Development Intent
Case officer · Richmond Upon Thames Planning

Fariba Ismat.

Active — last recorded decision May 2026

A case officer at Richmond Upon Thames with an approval rate of 90% across 385 decided planning applications, spanning 24 wards.[1] Decision speed and appeal performance publish when decision notices are ingested.

Planning officer385 decisions90% approvalSave
Richmond Upon Thames · ward map
Approval rate — by ward
Lower ~68%
Higher ~90%
ShowingAll years · subscriber →across all years on record — a period re-scopes the headline figures and the trend
At a glanceEach metric links to the investigation behind it
All investigations →
385
Applications
2020–26
Approval rate over time — tougher or softer 🔒Dashed line = London average
avg 81%85%202088%202187%202289%202391%202496%202596%2026
Approval-rate trend is subscriber dataSubscribe to see the trend →
What they decide — by application type
How they compareVersus peers
Approval rate90% · 6th of 67
higher is betterdashed = London avg
Decision time · publishes with decision notices
in development
Appeal overturn · publishes with decision notices
in development
How this officer decides — from their own reports374 officer reports parsed
11%
Approves despite concerns
of approvals record a documented reservation
3%
Negotiated approvals
approvals mentioning revisions/amendments
1%
"On balance" reports
reports using explicit balancing language
66%
Bespoke reasoning
of report text written for the case, not recited
What they write about — vs Richmond Upon Thames's average officer

Topic mentions per 1,000 words of their own report text (boilerplate stripped), indexed against all parsed Richmond Upon Thames reports. Attention, not stance.

Energy & sustainability
0.89× borough avg
Flooding & drainage
0.87× borough avg
Materials & detailing
0.73× borough avg
Outlook & amenity
0.7× borough avg
Character & heritage
0.68× borough avg

Mark = borough average (1×). Bar capped at 2×.

How they reason — coded from their reports

Ismat's reports work through a short fixed list of 'key planning issues' (typically Design/Appearance/Local Character, Neighbouring Amenities, and occasionally Flood Risk or Trees) and repeatedly justify departures from the SPD's general rules (raising a ridge, reducing setback) by pointing to what neighbouring properties on the same street already look like, treating existing street character as the main test of acceptability rather than the SPD figure in isolation.

Observable habits

· states the general SPD rule (e.g. raising ridge height is 'normally not supported') and then explains why the specific street context makes an exception acceptable in this instance

· surveys what alterations neighbouring numbered houses on the same street have already had (roof changes, dormers, garage conversions) to judge whether 'uniformity' has already been lost

· in refusals, states the specific numeric SPD limit the proposal exceeds (e.g. a stated depth limit for a semi-detached dwelling) as the operative reason

What their reports consistently look for

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: what alterations have already been made to specific neighbouring numbered properties on the same street, used to judge whether the area's uniformity is already compromised

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: the precise SPD numeric threshold (depth, setback, height) that a scheme complies with or exceeds

· what this officer's reports consistently look for: whether floor levels would be raised or lowered in a Flood Zone 2/3 site as the key flood-risk test for minor works

Assigned Fariba Ismat on a live case?What they pay attention to, how they reason, and what their reports consistently look for — so you can address it before they raise it.Subscribe to unlock →
In their own words

However, it is noted that surrounding properties have been altered by different extensions i.e. no. 64 has had its roof design completely changed from its original form, no. 66 has been extended by a side dormer and no. 68 by a front dormer. Hence, the uniformity of roof designs has already been lost

20/0453/HOT

Raising the ridge height is normally not supported, however in this instance raising the ridge height will bring the host site in line with neighbouring building height and is considered to add height consistency with positive impact on the street scene

20/0502/HOT

The current proposal is to add a further extension to the rear and side, exceeds the above limit and is not considered to have an understanding of the site and how it relates to host BTM and the historic setting of the wider Waterworks building and the Conservation area.

20/1788/HOT

Measured from 374 published Richmond Upon Thames officer reports written by this officer, with recited policy boilerplate stripped before any counting. These describe how this officer works and writes — they are not outcome predictions. Every quote is from a named public report.

Policy playbook — what this officer cites[3]

The policies this officer cites most in their own reports — times cited across 374 parsed reports. Whether refusals citing each survive appeal isn't traced per policy yet.

D4Teddington Station
149 times cited
D12Teddington School
100 times cited
D5Queens Road Clinic
69 times cited
D6The Causeway, Teddington
48 times cited
D11
23 times cited
LP8
22 times cited
LP1
21 times cited
HC1
12 times cited
Which policies this officer leans on is subscriber intelligenceSubscribe to unlock →
Decisions by ward
Ward
Decisions
Approval rate

Where this officer's caseload concentrates, 2020–26.[1] Click the map above to focus this page on a ward, or a row to open the ward.

Recent applications
Address
Reference
Type
Outcome
Date
PA26/1212
Householder Application
Approved
2026-06-04
PA26/0738
Householder Application
Approved
2026-05-28
PA26/1212
Householder Application
Approved
2026-06-04
PA26/0738
Householder Application
Approved
2026-05-28
Full application history locked
Subscribe to see all 385 decisions →
Consultants approved most— subscriber data
1. Svinder Architects Limited
2. STUDIO VAREY ARCHITECTS
3. Mr architect nuspace
4. Cameron Jones Planning Ltd
At a glance
OfficerFariba Ismat
RolePlanning officer
Experience
Applications385 (2020–26)
Approval rate90%
London approval avg81%
Who decides here
GovernmentMayor of LondonCouncilCommitteeOfficersDecisionsApplicantsInspectorate
Related investigations
When committees overrule officers like this one →
How often members depart from officer recommendations, and how those overrides fare at appeal.
How much gets decided without a committee →
The delegated share by borough and officer — where the real power over decisions sits.
Sources & method
  1. [1]Applications decided, approval rate, per-year trend and ward breakdown — London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames planning register and published decision notices, 2020–26. · methodology
  2. [2]Appeal overturn and decision-time benchmarks — Planning Inspectorate (PINS) appeal decisions and application date pairs; not yet computed per officer, shown as a dash until they are. · PINS appeals casework
  3. [3]Condition load — Richmond Upon Thames's decision-notice parsing is limited coverage, so no borough or officer figure is shown.
  4. [4]"How this officer decides", the policy playbook and all quotes — parsed from 374 published Richmond Upon Thames officer reports written by this officer, recited policy boilerplate stripped before counting; disposition text coded from their own reasoning with every quote machine-verified verbatim. Descriptive of how they work — not outcome predictions.
Methodology is published in full so every number is traceable to its primary source.