Party Wall Surveyor Greenwich: Compare Quotes
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The council lists the Act among the consents a basement needs
Greenwich’s design guidance does something useful and rare: it tells you, in one place, what else a basement extension will need besides planning permission. Paragraph i.131 of the Urban Design Guide SPD, adopted 18 October 2023, states that a basement extension will require some or all of:
Building Regulations + Highways Act + Party Wall Act + Freeholder Permission + Environmental Health + Housing Act + Utility Providers such as Thames Water + Environmental Permitting Regulations
The Act sits third on that list. It is described only as “the Party Wall Act” rather than by its full title, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, but the point is made: planning permission is one consent among several, and obtaining it settles nothing under the Act.
The same document goes further than most councils in writing party wall considerations into design standards. On extensions, paragraph i.93:
No part of the proposed extension works is permitted to exceed or oversail a boundary line. As such, parapet wall details are often appropriate along party walls/property boundaries.
On dormer windows, the guidance sets them 0.5 metres below the roof ridge, 0.5 metres in from party walls on either side, and 0.5 metres above the eaves.
And on mansards, at paragraph i.74:
Where party walls need to be raised to accommodate a mansard, chimney stacks should be raised and reinstated to their original arrangement at a higher level.
That last one describes work that is unambiguously notifiable. Raising a party wall is an exercise of the right in section 2(2)(a) of the Act, and cutting into or rebuilding a chimney stack within it engages section 2 as well. A Greenwich mansard therefore usually involves both a planning judgement about the chimney’s reinstatement and a party wall award about how the wall is raised.
Basements: single storey only, and none at all on listed buildings
The adopted Local Plan, dated 30 July 2014, contains no basement policy at all — no occurrence of “subterranean”, no Basement Impact Assessment requirement, no party wall reference. The substance is entirely in the 2023 design guidance.
That guidance sets real limits:
- only single-storey basement extensions will be supported, on stated environmental and flood-risk grounds, and generally limited to the footprint of the host building;
- basements will not be permitted in flood zone 3, and not normally in flood zone 2 unless no habitable rooms are proposed or the risk is shown to be minimised;
- basement extensions are not supported for listed buildings, and front lightwells are not typically supported for locally listed buildings or in conservation areas; and
- a basement may not be supported where daylight requirements would cost more than 50 per cent of the rear or front garden cumulatively with existing extensions.
A Basement Impact Assessment is required, and its contents may include structural stability “in the form of a Structural Method Statement signed and endorsed by a Chartered Civil or Structural Engineer”, construction methods addressing how noise, disruption and vibration to neighbouring properties will be minimised, and impact on neighbouring properties and amenity. Where permission is granted, a Construction Management Plan covering hours, dust, noise, vibration and piling methodology must be approved before works start.
The guidance also advises that “the advice of an engineer experienced in dealing with historic structures and complex ground conditions is sought”.
One document to be careful about. Greenwich previously published a Residential Extensions, Basements and Conversions Guidance SPD. It was withdrawn on 18 October 2023, superseded by the Urban Design Guide. Some council pages still refer readers to it, so check you are working from the current document.
A World Heritage Site, and a buffer zone that reaches further
Maritime Greenwich was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, under four criteria. The inscribed property covers 109.47 hectares, with a buffer zone of 174.85 hectares — the buffer being substantially larger than the site itself.
Policy DH4 of the adopted Local Plan protects the site’s Outstanding Universal Values, and its reach is the part worth knowing:
Development within the buffer zone (as defined on the Proposals Map) and setting should not adversely impact on those Values, including views to and from the Site.
So a property well outside the inscribed area can still be caught, through the buffer zone or through views to and from the site. The supporting text notes this applies particularly to tall buildings.
The site’s management plan is the Third Review of 2014, which states on its face that it covers the period 2012 to 2017. It remains the current plan. The adopted Local Plan, published the same year, cites an earlier 2005 version — so if you are chasing the management plan, the 2014 Third Review is the one to use.
None of the World Heritage documentation addresses party walls or subterranean development. Its relevance here is indirect but real: heritage designation makes consent harder to obtain and makes a schedule of condition more valuable, because the fabric is older and the consequences of damage are greater.
Extensions: the numbers are in guidance, not policy
Adopted Policy DH(a) on residential extensions has no numeric standards. It resists two storey side extensions to semi-detached houses that would create a terracing effect, refuses flat roofs on side or rear extensions visible from the public highway, and requires roof extensions to respect the host building.
