Planning permission in Richmond upon Thames

Planning in Richmond upon Thames — the detail

Richmond upon Thames is the most conservation-dense borough in London — 86 designated conservation areas, more than any other authority Planning Permission Checker covers. They span Richmond Hill and Richmond Riverside, Kew Green and the Royal Botanic Gardens (a World Heritage Site), Petersham and Ham Common, Strawberry Hill, St Margaret's Estate, the Twickenham and Teddington riverside, and the Castelnau and Barnes streets across the river. The Thames and its protected views add a layer of landscape control on top of the usual conservation scrutiny of roofs, materials and rear additions — the view from Richmond Hill is protected by its own Act of Parliament.

The borough's defining householder control is its basement Article 4 direction. Richmond made a direction in February 2017 that, from 1 April 2018, removed permitted development rights for basement and subterranean development across the whole borough other than the areas of greatest flood hazard — so a basement anywhere in Richmond needs planning permission and must meet the council's basement and flood-risk policies. The borough's House Extensions and External Alterations SPD (2015) sets the detailed design expectations, and it applies to every house whether or not it sits in a conservation area; the Residential Development Standards SPD covers daylight, outlook and privacy.

Outside the conservation areas, Richmond's suburban and villa stock supports the usual rear extensions, side returns and loft conversions, with prior approval a route for larger rear extensions on unconstrained houses. But conservation coverage is so extensive here that the address-level check is decisive — many ordinary-looking streets fall inside a designated area where a full application and careful detailing are the norm.

Policy detail lives in the Richmond upon Thames local plan and applications are submitted via the Richmond upon Thames planning portal.