Half the time you don't need it at all. Here's how Wrexham County Borough Council handles householder applications — the £585 fee, the real timeline, and how to find out which side of the line you're on before you spend anything.
⚡ Get an instant estimate 📋 Book a £60 site visit 💬 Free 15-min call firstIf you're planning an extension anywhere in Wrexham County Borough, the first question isn't what it will look like — it's whether you need permission at all. Mike has spent 25 years drawing householder extensions and submitting them across North Wales, and he'll tell you the answer before you commit a penny. Drawings, the application itself, and the building regulation package, all handled for one fixed written fee. You deal with one person from first sketch to approval.
Often, no. Wales sets its own Permitted Development rules — don't rely on English websites, they differ. As a broad guide, a single storey rear extension up to 4 metres on a detached house, or 3 metres on a semi or terrace, can frequently proceed with no application and no council fee at all, subject to height limits, boundary distances and whether previous extensions have used up your allowance.
Roughly half the householder projects we see fall inside those rules. The other half don't, and the difference is rarely obvious from the street — which is exactly what the £60 site visit is for. Mike measures up, checks your rights, and gives you a straight answer before any council fee is committed.
Two things always need an application. Conservation areas — including Wrexham town centre, Erddig, Gresford, Overton and Bangor-on-Dee — have Permitted Development rights restricted, so work that would be automatic elsewhere needs permission here. And listed buildings need listed building consent alongside planning, which is a separate and more detailed process.
The council fee is £585, set nationally across Wales, plus the £91 Planning Portal charge — both paid directly, never through Mike. What goes in with it is what decides whether it's approved:
Your home as it stands — plans and elevations, measured on site, drawn to scale.
The extension as it will be built, in the same set, so the case officer can read the change at a glance.
The site in its wider context and the layout of the plot. Applications routinely fail validation for missing these.
Prepared, submitted through the Planning Portal, and managed through to decision — including any questions from the case officer.
The timeline. Wrexham works to an eight-week target from validation. Realistically, allow ten to twelve weeks end to end once the survey and drawings are included. That eight weeks only starts when the application is accepted as valid — which is why they're prepared to pass validation first time. A resubmission for a missing document costs weeks.
Mike works across the whole county borough — the town itself and the villages around it: Gresford, Marford, Rossett, Llay, Gwersyllt, Rhosllanerchrugog, Ruabon, Chirk, Overton, Holt, Coedpoeth and Brymbo.
One local note worth knowing: anything near the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct World Heritage Site buffer zone — Chirk, Ruabon and the Dee valley around them — attracts extra scrutiny on design, materials and how the work reads in the landscape. It doesn't stop projects, but it does mean the drawings need to answer questions a case officer elsewhere wouldn't ask.
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 site visit 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.
Mike surveys your home himself — no juniors, no outsourcing. The £60 visit fee comes off your fee when you go ahead.
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) |
| Certificate of Lawful Development (optional proof for PD work) | Half the planning fee | Your council |
| Planning application (if required) | £585 Wales / £548 Cheshire | Your council |
| Planning Portal service charge | £91 | Planning Portal |
| Building control (approx.) | £600 – £1,000 | 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. No forms, no email, no obligation.
Mike's fee covers the complete professional package:
Why the range? Every home is different. The lower end covers a straightforward project — a simple survey, 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're paying and what it covers. The number you agree is the number you pay.
The visit. Mike comes to your home, assesses your space and your plans, tells you whether you need planning permission, and gives you honest advice on what's possible and what it's likely to cost. The visit fee is £60.
Commission the work and it's free. If you go ahead, the full £60 is deducted from your agreed fee — so the visit effectively costs you nothing.
Work beyond the agreed scope. Anything over and above the written fee proposal — amendments after approval, planning appeals, project management — is charged separately at £60 per hour, always agreed with you first.
What it is. The fee your council charges to process a householder planning application — their planners assess your proposed extension against local and national planning policy before granting permission.
Why it's needed. Larger extensions, or ones outside the Permitted Development rules, legally need planning permission before work starts. Many smaller extensions don't need it at all — Mike will tell you which side you're on at your site visit.
How you pay. Paid directly to your council when the application is submitted — it never passes through Mike. The fee is set nationally: £585 in Wales (Flintshire, Denbighshire and Wrexham) and £548 in Cheshire West & Chester. Mike prepares, submits and handles the whole application as part of his fee. Applications go in online via the Planning Portal, which adds a £91 service charge on top of the council fee.
What it is. The Planning Portal is the official national website where planning applications are submitted online to councils across England and Wales — it's how applications reach your council's planning department.
Why the charge. The Portal charges a flat £91 service fee for processing each application and passing it (and your council fee) on to the council. It applies across the board, whichever council you're in.
How you pay. Paid online at the point of submission, together with the council's planning fee. Mike prepares and submits the application through the Portal on your behalf — this charge just doesn't apply at all if your project is Permitted Development, because there's no application to submit.
What it is. Completely separate from planning — building control checks that the construction itself meets the Building Regulations: structure, insulation, fire safety, drainage. An inspector approves the technical drawings and visits the build at key stages.
Why it's needed. It's a legal requirement for extensions and conversions, even when no planning permission is needed. At the end you receive a completion certificate — which you'll need when you come to sell the house.
How you pay. Paid directly to the council's building control team or a private approved inspector — typically a plan charge when the drawings go in and an inspection charge when work starts. Charges vary by council and project size, which is why this line is approximate: Mike obtains an exact quote for you once the design is finalised. Not part of Mike's fee.
Guide figures only. The £60 site visit is not added to the total — 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 — and he'll tell you at your site visit whether your project qualifies as Permitted Development.
Or have Mike email this estimate to you — no obligation.
✅ Sent — Mike will email your estimate today. No obligation.
Couldn't send just now — call Mike on 07703 786 460 or email mike@deesideextensions.co.uk.
Every planning application Mike submits goes onto the council's public register — under his name, with the decision attached, permanently. It's free to search and it isn't curated by us. So before you decide whether the fee above is worth paying, go and check the work behind it.
Submitted to Flintshire County Council under Deeside Architectural Design. Every one of them searchable by name.
Twelve approved — several inside five weeks of validation, against the council's eight-week target.
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.
Often not. Wales sets its own Permitted Development rules, and roughly half the householder projects we see fall inside them — no application, no council fee. Single storey rear extensions up to 4m (detached) or 3m (semi and terraced) can frequently proceed without permission, subject to height, boundary and previous-extension limits. Conservation areas and listed buildings always need an application. Mike gives you the honest answer at the £60 site visit.
Wrexham County Borough Council works to an eight-week target from validation. Allow ten to twelve weeks end to end once the survey and drawings are included — and remember the eight weeks only starts once the application is accepted as valid.
Yes — and anyone who tells you they haven't either hasn't submitted many or isn't being straight with you. Refusals are a normal part of planning, and every one of ours is on the public register for anyone to read. What matters is what happens next. A refusal arrives with the council's reasons attached, and most of the time those reasons are fixable — a roof line dropped, a window moved, a material changed. Mike talks to the case officer, amends the drawings and resubmits. One recent project was refused, redrawn and approved five weeks later. That back-and-forth is a large part of what you're paying for, and it's why a refusal is a delay rather than a dead end.
Three taps on the estimator gives you a realistic figure. When you're ready, the £60 site visit comes off your fee if you go ahead.
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