Planning permission in Kensington and Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is the local planning authority for Kensington and Chelsea, a London borough in Greater London. Below is what its official planning data shows, what it means for the most common projects, and how to get a verified report for your exact address.
Do you need planning permission in Kensington and Chelsea?
It depends on your exact address. Many householder projects are permitted development and need no application — but Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has 41 conservation areas and 84 Article 4 directions, and inside those the permitted development route narrows or disappears. Every application is decided against national policy and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s adopted Local Plan. A report for your postcode tells you exactly which apply.
What Kensington and Chelsea has published
| Dataset · national planning data index | Published |
|---|---|
| Conservation areas | 41 |
| Article 4 direction areas (permitted development removed) | 84 |
| Tree preservation zones | 41 |
| Listed building outlines | 2,609 |
| Local Plan documents | 0 |
Counts are read from planning.data.gov.uk and refreshed daily. A zero or dash means the council has not yet published that dataset to the national index — not that the designation doesn’t exist on the ground. We show what we found and tell you what we didn’t. We never infer a restriction — or the absence of one — from missing data.
Planning permission for your project in Kensington and Chelsea
What the rules mean for the most common householder projects in Kensington and Chelsea — each grounded in the council’s designations and the official permitted-development limits.
Reading Kensington and Chelsea’s planning landscape
With 41 conservation areas on the official index, design and character carry real weight in Kensington and Chelsea decisions. Inside a conservation area the bar for external alterations rises, and some permitted development rights narrow — which side of a boundary your property sits on can change your project’s planning route entirely. Browse Kensington and Chelsea’s conservation areas →
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has 84 Article 4 direction areas in force. An Article 4 direction removes specific permitted development rights, so work that would normally need no application — certain extensions, alterations, even paving — can require full permission. This is the single most common surprise we find for homeowners, and it is address-specific.
Every application in Kensington and Chelsea is decided against national policy (the NPPF), the London Plan, and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s adopted Local Plan. A Planning Policy report quotes the specific policies that apply to your project — verbatim, verified, and linked to the official documents.
Get a planning report for your Kensington and Chelsea address
A Planning Policy report applies the official rules to your exact property: the designations on your address, the policies that bear on your project — quoted verbatim — and what decided applications nearby show. Generated in minutes.