Planning permission in Croydon
Constraints: planning.data.gov.uk (ingested 2026-06-15) · Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, October 2025 · 318 sales in October 2025 · Open Government Licence
Planning in Croydon — the detail
Croydon is London's most populous borough, spanning a high-rise metropolitan centre and a vast belt of Victorian, Edwardian and interwar suburbs out to the leafy hills of South Croydon, Sanderstead, Purley and Coulsdon. Its 22 conservation areas range from Central Croydon and the South Norwood and Upper Norwood streets to the celebrated Webb Estate and Upper Woodcote Village at Purley — an Arts and Crafts garden suburb — and the Waldrons and Chatsworth Road areas.
Croydon applies targeted Article 4 directions in specific conservation areas — Chatsworth Road, The Waldrons and Kenley Aerodrome among them — where they remove permitted development rights so that extensions, roof alterations, porches, hardstanding and boundary changes all need a planning application. The borough also controls HMO conversions, requiring planning permission to turn a house into a small HMO. (Croydon's former Suburban Design Guide SPD was revoked in 2022, so householder schemes are judged against the adopted Local Plan.)
Outside the Article 4 conservation areas, much of Croydon's suburban stock keeps permitted development rights for rear extensions, side extensions and loft conversions, on generous plots. The address-level check is what separates a permitted-development project from a full application in one of the protected areas — and confirms whether an HMO or other control applies.
Policy detail lives in the Croydon local plan and applications are submitted via the Croydon planning portal.
Conservation areas in Croydon
Real · planning.data.gov.ukEvery designated conservation area in Croydon from the official dataset — inside one, permitted development narrows and design scrutiny rises.
- Addington Village
- Beulah Hill
- Bradmore Green
- Central Croydon
- Chapman Houses, Croham Manor Road
- Chatsworth Road
- Church Road, Upper Norwood
- Church Street
- East India Estate
- Harold Road
- Kenley Aerodrome
- Norbury Estate
- Norwood Grove
- Parish Church
- South Norwood
- St Bernards
- The Waldrons
- The Webb Estate
- Upper Norwood Triangle
- Upper Woodcote Village
- Wellesley Road North
…plus 1 further designated areas.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Boundaries are checked at address level by the area report.
Article 4 directions in Croydon
Real · planning.data.gov.ukNo Article 4 geometry for Croydon appears in the national planning.data.gov.uk dataset, but the borough operates targeted directions: householder Article 4 directions in conservation areas such as Chatsworth Road, The Waldrons and Kenley Aerodrome (removing permitted development for extensions, roofs, porches, hardstanding and boundaries), and control over house-to-small-HMO conversions. Householder schemes are judged against the adopted Local Plan (the former Suburban Design Guide SPD was revoked in 2022). Check the council's Article 4 register for the position at a specific address.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Checked at address level by the area report.
What gets built in Croydon
Suburban Croydon stock extends under PD; the Waldrons, Webb Estate and other Article 4 conservation areas need a full application.
Costs & planning route →Common on the terraces of Croydon, Addiscombe and South Norwood; the Article 4 conservation areas need a full application.
Costs & planning route →Common across suburban Croydon under PD; the Article 4 conservation areas (the Waldrons, the Webb Estate) decide dormer form via a full application.
Costs & planning route →Uncommon outside the higher-value south; a full application with structural and ground-condition evidence is expected, with conservation-area scrutiny on top.
Costs & planning route →Generous gardens in suburban Croydon suit garden rooms under PD; the Article 4 conservation areas can remove outbuilding rights — verify the direction.
Costs & planning route →Croydon postcode by postcode
CR0 spans Central Croydon and the Victorian streets of Addiscombe and Waddon. Conservation designation governs the protected cores…
Area report →CR2 covers South Croydon and Sanderstead, including The Waldrons conservation area — which carries an Article 4 direction removing…
Area report →CR8 is Purley and Kenley — home to the Arts and Crafts Webb Estate and Upper Woodcote Village, and the Kenley Aerodrome conservati…
Area report →CR5 covers Coulsdon and Old Coulsdon on the downland edge, where Green Belt and countryside meet the suburbs. Much of the interwar…
Area report →SE25 is South Norwood — the South Norwood and Norwood Grove conservation areas and the Victorian terraces around the lake. Much of…
Area report →Croydon planning, asked straight
Which parts of Croydon have Article 4 directions?
Is my Croydon home in a conservation area?
Do I need planning permission to create an HMO in Croydon?
Do I need planning permission for a rear extension or loft in Croydon?
How do I check constraints for a Croydon address?
Related reading
Designated land edits the rulebook — here's the exact redline.
Read the guide →The designation nobody's heard of until it refuses their extension.
Read the guide →Four roof forms, four budgets — and one big conservation premium.
Read the guide →What applies at your address?
Borough-level rules only narrow it down. Enter a Croydon postcode for the live constraint check — conservation area, Article 4 and sold-price comparables, cited to source.
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