Bromley

Local plan

Bromley’s Local Plan, adopted on 16 January 2019, remains the council’s published adopted borough plan, used with the London Plan; its review is a separate process, not an adopted replacement. [1][5]

For home projects, check Policies 6, 8 and 9 (extensions, side space and conversions), 37 and 44 (design and special residential character) and 115–116 (flooding and drainage), together with the relevant maps and appendices: Policy 48’s protected views have a separate map. [1][2][3]

For town-centre sites, the council now states that the 2010 Area Action Plan has reached the end of its plan period and should receive no weight, and directs applicants to the Local Plan and Town Centre SPD adopted on 18 October 2023; this is the council’s published position, not a rule that every old plan automatically ceases to apply. [48][49][51]

The 17 August 2026 NPPF, Annex A, also distinguishes materially inconsistent older policies from policies that merely predate the Framework. [45][46]

Householder design guide

Use the Urban Design Guide SPD, adopted on 5 July 2023; it replaced the earlier General Design Principles and Residential Design Guidance supplementary planning guidance. [6][7]

Its DG5 architectural design guidance expects an extension to remain subordinate to the host building and respond to its proportions, roof form, materials and surrounding character. [7]

Local Plan Policy 6 also addresses compatible extensions and dormers that sit within the roof rather than dominate prominent roof slopes. [2]

For extensions of two or more storeys, Policy 8 normally seeks at least 1 m from the side boundary for the full height and length, with more space where wider gaps are part of local character; this is a planning-policy starting point, not a guarantee of approval. [2]

Validation list

Use Bromley’s January 2025 validation list, agreed on 12 December 2024, and the application-specific checklist: householders need photographs, dimensioned drawings and BNG exemption details, while flats and maisonettes use full planning applications. [8][9][10]

Apply the newer 6 August 2026 BNG rules rather than the PDF’s old self-build exemption: sites of 0.2 hectares or less are exempt unless priority habitat is affected, the separate householder exemption continues, and self-build status alone no longer exempts a new application. [11]

Under NPPF DM2, additional local reports should have a development-plan basis and be proportionate. [46]

Council publications differ on CIL Form 1 for smaller householder applications and on certain invalid-submission charges; confirm the relevant requirement or charge with planning.admin@bromley.gov.uk, rather than treating the 100 m² checklist wording as a general exemption from forms or assuming both fee pages give the same tariff. [8][9][10][47]

Article 4 directions

Bromley confirms two Class L HMO directions covering the borough, restricting both C3-to-C4 and C4-to-C3 changes; use their mapped August 2021 ward boundaries, with the non-immediate order outside Biggin Hill and Darwin effective from 1 September 2022. [14][16][54]

Separate mapped directions restrict upwards extensions, and the Petts Wood Class B/C direction effective 19 July 2022 covers roof alterations generally, not just front roof slopes: cancellation of the older front-slope-only direction on 12 August 2022 did not cancel its replacement. [17][18][19]

For Class E-to-residential proposals, check the Class MA directions effective as modified on 27 September 2023, using the modified parcel maps rather than the original wider boundaries. [20][21]

The Knoll’s separate direction, effective 14 February 2023, removes the right to erect or construct gates, fences and walls but retains the right to maintain, improve or alter them; these examples do not replace a property-specific check against the full register. [13][22]

Conservation areas

Check the property’s current conservation-area boundary and its individual appraisal and management plan: the council warns that designations can change independently of the Local Plan, so the plan’s original appendix is not an exhaustive current check. [24][26]

On 25 June 2025, Bromley adopted new appraisals and management plans for Shortlands Village, Bromley Town Centre, The Covert, The Thrifts and Chislehurst Road. [24]

Shortlands Village’s guidance, for example, addresses extensions’ relationship to the host building, architectural details, gaps and established planting. [25]

Some other guidance remains available on request; obtain the relevant document and check the separate Article 4 register before assuming standard roof, window or boundary alterations are unrestricted. [13][26]

Basement policy

For a basement, start with Local Plan Policy 37 on design and neighbours’ amenity and Policies 115–116 on flood risk and sustainable drainage, rather than borrowing another borough’s permitted depth or garden-coverage limit. [2]

The council-linked August 2017 Strategic Flood Risk Assessment, sections 6.4.3–6.4.4, identifies groundwater and below-ground construction risks, including effects on groundwater movement; it is dated evidence, not a substitute for investigating the actual site. [27][28]

Under the August 2026 NPPF, policies F4 and F7 require the relevant site-specific flood assessment and safe development without increasing flood risk elsewhere; a householder proposal’s exemption from the sequential test under F5 is not an exemption from those safety requirements. [45][46]

For a proposed basement dwelling, Annex F classifies the use as highly vulnerable and incompatible with Flood Zones 3a and 3b; establish the proposed use and flood classification rather than assume that every cellar alteration is a new basement dwelling. [46]

CIL rates

Bromley’s own CIL took effect on 15 June 2021, and its indexed 2026 residential rate is £120.12/m², excluding residential development that provides additional care and support services. [31]

The 2026 rate for large-scale purpose-built shared living and purpose-built student accommodation is £180.18/m²; the charging schedule defines the shared-living category as schemes of 50 or more units, and other uses must be checked against their own schedule entry. [31][32]

The separate 2026 Mayoral CIL2 Band 2 rate for Bromley is £72.73/m², so the borough rate alone is not the full charging framework. [33]

These are rates, not a quotation for your project: chargeable floorspace, qualifying existing floorspace and applicable exemptions or relief affect liability, and proposed temporary London CIL relief should not be deducted unless the operative rules establish eligibility. [34][43][60]

Pre-application advice

Bromley offers written pre-application advice for non-major proposals, without a meeting, but says this service does not decide whether planning permission is required; a lawful development certificate is the formal route it identifies for that question. [35]

The prices displayed when checked on 3 October 2026, including VAT, are £250 for an ordinary householder proposal and £720 for alterations or householder extensions to a listed dwelling. [36]

For non-major new housing, including conversions, the displayed fee is £387.50 for one dwelling, plus £187.50 for each additional dwelling, up to nine dwellings. [36]

Submit the council’s request form and supporting information to planning@bromley.gov.uk and pay through its online pre-application payment route; choose the category matching the actual development rather than assume the householder price covers a new home. [35][36]

Building control

Contact Bromley Building Control at buildingcontrol@bromley.gov.uk or 020 8313 4313, with the published postal address Bromley Civic Centre, Churchill Court, 2 Westmoreland Road, Bromley, BR1 1AS. [37]

The currently linked Charges Scheme No. 7 2026, effective 1 October 2026, lists a domestic extension over 10 m² and up to 40 m², without a basement, at £420 for plan checking plus £420 for inspections, both excluding VAT; areas are measured internally and combined extensions are added together. [38][52]

Extensions including a basement require an individually determined charge, rather than that standard extension price. [38][52]

From 1 October 2026, relevant new-residential applications also require Building Safety Levy information, subject to the specified exceptions; an information requirement does not itself establish liability, and Bromley directs levy questions to CIL@bromley.gov.uk. [39][40]

The 2026 Future Homes and Buildings Standards regulations generally commence on 24 March 2027. Specified provisions for higher-risk building work and work to existing higher-risk buildings commence on 24 September 2027, with separate transitional arrangements. Confirm the provisions, application and start dates applicable to the project; the new-home standard is not a blanket requirement to retrofit an existing home. [44]