers. The number you agree is the number you pay.
Only if planning permission is needed. Wales charges £585 for a householder application and Cheshire West & Chester £548 — the fee is set nationally, so it does not vary between Welsh councils. Paid directly to your council, never through Mike.
The service charge for submitting a planning application online. It also only applies if permission is needed, and it is charged per application submitted.
This one always applies, permission or not. It is calculated on floor area and subject to the final design — smaller projects sit toward the lower figure, larger ones toward the higher. Paid to the council's building control team or a private approved inspector, never through Mike, and he gets you an exact quote once the design is finalised.
Design and approvals only. This is what it costs to get your project drawn and approved — it does not include your builder’s costs for the actual building work.
If your project turns out to be Permitted Development, you will not need to pay the council planning fee or the Planning Portal charge, a saving of up to approximately £734. Mike checks this at the Initial Site Appraisal Meeting.
Read more about extension plans →
Already built it without approval? Regularisation →
Guide figures only. The £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting is not added to these figures — it comes off Mike's fee when you commission the work. Council fees correct at July 2026; building control charges vary by council and project — full details in the FAQs. Mike confirms everything in a written fee proposal before any work begins.
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£60, and it comes off your fee when you go ahead. Mike comes to the property to understand the scope of what you want to do and advise you accordingly — then sends a written fixed fee afterwards.
Every planning application Deeside Architectural Design submits goes onto the council's public register — under the practice name, with the decision attached, permanently. It's free to search and it isn't curated by us. What the register cannot show you is the other half of the work: the projects that qualified as Permitted Development, needed no application at all, and saved the client the council fee. Those leave no public trace. So the number below is the part you can check — not the whole of it. Before you decide whether the fee above is worth paying, go and read it.
Submitted to Flintshire County Council under Deeside Architectural Design since 2010 — every one searchable, with its decision attached.
Many projects qualify as Permitted Development, need no application, and never reach the register. The 165 is the work that required permission — not the count of jobs done.
Deeside Architectural Design Limited, incorporated January 2010, and 25 years of drawings behind it. Companies House no. 07128221.
Open Flintshire's planning register, put Deeside Architectural in the Agent field, and read every decision — including the ones that didn't go our way.
Search Flintshire's planning register →
Figures taken from Flintshire County Council's public planning register, August 2026.
Chester follows English rules, Deeside follows Welsh ones. England has a larger rear-extension route that Wales does not. Mike will say if it applies to this house.
Often yes, where you otherwise would not. Conservation areas and Article 4 streets remove some Permitted Development rights. Mike checks whether the house is in one at the £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting, before anything is drawn.
The council aims to determine householder applications within eight weeks of validation. The 8-metre prior approval route runs on a 21 day neighbour consultation and is usually quicker. Mike prepares applications to pass validation first time — resubmissions for missing documents are where months get lost.
Deeside is fifteen minutes from Chester city centre, and Mike works across both systems every week — Cheshire West and Chester on one side of the border, Flintshire and Wrexham on the other. Knowing both is an advantage here, not a compromise: it is exactly why he can tell you the 8-metre route exists when a Welsh-only designer would not think to mention it.
Two taps on the estimator gives you a realistic figure. When you're ready, the £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting comes off your fee if you go ahead.
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