Request a measured survey or lease plan
Tell us the property, the downstream use, required drawings or plan and any deadline. After the initial enquiry, we will confirm the appropriate way to send notices, drawings or reports.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call 020 7101 4590.
Measured surveys and lease plans London: accurate building records
Licence to alter packs, party wall awards, schedules of condition, design and dilapidations all inherit their accuracy from the measured survey underneath them. We produce that base - to a declared accuracy, in the formats your other advisers actually need.
We carry out measured building surveys of houses, flats, blocks and commercial premises across London: floor plans, reflected ceiling plans where needed, elevations and sections, delivered as CAD and PDF with a stated survey accuracy band appropriate to the use. Area schedules follow IPMS and the RICS Code of Measuring Practice as the instruction requires - and we are explicit about which standard and basis each figure uses, because mixed bases are how area disputes start.
Lease plans are produced to Land Registry compliant standard - correct scale, orientation, edging and extent demarcation - for new leases, lease extensions and deeds of variation, coordinated with your solicitor's requirements. Where an instruction needs full topographical or underground utility survey, we confirm scope and coordinate specialist survey contractors rather than stretching beyond our remit. Where specialist input is required, we confirm scope, competence and insurance and coordinate with competent specialists, so the right professional signs the right document for the scope it was produced for.
Provider
Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy, Hampstead NW3
Reviewed by
Savas Bulduk BSc (Hons) MRICS, Director & Chartered Building Surveyor
Coverage
North, North West, Central, West, South West, South East and East London
Service
Measured Surveys & Lease Plans
Regulation
RICS Regulated Firm No. 923064
Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance held
Contact
What to send, and what you receive
Send the property details and the reason the plan is needed; we will confirm the right measured survey scope and fee before you instruct.
What to send before we quote
- The property address and title number, if known
- Existing lease plan, title plan or old floor plan
- Solicitor, freeholder or managing agent requirements
- Whether the plan is for registration, lease extension, licence to alter or conveyancing
- Access arrangements and any deadline
What you receive
- A measured building survey scoped to the downstream use
- CAD and PDF plans with declared survey date and accuracy
- Land Registry compliant lease plans or area schedules where required
Some instructions need specialist input, such as topographical survey, utility tracing or 3D scanning; we tell you when this is needed. Ask what we need to review.
When a measured survey is the right first step
- A licence to alter application needs existing and proposed plans that will withstand the freeholder's surveyor
- A new lease, extension or variation needs a Land Registry compliant lease plan
- Party wall awards or schedules of condition need reliable base drawings
- Design work is starting on a building with no trustworthy existing drawings
- A letting, sale or service-charge apportionment turns on measured areas to a declared standard
- Dilapidations or reinstatement assessment needs accurate floor areas and layouts
What this service covers
Measured building surveys
Floor plans, elevations and sections to a declared accuracy band, delivered in CAD and PDF, scoped to what the downstream use genuinely needs.
Area measurement
IPMS and RICS Code of Measuring Practice area schedules with the standard and basis stated against every figure.
Lease plans
Land Registry compliant plans for leases, extensions and variations, coordinated with the conveyancing solicitor.
Specialist survey coordination
Topographical, utility and 3D scanning requirements scoped and procured from specialist contractors where the instruction demands them.
Outputs
- CAD and PDF drawing sets with declared accuracy and survey date
- Area schedules stating measurement standard and basis per figure
- Land Registry compliant lease plans accepted first time
- Drawings structured for licence to alter, party wall and design reuse
- A survey file your other advisers can rely on without re-measuring
Process
Scope the use
What the drawings are for determines accuracy, extent and deliverables - we fix that first.
Survey
On-site measurement with equipment appropriate to the accuracy band and access.
Draw
CAD production to the agreed convention and layer standard.
Check
Internal QA against field data; anomalies re-measured, not smoothed.
Deliver
Issued in the formats your designers, lawyers and surveyors need.
Support
Updates and extensions as the project develops, on the same base.
Accurate plans underpin London property transactions
A surprising share of London’s flats, shops and offices are still transacted on plans that do not match the building — and bad plans surface at the worst time, mid-transaction.
Lease extensions, new lettings, licence-to-alter applications and Land Registry first registrations all stall when the plan does not reflect what is demised. Period buildings carry decades of alterations: mansion block corridors get reconfigured, mezzanines appear, and the lease plan quietly stops being true.
We produce measured floor plans, elevations and Land Registry compliant lease plans from direct survey, scaled and annotated for the purpose they serve — legal demise, alterations licensing, space audit or design baseline — so the documents downstream stand on accurate geometry.
Lease plan London and measured building survey instructions
Lease plan London, lease plan and measured building survey searches are usually driven by a transaction: leasehold registration, a lease extension, first registration, a licence to alter or conveyancing where the old plan no longer matches the property.