The dimensions are in the 2023 guidance:
- side extensions set back at least 0.5 metres from the front facade, typically no more than 50 per cent of the width of the original house, keeping a minimum 1.2 metre access walkway from the property boundary where that is an established local feature;
- single storey rear extensions with a roof line generally 300 millimetres below the first floor window sill, a minimum 2.5 metre floor-to-ceiling height, and a projection of about 3.6 metres typically considered appropriate; and
- two storey rear extensions not normally supported where the existing building has two storeys or less, reduced in width to a third or a half of the plot, and assessed against the BRE daylight and sunlight method — which must be submitted with the application.
Two storey and first floor rear extensions are not permitted development in conservation areas, and all rear extensions are assessed cumulatively with existing ones.
A mixed borough, and where permitted development is withdrawn
At Census 2021 Greenwich recorded 114,054 households:
- 49,157 in a purpose-built block of flats or tenement
- 30,419 in a terraced house
- 20,106 in a semi-detached house
- 6,862 in part of a converted or shared house
- 4,656 in a detached house
- 1,668 in part of another converted building
- 1,094 in a commercial building
Terraced and semi-detached together account for 50,525 households — about 44 per cent — so shared flank walls are common, while purpose-built flats are the single largest category. Both kinds of party structure arise here in quantity.
Greenwich recorded 19,170 properties built before 1900 and 36,770 from 1993 onwards, from a total of 125,060 as at 31 March 2025 — roughly 29 per cent of the stock built since 1993, reflecting the Peninsula and riverside development. These Valuation Office Agency counts are rounded to the nearest ten and count dwellings on the Council Tax list rather than households, so they do not share a denominator with the census figures above.
In the year ending March 2026 the borough determined 647 householder development decisions and 83 listed building consents to alter or extend. Both are decisions rather than grants.
Eight conservation areas carry Article 4 directions withdrawing Class A of Part 1 — the enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a dwellinghouse — along with roof alterations, porches, hard surfaces, enclosures and exterior painting. They are Ashburnham Triangle, East Greenwich, Greenwich Town Centre, Trenchard Street, Progress Estate, Rectory Field, Shrewsbury Park and West Greenwich.
None is basement-specific. But because Class A is the class a householder basement enlargement would otherwise fall under, the practical effect in those areas is that such work needs express permission. The Ashburnham Triangle direction was made on 21 May 2013, confirmed on 16 April 2014 and came into force on 21 May 2014, replacing an earlier direction. The others were made at various dates from 1979 onwards and their individual scope differs, so check the position for a specific address.
The council’s current list records 23 conservation areas. The adopted 2014 plan says 20, which reflects the position when it was written rather than a disagreement.
Explain the property and proposed work
Provide:
- the full property address;
- whether the property is a house, a purpose-built flat or a flat in a converted house;
- if a flat, which floors or ceilings are shared, and with whom;
- whether the property is listed, lies in a conservation area, or falls within the World Heritage Site or its buffer zone;
- whether the works involve a mansard, dormer, chimney stack or raising a party wall;
- whether a basement is proposed, its depth, and whether the property lies in a flood zone;
- whether you are carrying out work or responding to a neighbour’s work;
- a clear description of the proposed construction, including projection from the rear wall;
- whether a Basement Impact Assessment or Structural Method Statement has been prepared, and by whom;
- the freeholder and any leaseholder details, since more than one owner may need to be served;
- drawings where available;
- notices, responses and correspondence already exchanged; and
- known dates and access constraints.
Compare the proposed appointment
Each quote should explain who would appoint the surveyor and the work included. That may involve reviewing drawings, notices, inspections, a schedule of condition, preparation of an award, liaison with another surveyor or later visits.
The party wall notice guide explains which notice applies to which work and how far ahead it must be served. The Party Wall surveyor guide explains when a surveyor may be needed, and the Party Wall surveyor cost guide explains the factors that can affect the proposed fee. Neighbouring coverage includes Party Wall surveyors for Southwark properties and the wider Party Wall surveyor south London guide.
What happens after you post
Your verified enquiry is available to the administrator for review. Invitations are not currently available. In a later comparison service, a participating surveyor would receive only the outward postcode and a restricted brief before an authorised introduction.
When comparison is available, complete quotes and the surveyor’s private profile can be shown on your private customer page. Availability varies, so a request may receive several quotes, one, or none. Submission does not guarantee an invitation, quote or introduction.
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