How to Create a Floor Plan for Planning Permission

A planning application lives or dies on its drawings, and an accurate existing floor plan is the foundation everything else is built on. Councils in England and Wales can refuse to validate an application over sketchy, unscaled, or incomplete plans - which means weeks lost before an officer even looks at the scheme. This guide covers exactly what drawings a householder application needs, the scales planning authorities expect (1:50 or 1:100 for floor plans, 1:1250 for the location plan), and how to capture a clean, to-scale existing plan on an iPhone with RoomPlot.

What a planning application asks for

Government guidance on making an application requires every submission to include plans "drawn to an identified scale" with the direction of north shown. For a typical householder application - an extension, loft conversion, or alteration to a single house - the standard drawing set is:

• Location plan at 1:1250 or 1:2500, based on up-to-date mapping, with the application site edged in red. The red line must include all land needed for the development, including access from the highway and parking; any other adjoining land you own is edged in blue.
• Block plan (site plan) at 1:200 or 1:500, showing the proposal in relation to the site boundaries, neighbouring buildings, and a north point. See our separate guide to the block plan and site plan.
• Existing and proposed floor plans at 1:50 or 1:100, each storey on its own sheet.
• Existing and proposed elevations at 1:50 or 1:100, covering every affected face of the building.

The job splits cleanly in two: the existing plans record the building as it stands today, and the proposed plans show the change, clearly distinguished from each other. RoomPlot is the fast, accurate way to produce the existing set; a designer then draws the proposal over it. Budget for the fee too: from 1 April 2025 a householder application to enlarge or alter a single house costs £528 in England, and fees are now index-linked each April - check the Planning Portal fee calculator for the current figure. Local validation lists vary, so read your council's checklist before you submit.

Scale and what to include

• Scale. Floor plans are drawn at 1:50 or 1:100, stated clearly on the sheet and used consistently across the whole set. A linear scale bar is not a statutory requirement, but government guidance recommends one for electronic submissions so a printed copy can still be checked.
• One storey per drawing - ground, first, loft - each labelled, and the complete footprint shown. Partial plans that crop the building are a common reason for rejection.
• Dimensions - overall sizes and key room dimensions, plus wall thicknesses.
• Openings - doors and windows in their correct positions, with door swings.
• Room names and any changes in level, such as steps or a split floor.
• A north point on every plan, matching the block plan, so orientation is unambiguous.
• A title block - address, drawing title ("Existing ground floor plan"), scale, paper size, date, and a revision reference so the council can cite the exact sheet in the decision notice.

Capture the existing plan

Walk the property and capture each room. With LiDAR on an iPhone or iPad Pro you scan the shell in seconds and RoomPlot detects walls, doors, and windows automatically; without LiDAR you draw the walls by hand and smart snapping keeps the corners square. Add each storey as its own floor in a multi-floor project so the ground, first, and loft plans stay separate and correctly labelled - important for a loft conversion, where the council will want the roof storey on its own sheet. Then refine: set exact wall lengths, add dimensions where the validation officer will look for them, and drop a North marker that bakes into the export.

Survey discipline matters more than the tool. Measure wall thicknesses at door reveals, note ceiling heights and level changes, and photograph anything ambiguous - RoomPlot lets you pin notes, photos, and voice memos to the plan so the details survive the drive back to the office. If the existing drawings misstate the building, the proposed drawings inherit the error, and a neighbour or officer who spots it can derail the application.

Get the area right

Space standards and policy checks often hinge on room and floor areas - the Nationally Described Space Standard sets minimum gross internal areas for new dwellings, and many councils apply similar tests to conversions. RoomPlot calculates each room's area automatically from the inner wall faces, with a per-room breakdown you can override if needed. Label each room with its name and area, and you have answered the area questions before they are asked. If you are unsure how the figure is derived, our guide to calculating floor area walks through it.

Common reasons drawings get rejected

1. No scale, or "not to scale" notes. Every drawing must state its scale; officers do measure from plans.
2. Existing and proposed not distinguished - use separate sheets, or clear hatching for new work.
3. Inconsistency between drawings - a window that appears on the plan but not the elevation, or dimensions that disagree between sheets.
4. Red line errors on the location plan - the line must enclose all land needed for the scheme, including the access.
5. Missing north point or a north point that contradicts the block plan.

Each of these triggers an invalidation letter and a resubmission loop that typically costs one to three weeks. An accurate measured survey removes the most common source of inconsistency at the root.

Export for submission

Export a clean A4 plan at 300 dpi per storey, with dimensions, the scale bar, and the North marker switched on, ready to hand to your architect or upload alongside the rest of the application. Councils accept electronic submissions with a single copy of each document, so a crisp PDF or PNG per storey is all you need. Need CAD? Export DXF and the geometry opens in any drawing package so a designer can build the proposed layout straight on top of your survey. The measured existing plan is the part you control - get it accurate and the proposal goes faster.

RoomPlot will not draw your proposed scheme or replace a planning consultant, but it gives you a precise, to-scale existing plan in an afternoon. See how to create a floor plan for the full workflow, or browse all guides. Measure once, export a clean set, and start your application on solid ground.