What is an Article 4 direction?

Permitted development, in plain terms

Many small changes to a house already have planning permission, granted nationally, so you don't need to apply. These are called permitted development rights. Painting the outside of your house is one of them, and so are most garden fences up to 2 metres high.

An Article 4 direction lets a council take some of those rights away in a particular place, usually to protect the look of a street or an estate. It's made under Article 4 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015, and it only removes the rights it names. Everything else stays as it was.

What an Article 4 direction usually covers

Each direction lists its own works, so always read the one for your area. In conservation areas, they tend to cover the parts of a house you can see from the street. Havering's direction for Gidea Park, confirmed in 2016, is a typical example. It covers:

• changes to the front and side of the house, which is where new windows and doors come in
• changes to the roof
• porches
• paving or other hard surfaces in the front garden
• gates, fences and walls
• painting the outside of the house

Some directions have nothing to do with how a house looks. Many councils use them to control turning a family house into a small shared house (an HMO), which would otherwise be permitted development.

A direction can't stop work that has already started, and repairs and maintenance are generally still fine. Replacing something with a different design or material is where you're more likely to need permission.

What it doesn't cover: work inside the house

In planning law, work that only affects the inside of a building isn't development at all. That means an Article 4 direction can't reach it. A new kitchen, a new bathroom, new floors or decorating inside can go ahead as normal.

The exception is a listed building. There, listed building consent can be needed for inside work too, such as removing a fireplace or an internal wall, and doing that work without consent is a criminal offence.

Article 4, conservation area or listed building?

These three get mixed up, but they work differently:

• Conservation area: the whole area has extra planning controls, such as needing permission to render or clad a house. Not every conservation area has an Article 4 direction.
• Article 4 direction: removes specific permitted development rights, usually in part of a conservation area or across a set of streets.
• Listed building: protects a single building, inside and out, through listed building consent.

A house can be under none of these, one of them, or all three at once.

Examples in London and Essex

Article 4 directions are common in the areas we work in:

• Gidea Park, Romford: covers front alterations, roofs, porches, front gardens, boundaries and exterior painting.
• The Woodgrange Estate, Forest Gate: around 1,160 late-Victorian houses, where painting the outside walls needs permission.
• Hampstead and Belsize: Camden adopted new directions in June 2026 for Belsize, Fitzjohns Netherhall, Hampstead, Redington and Frognal, and South Hampstead.
• Kew, Barnes and Twickenham: Richmond has directions on roads such as Kew Green, The Crescent in Barnes and Montpellier Row in Twickenham.
• Loughton and Buckhurst Hill: Epping Forest has directions for York Hill, Staples Road and St John's.
• HMOs: Havering, Newham and many other councils use directions to control changing houses into small shared houses.

How to check if your home is covered

• Look at your council's Article 4 page. Most publish a list of directions and a map.
• Search the local land charges register. Directions are recorded there, though not every council's data is on the national service yet.
• Check the government's planning data site, which has a national Article 4 dataset. It may be incomplete, so don't rely on it alone.
• If you're still not sure, ask the council's planning team before you start.

If you're buying a house, your solicitor's local search should show any direction that affects it.

Is there a fee for the planning application?

There used to be no fee for an application needed only because of an Article 4 direction. That exemption was removed on 17 January 2018, so a standard planning fee may now be payable. Some older council leaflets still say it's free, so check the current position with your council before you apply.

What it means for your building work

An Article 4 direction mostly affects outside work: windows, doors, porches, front walls, paving and painting. If your job includes any of these and you live in an affected area, sort out permission before the work is booked in, not halfway through.

Inside work is a different matter. Kitchens, bathrooms, flooring and decorating inside don't need planning permission because of an Article 4 direction. At the site visit, Eli can point out which parts of a job usually fall under these rules, but the council has the final word.

Common questions

Sources

• GOV.UK: When is permission required?
• The Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, article 4
• Havering Council: Article 4 directions
• The Town and Country Planning (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2017
• GOV.UK: Search the local land charges register
• Planning Data: Article 4 direction dataset

Related

• Builders in Romford and Gidea Park
• House rendering
• Builders in Hampstead and north London