Local plan
The Local Plan adopted on 24 July 2024 is the borough plan to use, replacing the 2019 plan. [1][2]
Current council assessments identify CD9 for living conditions, CD11 for basements, CD12 for roofs and additional storeys, CD13 for extensions and modifications, and CD16 for fire safety; flood risk and sustainable drainage are also addressed through GB11 and GB12. [3][4]
The Norland and St Quintin and Woodlands neighbourhood plans also apply within their respective areas, so a borough-wide policy search alone is not sufficient there. [6][7]
Norland’s forum designation has elapsed without removing its neighbourhood plan from the development plan, while the St Quintin forum’s later change of name did not alter its boundary. [6][7]
Council guidanceHouseholder design guide
For an extension or roof alteration, use the Local Plan alongside the council’s topic-specific guidance and the relevant conservation-area appraisal, rather than treating one guide as a complete permission checklist. [3][8][22]
The council’s application of CD13 requires additions to remain subordinate and the original building form to remain legible, while CD12 addresses roof changes in their architectural context. [3]
The Householders’ Greening Guides provide separate advice on measures including windows, heat pumps, shading and flood protection. [9]
There is also a narrowly targeted mansard route for 21–32 Redcliffe Road, consecutive: the Local Development Order confirmed on 22 April 2024 runs to 22 April 2034, subject to its design, materials, solar-panel and construction-management conditions, rather than authorising mansards throughout the borough. [10]
Council guidanceValidation list
Start with the council’s application-submission page and linked local validation list, but the linked list carries a December 2022 production reference, not evidence of a comprehensive 2026 review. [12][13]
It requests a Construction Method Statement for new or enlarged basements and identifies proposals needing a Construction Traffic Management Plan, while a current CD16 assessment requires a Planning Fire Safety Strategy or Reasonable Exception Statement for minor and other applications. [13][3]
The online instructions ask for CIL information for any net floorspace increase or wholly vacant remaining floorspace, whereas the PDF gives a 100 m²/new-dwelling trigger; confirm the required form for the particular application rather than assuming these instructions are interchangeable. [12][13]
Additional information should be checked against NPPF policy DM2, including its development-plan basis and proportionality, and current biodiversity exemptions should be checked separately from this older checklist. [14][15]
Council guidanceArticle 4 directions
The borough-wide basement Article 4 direction took effect on 28 April 2016, removing the specified householder permitted-development right for basement and lightwell construction beneath a house or its curtilage. [16][17][18]
Commercial-to-residential Class MA controls apply to mapped areas following the Secretary of State’s 22 July 2022 modification, while separate heritage directions must be checked against their property schedules rather than assumed to cover every building in a conservation area. [19][20]
An important exception is the replacement-window Local Development Order, confirmed on 23 October 2025, which provides a conditional planning permission for qualifying non-listed residential buildings and overrides relevant window Article 4 restrictions. [10]
Its appearance, materials, privacy and opening conditions still apply: it does not authorise new openings, rooflight or listed-building alterations, or override existing planning conditions, and it allows uPVC-to-timber replacement but not timber-to-uPVC replacement. [11]
Council guidanceConservation areas
The council identifies 38 conservation areas; check the relevant boundary, appraisal and any separate Article 4 schedule before choosing alterations. [21][22][20]
For example, Norland’s appraisal identifies historic roof forms and the consistency of rear elevations as part of its character, so an alteration at the back is not automatically harmless simply because it is less visible from the main street. [23]
The Kensington Palace appraisal was adopted on 17 July 2025, but that is an appraisal date, not a new designation date for every property shown on its linked boundary map. [22][24]
A separate listed-building consent order made on 20 March 2026 covers specified glazing work to Grade II buildings in Queen’s Gate, Pembridge and Holland Park: eligibility includes particular sash arrangements, evidence that the existing glass is not historic, and retention requirements, rather than general permission to replace listed windows. [25][26]
Council guidanceBasement policy
CD11 is the current basement policy reference, supported by the retained Basements SPD adopted on 14 April 2016; the SPD’s older policy labels should not be mistaken for current Local Plan numbering. [4][27]
The SPD explains a normal limit of one basement storey and 50% of each garden or open part, and expressly says its large-site exception does not apply to ordinary detached, semi-detached or terraced houses. [28]
Its section 3.2 contains a qualification for gardens that are physically continuous around a house, allowing redistribution within the overall limit while keeping each part as close as possible to 50%, rather than automatically treating all front and rear areas as interchangeable. [28]
Prepare the structural and construction evidence with the application: the July 2026 committee refused the St Catherine’s Mews proposal partly because a draft Construction Traffic Management Plan had not been provided, despite the officer’s recommendation to address it by condition. [4][5]
Council guidanceCIL rates
The council’s 2026 indexed residential CIL rates, per chargeable square metre, are Zone A £1,158.30; B £911.20; C £664.09; D £416.99; E £293.44; and F £169.88. [29]
The mapped Zone G, Earl’s Court, and Zone H, Kensal Strategic Site, have a nil borough rate for all uses, but these charging boundaries must be checked on the schedule map rather than inferred from a neighbourhood name. [29][30]
The separate 2026 ordinary Mayoral CIL2 Band 1 rate is £96.97/m², so a nil borough rate does not itself establish nil Mayoral CIL. [31]
These are indexed rates, not a project quotation: the applicable use, charging zone, chargeable floorspace, eligible existing-floor deductions and any exemption or relief determine the actual liability. [30][32]
Council guidancePre-application advice
The published 2026–2027 VAT-inclusive householder fees, excluding subterranean work, are £587 for Level 1, £587 for Level 2 and £714 for Level 3. [33]
For householder proposals including subterranean work, the corresponding charges are £758.10, £1,143.50 and £1,270.50. [33]
Level 1 addresses the principle without a site inspection, Level 2 provides detailed written advice with inspection where necessary, and Level 3 adds a meeting; Level 1 is not available for listed-building alterations. [33]
The advertised response aims are respectively two, four and five weeks, not guaranteed determination periods or a substitute for the subsequent application. [33]
Council guidanceBuilding control
For council building-control applications and a project-specific quotation, contact building.control@rbkc.gov.uk or 020 7361 3838, using the council’s application page and quote form. [34][35]
The published telephone hours are Monday to Friday, 8.30 am–5 pm, excluding public holidays, and the postal address is Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX. [34][35]
Charges are assessed for the project rather than presented here as a universal extension or basement fee, with the council identifying factors such as structural-calculation checking, complexity and inspection requirements. [34]
For site inspections, use the LABC Site Inspection App or contact the assigned surveyor through the council’s inspection service; a request for a quotation is not an inspection booking. [36]
Council guidance