I have worked on flats in the City of Westminster, including a flat extension and roof terrace and, in the same terrace, a first-floor roof terrace, both in an elegant late-Georgian terrace.
Westminster is one of the most heritage-led authorities in the country, so knowing how it approaches a proposal in a sensitive setting is part of getting a project onto the right footing.
- Council planning pages
- Westminster City Council
- Local Plan
- Westminster City Plan 2019-2040, read alongside the London Plan and any made Neighbourhood Plans (City Plan adopted 2021, with a Partial Review adopted January 2026). Local Plan page.
- What to submit with an application
- Local validation requirements.
- Article 4 directions
- Westminster has made a number of Article 4 directions removing permitted development rights across the city, including a city-wide direction for basement development, directions removing the right to change from Class E (commercial, business and service) to residential, and directions restricting specified minor alterations in several conservation areas. The council provides an interactive map so an applicant can check whether a property is covered. Article 4 directions.
- Community Infrastructure Levy
- Westminster charges its own Community Infrastructure Levy per square metre on qualifying new development, and the Mayor of London's CIL is charged in addition. Rates are set out in the council's charging schedule and can be estimated with its CIL calculator. Community Infrastructure Levy page.
- Conservation areas and heritage
- Heritage is central to planning in Westminster: the borough contains 56 conservation areas, alongside many listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens and a World Heritage Site. The council prepares conservation area audits describing the character of each area, and works to listed buildings require separate listed building consent. Conservation pages.
- Local guidance
- Westminster supports its City Plan with Supplementary Planning Documents and guidance, including the Environment SPD, the Planning Obligations and Affordable Housing SPD and the Public Realm guidance, alongside the conservation area audits. Supplementary planning documents.
What this means for your project
In Westminster, almost everything I do is shaped by the borough’s heritage and by how widely permitted development rights have been removed. Most of the borough sits within a conservation area, and Article 4 directions here are unusually extensive, including a city-wide direction on basement development and restrictions on converting commercial space to residential. If your property is in a conservation area or is listed, expect the council to look closely at detailing and the effect on the wider area, and expect to need an application, and sometimes listed building consent, for work that might be permitted elsewhere. Where the Community Infrastructure Levy applies, both the Westminster and the Mayoral charge are worth allowing for early. I check the current position for your specific address before any drawings are prepared.
Last checked: 26 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.