Conservation Area
Extra planning controls to protect local character
A conservation area is a place of special architectural or historic interest, protected for its character and appearance. The local planning authority designates it and draws the boundary. Extra planning controls apply inside that boundary. All four UK nations use conservation areas, and each runs its own consent rules.
What This Means
Repairs, internal work and like-for-like maintenance carry on as normal. The controls apply outside: windows, doors, render, roofing and anything visible from the street. Demolishing a building, or a boundary wall, needs consent of its own. Work to trees needs six weeks' notice to the council before pruning or felling. An Article 4 direction, if one covers the street, removes everyday permitted development rights as well. This does not normally affect mortgage approval, buildings insurance or resale.
Practical Advice
- Ask the local planning authority whether an Article 4 direction covers this address, and what it withdraws.
- Ask your conveyancer to confirm that past external works had consent, because you can be made to undo unauthorised work.
- Get pre-application advice from the council's conservation officer before ordering windows, doors or render.
- Read the council's conservation area appraisal to see which features it protects on this street.
Key Points
- Replacing timber sash windows with uPVC on a street-facing elevation needs permission in most conservation areas, and is often refused.
- A satellite dish or solar panels on a front elevation may need permission, where the same kit on a rear roof slope would not.
Additional Information
England abolished conservation area consent in 2013; demolition there needs planning permission instead. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland keep conservation area consent. In Northern Ireland the 11 district councils designate and manage conservation areas. The Department for Infrastructure keeps a reserve power to designate, after consulting the council. Historic England's linked advice describes the English regime.