Land Registry lease plans
Plans drawn at the right scale, with north point, demise edging and title context for registration and conveyancing.
Scope a lease planLicence to alter drawings
Measured existing plans that freeholders, managing agents and their surveyors can rely on.
View licence to alter adviceSchedules and demise records
Plans and area schedules that support condition records, lease boundaries and shared-building evidence.
View schedules of conditionLeasehold London stock
Area context for mansion blocks, period conversions and mixed-use buildings where old plans commonly fall out of date.
View Hampstead area adviceCommon measured survey instructions
- Land Registry compliant lease plans for extensions and new leases.
- Demise plans for mixed-use and mansion block flats.
- Floor plans for licence to alter applications.
- As-existing plans before refurbishment design.
- Shop and office plans for lettings and rent review support.
- Floor area schedules for management and design use.
- Elevations and sections for design teams.
- Verification surveys where existing drawings are doubted.
- Plans supporting boundary and demise queries.
- Survey baselines for party wall schedules of condition.
How fees are set
Fees follow floor area, complexity and deliverables - a lease plan for a single flat is a fixed modest fee; a full plan/elevation/section package for an unrecorded period building is a different exercise.
We confirm a fixed fee in writing after scoping the building and the brief, before any work starts. There are no percentage mark-ups on third parties we coordinate.
What affects the fee
- Floor area and number of levels
- Deliverables: plans only, or elevations and sections too
- Accuracy band and area standard required
- Access constraints and occupied-property logistics
- Number of lease plans and titles involved
A representative lease plan instruction in a mansion block
The following London inspection and reporting workflow breakdown shows how our RICS surveyors scope, inspect and report on real properties across London; see our published London surveying case studies for completed project records.
- Typical client: A leaseholder extending a lease in a mansion block
- Typical property: A third-floor flat whose existing lease plan predated a corridor reconfiguration
- Typical issue: The Land Registry rejected the old plan and the lease extension stalled
- Typical instruction: Measured survey of the flat and relevant common parts, producing a compliant lease plan
- What the client typically receives: A Land Registry compliant lease plan with the demise accurately recorded
- How it is typically used: Registration proceeded and the corrected plan now serves future transactions on the flat
- Related services: Licence to Alter Surveyors, Schedules of Condition, Party Wall Surveyors
Related articles and guidance
Lease extensions and building surveys
Where accurate plans fit in the leasehold process.
View Lease extensions and building surveysLicence to alter: a practical guide
Why approved drawings depend on reliable measured surveys.
View Licence to alter: a practical guideWhen do you need a chartered surveyor?
12 common scenarios where independent advice pays for itself.
View When do you need a chartered surveyor?Have a lease plan, old title plan or measured survey requirement? Send it over and we'll advise what is needed.
Lease plan or measured survey documentsMeasured Surveys & Lease Plans FAQs
What makes a lease plan Land Registry compliant?
The Land Registry requires plans at a stated, conventional scale with a north point, sufficient detail to identify the property in its surroundings, and clear edging of the demised extent, among other requirements. Non-compliant plans are a routine cause of requisitions and delay; ours are produced to the current requirements and coordinated with your solicitor.
What accuracy do your measured surveys achieve?
Accuracy is declared per instruction rather than implied: we agree the band appropriate to the use - design coordination needs tighter tolerances than a marketing plan - and state it on the drawings. What we will not do is present approximate measurement as precise.
Which area measurement standard will you use?
Whichever the purpose requires - IPMS is now the RICS default for offices and residential, while some instructions still need Code of Measuring Practice bases like GIA or NIA for continuity. Every schedule states the standard and basis per figure so the numbers cannot be quietly compared across different bases.
Can you survey occupied properties?
Yes - most of our measured work is in occupied homes and workplaces. We plan access room by room, work around occupants and keep disruption to a single visit wherever the scope allows.
Do you do topographical or utility surveys?
Site topography and underground utility tracing are specialist survey disciplines with their own equipment and competence requirements. We scope what the project needs and procure it from specialist survey contractors, confirming competence and insurance, then integrate the results with the building survey.
Why use a building surveyor rather than a survey-only firm?
Because the drawings are a means, not an end. We measure knowing how a licence to alter reviewer, party wall surveyor or designer will use the output - so the right things are recorded, the right areas calculated, and nothing has to be re-surveyed when the real work starts.
Measured surveys and lease plans across priority London areas
Mansion blocks, period conversions and mixed-use parades in these areas carry decades of alterations that outdate their plans. The area pages cover the local building stock in detail.
Hampstead
NW3 — Camden.
View chartered surveyors in HampsteadBelsize Park
NW3 — Camden.
View chartered surveyors in Belsize ParkHighgate
N6 — Camden.
