Greenwich

Local plan

Greenwich’s established borough framework includes the 2014 Core Strategy with Detailed Policies, with DH1 on design, DH(a) on residential extensions, DH(b) on neighbours’ amenity and H(b) on conversions among the policies relevant to home projects. [1][3][4]

The replacement Local Plan remains a draft: its Regulation 19 consultation closed on 6 September 2026, and the council says it intends to submit the plan before the end of 2026 for examination in 2027, followed by consideration of adoption. [2]

Its proposed supersession schedule would replace DH(a) with H9 Extensions, but that schedule is not evidence that the adopted policy has already been replaced. [3]

Use the borough policies alongside London-wide policy and the NPPF published on 17 August 2026, keeping both the emerging borough plan and draft new London Plan separate from adopted requirements. [5][21][22]

Householder design guide

The Urban Design Guide SPD is identified as adopted design guidance in the Planning Inspectorate’s 14 February 2025 decision on a rear dormer at 130 Eastcombe Avenue. [4]

That decision illustrates a contextual assessment: the Inspector considered the building, neighbouring dormers, public visibility and the guide’s own illustrated example, rather than treating a single measurement as the whole design test. [4]

Area-specific guidance also matters: the council’s June 2016 Ashburnham Triangle guidance addresses extensions, windows, roofs and boundary treatments within that conservation-area context, not throughout Greenwich. [8]

Obtain Greenwich's complete current borough-wide guide and adoption statement before fixing extension dimensions or deciding whether an older guide has been superseded.

Validation list

Obtain Greenwich's current checklist for the particular application type before commissioning supporting reports.

National policy DM2 says local validation lists should contain the information required by national decision-making policies, with additional assessments supported by development-plan policy and proportionate to the proposal’s scale and effects. [5]

For biodiversity net gain, householder applications are exempt; from 6 August 2026, applications for sites of 0.2 hectares or less within the red-line boundary are also exempt unless the development impacts on-site priority habitat. [6]

The separate self-build and custom-build exemption no longer applies to new applications made on or after 6 August 2026, so an older checklist must not be relied on to claim that exemption. [6]

Article 4 directions

Article 4 restrictions must be matched to both the property and the class of development withdrawn, rather than assumed from a conservation-area name alone. [11]

For Ashburnham Triangle, the council’s confirmation notice states that the replacement direction and cancellation of the earlier direction took effect on 21 May 2014; the later June 2016 leaflet is guidance, not the commencement instrument. [7][8][9]

The notice schedules particular properties and gives the hard-surfacing restriction a narrower address list than the other controls, while the guidance map distinguishes the conservation-area boundary from buildings covered by the direction. [7][8]

This is not a complete Greenwich register: HMO and commercial-to-residential directions, other heritage directions and any later modifications must be checked separately before relying on permitted development. [11]

Conservation areas

Use the conservation-area boundary and the appraisal for the actual site: the Ashburnham Triangle guidance, for example, maps a conservation area containing properties that are not all covered by its Article 4 direction. [8]

The council’s December 2016 Greenwich Town Centre Colour Guidance explains that the town centre forms part of West Greenwich Conservation Area, with separate colour controls at scheduled premises rather than a distinct town-centre conservation-area designation. [10]

The adopted plan also contains a separate DH4 Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site policy, so World Heritage considerations are not interchangeable with the conservation-area or Article 4 check. [1]

Check the council’s current mapped records for the property. The historic examples above illustrate local controls; they do not establish every address’s present designation or boundary.

Basement policy

Greenwich’s adopted DH(a) Residential Extensions policy expressly includes basements and requires additions to suit their building and locality, so the borough must not be described as having no basement policy. [1]

Flood risk is a separate assessment: current NPPF F4 requires a site-specific flood-risk assessment for proposals in Flood Zones 2, 3a and 3b, while the householder exception from the sequential test does not remove that assessment requirement. [12]

The replacement plan’s proposed H9 Extensions also includes basements, but remains draft policy rather than a new permission or an adopted dimensional allowance. [13]

Check Greenwich's current basement guidance and local assessment checklist before fixing depth, garden coverage or the scope of a Basement Impact Assessment.

CIL rates

For 2026, the GLA publishes Greenwich’s ordinary Mayoral CIL2 Band 3 rate as £30.30/m², indexed from the £25/m² schedule rate applicable from 1 April 2019, with health and education uses excepted at a nil rate. [14]

That is the Mayoral component, not a combined Greenwich bill: London borough CIL is a separate charging layer, and the collecting authority calculates liability under the applicable schedules and rules. [15]

Obtain Greenwich’s current borough charging schedule, charging-zone map and 2026 indexed local rates separately before calculating the combined liability. Do not add a historic local figure to the Mayoral rate as though it were current.

The government's July 2026 consultation proposes time-limited relief from borough CIL in London. Use the operative charge and check the final implementing rules before deducting a proposed discount. [16]

Pre-application advice

Before booking, obtain written confirmation of Greenwich's current pre-application service, fee, VAT treatment, service category and expected turnaround.

Pre-application discussions can help identify relevant policies, local submission information, site constraints and potential planning difficulties before a formal application is prepared. [17]

Prepare a clear description and drawings showing what is proposed, and ask which issues require specialist evidence rather than assuming that every possible report is necessary. [17]

National policy DM1 distinguishes proportionate early engagement for major schemes from the minimum necessary information for other proposals, while recognising that complex matters such as heritage effects may warrant early discussions. [5]

Building control

The council publishes building.control@royalgreenwich.gov.uk as its Building Control contact in the Woolwich regeneration contacts directory; the same entry does not provide a telephone number. [18]

Use that contact to confirm the current application route, charge and inspection-booking arrangements for your project.

For work outside the higher-risk building regime, GOV.UK identifies the choice between the council’s building control service and a private registered building control approver. [19]

Work within the higher-risk building regime generally requires the Building Safety Regulator route, subject to the stated exceptions, rather than assuming an ordinary council or private application is sufficient. [19]

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. [20]