Planning permission in Brent
Constraints: planning.data.gov.uk (ingested 2026-06-15) · Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, October 2025 · 156 sales in October 2025 · Open Government Licence
Planning in Brent — the detail
Brent runs from the Victorian terraces and villas of Queen's Park, Brondesbury and Mapesbury in the south, through Willesden, Kilburn and Harlesden, to Wembley's towers and the Metro-land suburbs of Sudbury, Kingsbury and Kenton. Its 23 conservation areas include Queen's Park, Mapesbury, Kensal Green and Kensal Rise, Willesden Green, Harlesden, Roe Green Village and Barn Hill — and all of the borough's residential conservation areas are covered by Article 4 directions, so even small external changes in them need planning permission.
Brent's other defining control is its HMO regime: an Article 4 direction confirmed in February 2022 and in force from 1 November 2022 removed the permitted development right to convert a house (use class C3) to a small HMO (C4), so an HMO conversion now needs planning permission across the borough, supported by the council's HMO SPD and Local Plan Policy BH7. The national dataset also records numerous Article 4 directions over the borough's strategic industrial land and site allocations — these are employment-land protections, not householder restrictions. The Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD sets the design bar for home projects.
Outside the conservation areas, much of Brent's terrace and semi-detached stock keeps permitted development rights for rear extensions, side extensions and loft conversions. The address-level check is what separates a permitted-development project from a full application in one of the Article 4 conservation areas — and confirms whether the HMO direction bites.
Policy detail lives in the Brent local plan and applications are submitted via the Brent planning portal.
Conservation areas in Brent
Real · planning.data.gov.ukEvery designated conservation area in Brent from the official dataset — inside one, permitted development narrows and design scrutiny rises.
- Barn Hill
- Brondesbury
- Buck Lane
- Harlesden
- Homestead Park
- Kensal Green
- Kensal Rise
- Kilburn
- Lawns Court
- Mapesbury
- Mount Stewart
- Neasden Village
- North Kilburn
- Northwick Circle
- Paddington Cemetery
- Queens Park
- Roe Green Village
- South Kilburn
- St Andrews
- Sudbury Cottages
- Sudbury Court
- Wembley High Street
- Willesden Green
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Boundaries are checked at address level by the area report.
Article 4 directions in Brent
Real · planning.data.gov.ukBrent's Article 4 directions, recorded as around 80 named parcels in the national dataset, fall into three groups: a borough-wide HMO direction (in force since 1 November 2022) removing the right to convert a house to a small HMO; design control across all of the borough's residential conservation areas; and protections on strategic industrial land and site allocations (employment-land, not householder). The Residential Extensions and Alterations SPD sets householder design expectations. Use the area report, or the council's Article 4 register, for the direction that applies at a given address.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence · 80 directions recorded. Checked at address level by the area report.
What gets built in Brent
Terraces in Willesden, Harlesden and Kilburn extend under PD; all of Brent's residential conservation areas carry Article 4 directions, so those need a full application.
Costs & planning route →Common on the terraces of Willesden, Kilburn and Harlesden; Brent's conservation areas all carry Article 4 directions, so those need a full application.
Costs & planning route →Common across Willesden, Kingsbury and Wembley under PD; Brent's conservation areas (all Article 4) decide dormer form via a full application.
Costs & planning route →Less common than the inner-west boroughs; a full application with structural and ground-condition evidence is expected, with conservation-area scrutiny on top.
Costs & planning route →Workable under PD on many plots; Brent's conservation areas (all Article 4) can remove outbuilding rights — verify the direction.
Costs & planning route →Brent postcode by postcode
NW2 takes in the Mapesbury and Willesden Green conservation areas — handsome late-Victorian villa streets where, as across Brent, …
Area report →NW10 spans the Harlesden, Kensal Green and Kensal Rise conservation areas and the terraces of Willesden. Inside the conservation a…
Area report →NW9 includes the Roe Green Village conservation area — a planned garden village — and Buck Lane, alongside the Colindale regenerat…
Area report →HA9 is Wembley Park and the Barn Hill conservation area on the slopes above the stadium — a Tudor Walters–era estate of mature gar…
Area report →HA0 covers Wembley Central, Alperton and Sudbury — the Sudbury Court and Sudbury Cottages conservation areas among the protected p…
Area report →Brent planning, asked straight
Do I need planning permission to create an HMO in Brent?
Is my Brent home in a conservation area?
Do Article 4 directions affect my Brent extension?
Do I need planning permission for a rear extension or loft in Brent?
How do I check constraints for a Brent address?
Related reading
The designation nobody's heard of until it refuses their extension.
Read the guide →Designated land edits the rulebook — here's the exact redline.
Read the guide →Real ranges from real projects — not brochure numbers.
Read the guide →What applies at your address?
Borough-level rules only narrow it down. Enter a Brent postcode for the live constraint check — conservation area, Article 4 and sold-price comparables, cited to source.
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