Whether your extension needs permission depends on where the house sits, what has already been built and what you want to do — Wrexham's conservation areas, the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site and its buffer, the National Landscape on the western hills and the Dee floodplain all change the answer, and none of it shows from the street. Mike is in Hawarden, half an hour away, and checks all of it before you pay the £585 fee.
⚡ Get an instant estimate 📋 Book a £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting ⓘ Why an Initial Site Appraisal Meeting?Before anything else: four things decide whether your extension needs an application in Wrexham County Borough, 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.
Wrexham town centre, Erddig, Gresford, Overton, Bangor-on-Dee and others, plus listed buildings across the borough. Inside them Permitted Development is cut back — no cladding or render, single-storey only — and materials and street view are scrutinised.
The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site runs through Trevor, Froncysyllte and Cefn Mawr towards Chirk, with a wide buffer zone up the Dee valley. Inside the site, Permitted Development is cut back as on protected land, and in Cefn Mawr, Chirk and Pontcysyllte the council has gone further with Article 4 directions. Householder applications near it need a supporting statement.
The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley National Landscape takes in the borough's western hills — Minera, Esclusham and Ruabon Mountain. Same cut-back rights as a conservation area, and the boundary can split a village.
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. Add the Dee and Alyn floodplains around Bangor-on-Dee, Holt and Rossett, where the council can ask for a flood consequences assessment. None of it shows from outside.
If you're extending a house anywhere in Wrexham County Borough, the first question is whether you need permission at all. Wales has its own rules — English websites get this wrong. Mike has drawn and submitted householder extensions across North Wales for 25 years, and he'll tell you which side of the line you're on before you pay the council anything.
It depends on the house, not just the extension. Welsh Permitted Development does allow some work without an application — a single-storey rear extension can go out up to four metres beyond the rear wall, whatever the house type — but only if the house is outside a conservation area, the World Heritage Site and the National Landscape, hasn't had its allowance used up by earlier extensions, is not listed, has not had its rights removed by a condition, and the design stays inside every limit on height, width, position and materials. Two-storey extensions and side extensions near the front normally need an application. You cannot tell from the street, and a tape measure alone will not tell you either. That is what the £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting is for: Mike checks the designations, the planning history and the proposal against the rules, and tells you which it is before any council fee is spent.
If you do need it, the council fee is £585, plus the £149 Planning Portal charge — paid to them, not to Mike. Wrexham aims to decide a householder application in eight weeks from the day it is accepted as valid; allow longer once the survey and drawings are included. Mike prepares the drawings, submits them, and deals with the case officer. One fixed written fee. He does not build it.
Wrexham itself and Gresford, Marford, Rossett, Llay, Gwersyllt, Rhosllanerchrugog, Ruabon, Chirk, Overton, Holt, Coedpoeth and Brymbo. Same council, same page. The Wrexham plans page shows how a typical job runs.
Conservation areas — including Wrexham town centre, Erddig, Gresford, Overton and Bangor-on-Dee — and anything near the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site around Chirk and Ruabon may need an application for work that is automatic elsewhere. Mike checks that on the visit.
Extension plans start from £750 and loft conversion plans from £950 — always as a fixed written fee, agreed before any work begins. The number you agree is the number you pay.
The £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting comes off that fee if you go ahead, so the visit effectively costs you nothing. Council and building control fees are separate throughout and paid directly. For the full picture on Welsh Permitted Development rules, see planning permission in Wales.
Once your fee is agreed, Mike returns and measures the house himself — no juniors, no outsourcing. This is the second visit; the earlier £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting comes off your fee.
Scaled drawings of your home as it is and as it will be — the documents your planning application stands on.
Prepared, submitted and handled for you — or confirmation you don't need one under Permitted Development, which saves you the council fee entirely.
The technical pack — structure, insulation, fire safety, drainage — that building control approves and your builder prices from.
Mike works to a fixed written fee, agreed before any work begins. Council fees are separate and paid directly — never through Mike.
| Item | Typical cost | Paid to |
|---|---|---|
| Mike’s fee — drawings & application handling | £750 – £1,800 by project | Mike (fixed, written) |
| Planning application (if required) | £585 Wales / £548 Cheshire | Your council |
| Planning Portal service charge | £149 | Planning Portal |
| Building control (approx.) | £450 – £2,000 by project | Council / inspector |
Or just use it right here ↓
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.
Sometimes you may not need it. Welsh rules, not English ones. Conservation areas and listed buildings are the usual exceptions. The £60 Initial Site Appraisal Meeting is the check, before the £585 fee.
£585 to the council if permission is needed, plus the £149 Planning Portal charge — paid to them. Mike's drawing fee is separate, fixed, and written down first. If it is Permitted Development, the council fee does not apply.
Eight weeks from the day Wrexham accepts the application as valid. The survey and drawings sit in front of that.
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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