Planning permission in Hackney
Constraints: planning.data.gov.uk (ingested 2026-10-02) · Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, March 2026 · 125 sales in March 2026 · Open Government Licence
Search Hackney planning applications
Looking for an existing application rather than checking a new project? Open the council's official planning service to find its application search. Our guide explains how to compare useful precedents without treating another address's approval as a guarantee for yours.
Open the official Hackney planning service →How to read planning applications →
Planning in Hackney — the detail
Hackney has become London's most active borough for domestic extensions, and its planning culture has matured with it. The Victorian terraces of London Fields, Stoke Newington and Clapton carry an extraordinary density of recent precedent — rear extensions, side returns and full-width glass additions — and Hackney officers are notably more receptive to contemporary design than their neighbours in Islington or Camden. A crisp modern rear addition with good brickwork is a mainstream consent here, not a fight.
The constraint map still matters. Conservation areas protect the borough's set pieces — De Beauvoir Town, Clapton Square, the Stoke Newington core around Clissold Park — and within them permitted development gives way to full applications with real design scrutiny. Outside those areas, much of Hackney's terrace stock keeps PD rights, making prior approval for larger rear extensions a genuinely useful route. The borough's large estate and flat stock is the other limiter: flats have no PD rights, and leasehold consent questions arrive early.
Hackney rewards completeness and speed: validation is strict on drawing standards, but well-prepared householder applications move close to the statutory clock. The most common refusals involve overdevelopment of small gardens and lofts that break the roofline on protected terraces — both avoidable with a constraint check and a look at the street's consent history before design starts.
Policy detail lives in the Hackney local plan and applications are submitted via the Hackney planning portal.
Conservation areas in Hackney
Real · planning.data.gov.ukEvery designated conservation area in Hackney from the official dataset — inside one, permitted development narrows and design scrutiny rises.
- Albion Square
- Beck Road
- Broadway Market
- Brownswood
- Clapton Common
- Clapton Pond
- Clapton Square
- Clissold Park
- Dalston
- Dalston Lane (West)
- De Beauvoir
- Fremont and Warneford
- Graham Road and Mapledene
- Hackney Road
- Hackney Wick
- Hoxton Street
- Kingsland
- Lea Bridge
- Lordship Park
- Mare Street
- Newington Green (North)
- Northwold & Cazenove
- Pitfield Street
- Queensbridge Road
- Regent's Canal
- Regent's Canal - Central & South Hackney CAAC
- Regent's Canal - Kingsland CAAC
- Regent's Canal - Shoreditch CAAC
- Shacklewell Green
- South Shoreditch
- St Mark's
- Stoke Newington
- Stoke Newington Reservoirs, Filter Beds and New River
- Sun Street
- Town Hall Square
- Underwood Street
- Victoria Park
- Well Street Conservation Area
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Boundaries are checked at address level by the area report.
Article 4 directions in Hackney
Real · planning.data.gov.ukArticle 4 directions in Hackney remove specific permitted development rights street by street — the single most common reason a "no permission needed" project turns out to need one.
- 112 Upper Clapton Road (launderette)
- 16 Stamford Hill (launderette)
- 195 Mount Pleasant Lane (launderette)
- 202 Well Street (launderette)
- 20B Pitfield Street (launderette)
- 234 Haggerston Road (launderette)
- 253 Amhurst Road (launderette)
- 29 Marsh Hill (launderette)
- 50 Matthias Road (launderette)
- 6 Felton Road N1 5NA (launderette)
- 6 Gilpin Road (launderette)
- 6-7 Downs Court Parade, Amhurst road (launderette)
- 88 Stoke Newington High Street (launderette)
- 94 Chatsworth Road (launderette)
- 94 Weymouth Terrace (launderette)
- Addition to Hackney Central Major Town Centre (part 1)
- Addition to Hackney Central Major Town Centre (part 2)
- Anton Street Priority Employment Area
- Beck Road Conservation Area
- Belfast Road Priority Employment Area
- Broadway Market Local Shopping Centre
- Brownswood Conservation Area
- Chatsworth Road Local Shopping Centre
- Chesham Arms Public House, 15 Mehetabel Road
- Dalston
- Dalston Major Town Centre
- De Beauvoir Conservation Area (article 4 direction area)
- De Beauvoir Priority Industrial Area
- Densmure Road Local Shopping Centre
- Dunsmure Road Local Shopping Centre
- East of Dalston Major Town Centre
- Exemption Area (part 1)
- Exemption Area (part 2)
- Finsbury Park District Centre
- Finsbury Park District Town Centre
- Green Lanes Local Shopping Centre
- Hackney Central
- Hackney Central Activity Zone
- Hackney Central Area Action Plan
- Hackney Central Area Action Plan, Hackney Central District Town Centre (part 1)
- Hackney Central Area Action Plan, Hackney Central District Town Centre (part 2)
- Hackney Central Area Action Plan, Hackney Central District Town Centre (part 3)
- Hackney Central Area Action Plan, Hackney Central District Town Centre (part 4)
- Hackney Central Major Town Centre
- Hackney Downs Local Shopping Centre
- Hackney Downs Priority Employment Area
- Hoxton Street Local Shopping Centre
- Kingsland Road Local Shopping Centre
- Kingsland Road/Waste Local Shopping Centre
- Lauriston Road Local Shopping Centre
- Locally Significant Industrial Site - Frederick Terrace
- Locally Significant Industrial Site - Helmsley Place
- Locally Significant Industrial Site - Millfields
- Lower Clapton Road Local Shopping Centre
- Manor House Area Action Plan
- Manor House Local Shopping Centre
- Oldhill Street Local Shopping Centre
- Priority Industrial Area - Anton Street
- Priority Industrial Area - Belfast Road
- Priority Industrial Area - De Beauvoir
…plus 34 further designated areas.