View chartered surveyors in HighgateSt John’s Wood
NW8 — Westminster.
View chartered surveyors in St John’s WoodMarylebone
W1U — Westminster.
View chartered surveyors in MaryleboneMayfair
W1K — Westminster.
View chartered surveyors in MayfairKnightsbridge
SW1X — Westminster.
View chartered surveyors in KnightsbridgeChelsea
SW3 — Kensington and Chelsea.
View chartered surveyors in ChelseaSouth Kensington
SW7 — Kensington and Chelsea.
View chartered surveyors in South KensingtonNotting Hill
W11 — Kensington and Chelsea.
View chartered surveyors in Notting HillFulham
SW6 — Hammersmith and Fulham.
View chartered surveyors in FulhamRichmond
TW9 — Richmond upon Thames.
View chartered surveyors in RichmondRelated services
Licence to Alter Surveyors
Alteration applications built on accurate existing drawings.
View ServiceParty Wall Surveyors
Awards and notices supported by reliable plans.
View ServiceSchedules of Condition
Condition records referenced to surveyed plans.
View ServiceDilapidations
Area-dependent liability assessment on solid figures.
View ServiceArchitectural Design & CDM
Design work starting from a trustworthy base.
View ServiceReinstatement Cost Assessments
Insurance assessment using verified floor areas.
View ServiceBoundary Disputes
For measured boundary evidence, determined boundary applications and expert reports where the line between properties is disputed.
View Boundary DisputesNeed plans you can rely on in London? Call 020 7101 4590.
Key contact
Savas Bulduk BSc (Hons) MRICS, Director & Chartered Building Surveyor leads our commercial condition, defect, insurance and compliance instructions.
Verify RICS membership · How we are regulated · Discuss your instruction
Enquire about Measured Surveys & Lease Plans
Tell us briefly about the building and what you need. Your enquiry goes directly to our chartered surveying team.
We respond to enquiries within one working day.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call 020 7101 4590 or email enquiries@hampsteadcharteredsurveyors.co.uk.
Typical fees: Measured Surveys & Lease Plans instructions in London typically start from £600 plus VAT; we confirm a fixed fee after scoping the building and the brief.
Measured building surveys and lease plans in Central London
Regional guidance for Central London building stock, client decisions and delivery constraints.
Measured building surveys and lease plans in Central London
Measured surveys create defined spatial records for design, asset information or lease documentation. Central London work requires the intended accuracy, measurement convention, demise boundary and Land Registry purpose to be agreed before capturing complex shared entrances, basements, lightwells and vertical circulation.
View Measured building surveys and lease plans Central London guidanceDedicated Central London service guides
Compare 59 dedicated service guides and 16 core neighbourhoods.
View the Central London hubSpecialist surveys and value advice alongside plans
Measured drawings and lease plans describe geometry and extent. Specialist survey data and valuation advice each require their own scope and intended use.
Topographical, utility, 3D laser and BIM surveys
Define the survey control, coverage, accuracy and output requirements for specialist site, utility, scanning and model deliverables.
View the separate service scopeLease extension and enfranchisement valuations
A valuation instruction for the leasehold or collective transaction, separate from the lease plan and building condition evidence.
View the separate service scopeAirspace valuations
A separate valuation of a stated roof-space or airspace interest, identifying the assumptions and specialist information on which the opinion depends.
View the separate service scopeMeasured Surveys & Lease Plans London: Deliverables & Transparent Fee Matrix
Every measured surveys & lease plans london instruction is confirmed by a fixed written fee proposal once the property address, tenure and scope are reviewed. Starting fees begin from £495 plus VAT; all fee guides below are exclusive of VAT (plus VAT).
| Scope / Property Band | Deliverables & Technical Scope | Typical Turnaround | Transparent Fee Guide (Excl. VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Band A — Standard / Single-Property Measured Surveys & Lease Plans London | Pre-instruction document review, targeted site inspection or desktop appraisal, and structured RICS-aligned report. | 3–5 working days from inspection | From £495 plus VAT (HM Land Registry Practice Guide 40 compliant residential or commercial lease plan) |
| Band B — Comprehensive Measured Surveys & Lease Plans London Instruction | Full site inspection, photographic defect/evidence schedule, regulatory analysis and prioritised cost/action plan. | 5–8 working days from site access | From £950 plus VAT (RICS Property Measurement NIA/GIA/IPMS laser-measured floor plans & area schedule) |
| Band C — Complex, Heritage or Multi-Unit Measured Surveys & Lease Plans London | Listed-building, higher-risk, multi-unit or portfolio instruction with senior director review and adviser coordination. | 7–12 working days (or agreed milestone) | From £1,850 plus VAT (multi-unit building measured floorplans, elevations & Licence to Alter CAD pack) |