EC2V · Cheapside & Gresham Street
EC2V is the civic and banking heart of the Square Mile: Cheapside's retail frontage, Gresham Street's offices and the medieval street pattern threading behind them. Homes are rare and always flats — upper floors above commercial uses, or units within recent mixed-use schemes. That matters, because flats have no permitted development rights, so every alteration is an application. Conservation-area control blankets the district and listed churches and halls sit in the middle of it, which makes the planning and listing history of your specific building the first thing to establish.
Location data: postcodes.io · Constraints: planning.data.gov.uk (borough-level) · Open Government Licence
Constraint context · City of London
Real · planning.data.gov.ukCity of London has 28 designated conservation areas and 0 Article 4 areas. A district is too coarse to say which apply to your house — postcode districts span many streets and EC2V crosses 2 boroughs. Enter a full postcode below for the point-level check, or read the full borough picture on the City of London planning guide.
Is EC2V in a conservation area?
Partly — and which part matters. A postcode district is never uniformly designated: EC2V contains 35 conservation areas within 1km of its centre, and whether your own property sits inside one decides whether permitted development survives. The centre point of EC2V itself does not fall inside one — but many of its streets will.
| Bank | Nearby |
| Barbican and Golden Lane | Nearby |
| Bear Gardens | Nearby |
| Bishopsgate | Nearby |
| Borough High Street | Nearby |
| Bow Lane | Nearby |
| Brewery | Nearby |
| Charterhouse Square | Nearby |
| COA00000577 | Nearby |
| COA00000580 | Nearby |
| COA00000596 | Nearby |
| COA00000602 | Nearby |
| COA00000607 | Nearby |
| COA00000632 | Nearby |
| Creechurch | Nearby |
| Eastcheap | Nearby |
| Finsbury Circus | Nearby |
| Fleet Street | Nearby |
| Foster Lane | Nearby |
| Guildhall | Nearby |
| Hatton Garden | Nearby |
| Laurence Poutney Hill | Nearby |
| Leadenhall Market | Nearby |
| New Broad Street | Nearby |
| Newgate Street | Nearby |
| Postman's Park | Nearby |
| Queen Street | Nearby |
| Smithfield | Nearby |
| South Shoreditch | Nearby |
| St Helen's Place | Nearby |
| St Paul's Cathedral | Nearby |
| Sun Street | Nearby |
| Thrale Street | Nearby |
| Tooley Street | Nearby |
| Whitefriars | Nearby |
Conservation areas whose official geometry lies within 1km of the centre of EC2V. Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Proximity to the district centre is not a statement about your own address — run the address check for that.
Does an Article 4 direction apply in EC2V?
Yes — EC2V has 13 Article 4 directions mapped within 1km of its centre. An Article 4 direction withdraws specific permitted-development rights on the streets it covers, which is the most common reason a project that looks like permitted development turns out to need a full application. The centre point of EC2V does not fall inside one, but coverage is street-level — verify your own address.
| Bankside and Borough District Town Centre | Nearby |
| Basements | Nearby |
| Central Activities Zone | Nearby |
| Commercial, Business, and Service (Use Class E) to residential (Use Class C3) (in CAZ) | Nearby |
| FOUNDERS ARMS | Nearby |
| London Bridge District Town Centre | Nearby |
| OLD THAMESIDE INN | Nearby |
| Protected shopping frontage SF6: Hopton Street | Nearby |
| Railway Arches | Nearby |
| Site allocation NSP03: 62-67 Park Street | Nearby |
| Site allocation NSP04: 185 Park Street | Nearby |
| Site allocation NSP06: 1 Southwark Bridge Road and Red Lion Court | Nearby |
| THE ANCHOR BANKSIDE | Nearby |
Article 4 directions whose official geometry lies within 1km of the centre of EC2V. Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. The national dataset omits some property-specific directions — the council register is always definitive.
Every designation in the borough: City of London planning guide →
Do you need planning permission in EC2V?
Three routes exist, and which one you are on is decided by your address, not your postcode district:
| Permitted development — no application. The work stays inside the GPDO limits and no designation removes them. A Lawful Development Certificate is cheap proof for a future buyer. | No permission |
| Prior approval — the larger single-storey rear extension route, with neighbour consultation. Not available on designated land. | 42 days |
| Full householder application — required once a designation removes your permitted-development right, or the scheme exceeds the limits. | 8 weeks |
EC2V contains mapped conservation-area or Article 4 geometry, so a meaningful share of its streets will have lost some permitted-development rights — which pushes those properties onto the full-application route. Whether yours is one of them is an address-level question, not a district-level one.
What does planning permission cost in EC2V?
| Householder planning application | £548 (from 1 April 2026) |
| Lawful Development Certificate — proposed works | £274 (half the application fee) |
| Lawful Development Certificate — existing works | £548 (the full application fee) |
| Listed building consent | No fee |
| Resubmission after a refusal | Free once, within 12 months of the decision |
National statutory figures for England — councils do not set them, so they are the same in every borough. Planning fees re-index every 1 April; confirm the current amount on the Planning Portal fee calculator before you apply. These are the council's fees only — drawings, surveys and any specialist reports are separate.
How long does it take?
| Householder application — statutory target | 8 weeks |
| Householder application — in practice | 8–12 weeks |
| Prior approval (larger home extension) | 42 days |
| Lawful Development Certificate | 8 weeks |
| Householder appeal — deadline to lodge | 12 weeks from the decision date |
| Householder appeal — typical decision | Around 18 weeks |
What if it's refused?
A refusal is a decision notice with reasons attached, and those reasons are a roadmap. Most homeowners in City of London — as anywhere in England — are better served by amending the scheme and using the free resubmission than by appealing: you get one further application on the same site within 12 months without paying again.
| Who can appeal | The applicant only — not neighbours |
| Fee to appeal | None — you bear your own costs |
| Procedure | Written representations for most householder appeals |
| Success rate | Roughly a third — about 36% of householder appeals allowed in 2025/26 |
Appeals go to the Planning Inspectorate, an independent national body. How to read a refusal and choose your route →
Planning permission by project in City of London
Barely applies — the City's homes are listed Barbican and Golden Lane flats with no PD rights, where listed building consent governs any change.
Rear extension in City of London →Not applicable in practice — the City's residential stock is listed flats, not terraced houses with side returns.
Side return extension in City of London →Barely relevant — the City's listed flats can't be loft-converted by a household; alterations need listed building consent.
Loft conversion in City of London →Effectively not applicable — basements under the City's listed estates are governed by listed building consent and estate management guidelines, not householder PD.
Basement extension in City of London →Not applicable — the City's homes are listed flats without private gardens or outbuilding rights.
Garden room in City of London →Pinpoint your street
More of City of London
The Square Mile: heritage-dense, listed throughout, with little residential stock.
Borough page →Planning Permission Checker provides planning and cost intelligence for early feasibility only. It is not legal, planning, valuation, architectural, structural, or surveying advice. All estimates are indicative and must be verified by qualified professionals before purchase, design, planning submission, or construction.
Cost estimates are indicative only — not a quotation. Final price depends on survey, specification, structure, access, party wall matters, VAT, professional fees, and contractor availability.
Planning outcomes are not guaranteed. Local planning authorities make final decisions.