Source: planning.data.gov.uk · Open Government Licence. Boundaries are checked at address level by the area report.
Key Hackney planning figures
| Conservation areas | 38 |
| Article 4 directions | 94 |
| Householder applications granted | 84.3% (355 of 421) |
| London average grant rate | 85.6% |
| Rank for lowest grant rate | 15 of 33 |
| Average house price | £621,028 |
| Annual price change | +0.4% |
Conservation areas and Article 4 directions: planning.data.gov.uk, ingested 2026-10-02 · Householder approval rates: MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS2), 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 · House prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index, March 2026 · Open Government Licence. Figures are as published on those dates; a designation missing from the national dataset is a gap in the dataset, not proof it does not exist.
What gets built in Hackney
London's most active rear-extension market; contemporary design with good brickwork is mainstream.
Rear extension in Hackney →London Fields and Clapton terraces infill constantly; contemporary glazed returns approve well.
Side return extension in Hackney →Deep PD precedent outside the conservation cores; protected rooflines are the refusal zone.
Loft conversion in Hackney →Fewer applications, same technical bar; ground conditions near the Lea need early investigation.
Basement extension in Hackney →The borough's garden-office boom is real — London Fields and Clapton gardens convert weekly.
Garden room in Hackney →Hackney postcode by postcode
E8's Victorian terraces around London Fields and Graham Road are among the most actively extended in London. Conservation areas co…
E8 planning report →E9 mixes Homerton's terraces with Hackney Wick's converted industrial stock on the Lea. Terrace streets off Well Street and Victor…
E9 planning report →E5's stock runs from Clapton Square's Georgian survivors to long Victorian runs towards the Lea marshes. Conservation areas protec…
E5 planning report →N16's Church Street core and the streets around Clissold Park sit in conservation areas with active local scrutiny, while Stamford…
N16 planning report →Hackney planning, asked straight
Do I need planning permission for a rear extension in Hackney?
Is Hackney friendly to contemporary extension design?
Can I extend a flat in Hackney?
What gets refused most often in Hackney?
How do I see planning applications near my Hackney address?
Related reading
Almost every London extension, loft and basement engages this Act. Here's how it actually works.
Read the guide →Real ranges from real projects — not brochure numbers.
Read the guide →The public record is your best planning consultant — if you can read it.
Read the guide →What applies at your address?
Borough-level rules only narrow it down. Enter a Hackney postcode for the live constraint check — conservation area, Article 4 and sold-price comparables, cited to source.
Free, and it stays free — no account, no payment. The check reads official geometry at the property's own coordinates; it cannot read a lease, a listing or the condition of the building.
What else a home in Hackney can need
Planning permission is one consent. A home in Hackney can still need any of these, including when the planning route itself looks straightforward.
- Party wall surveyor in London — the works cut into a shared wall, sit on the boundary, or excavate near a neighbour.
- Listed building consent in London — the building is listed. Internal alterations can need consent as well as anything visible from the street.
- Licence to alter in London — the property is a leasehold flat. The freeholder's consent is separate from the council's.
Who to talk to about a Hackney property
Constraint data tells you what applies. It does not draw a scheme, argue a case with Hackney's planners, or inspect a building. For that this site points at two separately regulated practices — which one you need depends on the job in hand.
The architect's door: designing the scheme and getting it consented — drawings, the planning application and the building-regulations package.
- Residential design for extensions, lofts, basements and conversions
- Planning applications, pre-application advice and appeals
- Lawful development certificates
- Building-regulations and technical design drawings
- Conservation-area design and listed building consent applications
The chartered-surveyor door: professional judgement on condition, risk, party wall matters and leasehold process.
- Building surveys, RICS home surveys and defect diagnosis
- Party wall matters and awards
- Technical due diligence before a purchase
- Leasehold and major-works advisory (Section 20)
- Dilapidations and building pathology
Both practices are independent and separately regulated — Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy is an RICS-regulated firm (Firm Reg. 923064); Hampstead Architecture and Planning are ARB-registered architects. We publish no fees for their work: each quotes directly for the job in front of them. Your enquiry goes to the practice you choose — we never pass your details to builders or other third parties.
Planning terms on this page
Conservation Area · Article 4 Direction · Permitted development · Full planning · LDC · Determination period
Plain-English definitions · full planning glossary →
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.