Westminster

Local plan

Use the City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted on 21 January 2026, together with the London Plan and any applicable made neighbourhood plan; the 2026 City Plan replaces the 2021 edition. [1][2]

Relevant home-project policies include 12 (Housing Delivery), 13 (Affordable Housing), 39 (Flood Risk), 42 (Design Principles), 43 (Retrofit First), 44 (Westminster’s Heritage) and 50 (Basement Developments), read with current supplementary guidance. [17][18][21][28]

Policy 13’s small-scale housing requirement is 20% affordable floorspace, with on-site or payment-in-lieu routes and specified exceptions—not an automatic charge on every extension or house subdivision. [21]

Since 10 August 2026, the Oxford Street Development Corporation (OSDC) is the planning authority within its mapped area, while the relevant borough development-plan policies continue to apply. [7][8][9][10]

Householder design guide

Westminster retains separate Roof and Mews guides rather than offering a single design rule for every house; they emphasise the existing roofline, architectural character and neighbours, and do not establish a general entitlement to a mansard extension. [22][23][24]

The Pimlico and Queen’s Park Estate guides are location-specific and must be read alongside current policies and the relevant area’s controls. [25][26]

The Environment SPD, adopted on 13 February 2026, and its Retrofit First guidance are important for refurbishment and redevelopment proposals. [16][18][63]

The position statement dated 18 September 2026 explains the application of Retrofit First but expressly does not replace policy 43 or the adopted guidance. [19][20][59]

Validation list

Start with Westminster’s July 2026 validation checklist and check the current NPPF’s applicable information requirements rather than relying on older national paragraph references. [27][28][65][66]

The checklist seeks sustainable-design evidence for proposals creating new floorspace. [28]

It distinguishes independent specialist Fire Statements for major development from proportionate fire-safety information for other proposals. [28]

Within the OSDC area, confirm the submission requirements directly: its website describes its own checklist as a draft awaiting consultation, despite the linked PDF’s “Approved” filename. [13][14]

Article 4 directions

Westminster’s citywide basement Article 4 direction removes the specified householder permitted-development right for basement and related below-ground works; the council gives its operative date as 31 July 2016. [30][31]

Separate Class MA directions cover mapped commercial areas within and outside the Central Activities Zone, not every property in either area. [32][34]

Conservation-related directions control particular addresses and operations, including roof alterations, painting or front-garden enclosures, with original schedules that must be checked individually. [36][38][40][41][42]

Check the original instrument, address schedule and map for the precise works and land covered; an area name alone does not establish that all permitted-development rights have been removed. [30][32][34][35]

Conservation areas

The council lists 56 conservation areas; locate the property using its mapping and read the relevant area audit, guidance and any made neighbourhood plan. [1][43][44][45][46]

Some audits contain older policy references, so their design advice must be checked against the current development plan rather than treated as a complete statement of today’s requirements. [45][46]

For example, the Queen’s Park Estate guide rejects front dormers and front rooflights, but that is area-specific guidance—not a Westminster-wide roof rule. [26]

A conservation-area boundary and the land covered by an Article 4 direction are not necessarily identical, as the Queen’s Park direction’s address schedule, exclusions and map demonstrate. [40]

Basement policy

Assess a basement against City Plan policy 50, the separate Article 4 direction and the site’s heritage and flood constraints; the Environment SPD confirms the current basement-policy reference. [17][31]

The July 2026 checklist requires a Flood Risk Assessment for all basement development and an engineer’s self-certified Structural Methodology Statement for basement works and the other specified structural proposals. [28]

The Environment SPD treats basement dwellings as highly vulnerable and requires safe access/refuge measures for basements at risk of flooding; mitigation does not make a dwelling acceptable in an incompatible flood zone. [17]

The revised Code of Construction Practice applies to new-site submissions from 1 June 2026 and existing-site submissions from 1 September 2026, with formal construction-management requirements for basement projects; confirm the project’s tier because the code contains inconsistent classification wording. [57][58]

The May 2026 construction code's Table 5 schedules suitable electricity-supply provision for non-road mobile machinery from 1 January 2027 for Level 1, 1 January 2028 for Level 2 and 1 January 2030 for Level 3. Confirm the project's classification and applicable code or condition requirements; these are local code provisions rather than a national ban on all construction plant. [58]

CIL rates

For 2026, Westminster’s published indexed residential CIL rates are £811.80/m² in the Prime zone, £590.40/m² in the Core zone and £295.20/m² in the Fringe zone. [49]

Use the residential charging map—not the separate commercial map—and assess chargeable floorspace and any relief through the applicable forms. [47][48][51]

The separate 2026 Mayoral CIL2 general residential rate is £96.97/m²; different Mayoral rates apply to specified Central London office, retail and hotel development. [50]

DD2796 provides for borough CIL charging and collection in the OSDC area to continue until an OSDC charging schedule is approved and takes effect: the transfer of planning powers alone is not a switch of CIL rates or an exemption. [11][12]

Pre-application advice

Under Westminster’s tariff from 1 April 2026, ordinary alterations and extensions to an unlisted house or flat cost £504 including VAT for written advice; the unlisted householder-basement category costs £1,008 including VAT for a meeting and written advice. [52][53]

Ordinary listed-house/flat works creating no additional dwelling use the small-scale category, at £2,220 including VAT for a meeting and written advice; environmental-improvement-only advice and other schemes have separate categories. [53]

Westminster no longer provides pre-application advice for sites inside the OSDC area: send those enquiries to planning.enquiries@oxfordstreet.org.uk and obtain the OSDC’s own service and fee terms. [7][15]

Building control

Contact Westminster building control at districtsurveyors@westminster.gov.uk or 020 7641 6500; its application page provides Full Plans, Building Notice and regularisation routes and says the fee is notified after receipt. [54]

A registered building control approver is an alternative for work outside the Building Safety Regulator’s remit, while relevant higher-risk building work follows the regulator’s route. [61]

The Building Safety Levy started on 1 October 2026, with information requirements for relevant new-residential work that can apply even where no levy charge is payable. [55][56]

Ordinary extensions or alterations that create neither a new dwelling nor new purpose-built student accommodation fall outside that levy process. [56]