I have worked on a project in the Sevenoaks district, the conversion of a listed oast house and barn into a home.
Much of the Sevenoaks district is Green Belt or protected landscape, and the district has a large number of conservation areas and listed buildings, so understanding how the council weighs the setting of a proposal is part of getting a project onto the right footing.
- Council planning pages
- Sevenoaks District Council
- Local Plan
- The Sevenoaks development plan, made up of the Core Strategy and the Allocations and Development Management Plan (Core Strategy adopted February 2011 and the Allocations and Development Management Plan adopted February 2015, both still in force, while the council prepares a new Local Plan for 2027 to 2042 (an earlier submission Local Plan was found unsound in 2019 and not adopted)). Local Plan page. A new Local Plan is being prepared.
- What to submit with an application
- Local validation requirements.
- Article 4 directions
- Sevenoaks does not have a district-wide Article 4 direction. It uses Article 4 directions selectively to remove specified permitted development rights at particular sites, so anyone affected should check the position for a specific property before assuming permitted development rights apply. Article 4 directions.
- Community Infrastructure Levy
- Sevenoaks is a Community Infrastructure Levy charging authority. It has charged CIL on qualifying development since August 2014, at rates set per square metre that vary by location and type and are index-linked each year, alongside Section 106 planning obligations for site-specific matters such as affordable housing. Community Infrastructure Levy page.
- Conservation areas and heritage
- Heritage protection is significant across the district, with 41 conservation areas, from the town centres of Sevenoaks and Westerham to villages and hamlets, and over 1,650 listed buildings on the National Heritage List for England. Listed building consent is required for works to a listed building, and special care is taken with development in conservation areas, where changes must preserve or enhance the existing character. Conservation pages.
- Local guidance
- The council publishes a suite of supplementary planning documents and guidance, including a Residential Extensions design guide, Green Belt and affordable housing guidance, the Kent Design Guide and residential character area assessments, which sit alongside the Local Plan. Supplementary planning documents.
What this means for your project
In the Sevenoaks district, a lot of the work I do is shaped by the Green Belt, which covers most of the district, and by the number of conservation areas and listed buildings. If your property is in a conservation area or is listed, expect the council to look closely at materials, detailing and the effect on the wider area, and expect the historic fabric to be treated as part of the design rather than a constraint to work around. There is a Community Infrastructure Levy here, so a larger scheme may carry a CIL charge as well as any Section 106 obligations, which is worth checking early. I check the current position for your specific address before any drawings are prepared.
Last checked: 27 June 2026. page reviewed Planning policy, charges and local designations change over time, so please confirm the current position with the council before relying on this summary.