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Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London
Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

01Kensington and Chelsea, London

Listed building consent drawings in Kensington and Chelsea

Across the Royal Borough a listed house is rarely alone: the stucco terraces of Chelsea and Kensington put most of them inside a conservation area as well, and the lower-ground floor is where the council is strictest. Our drawings record the original fabric room by room, so each change you propose is set against what the listing protects.

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    02The brief

    Two tests an officer applies to a listed terrace house

    The council's line is that works must preserve significance and fabric, and that it resists taking out important internal or external features without clear and convincing justification. In a stucco terrace that means cornices, shutters, panelled doors and stair balustrades are the first things an officer looks for on the existing plans.

    National policy supplies the other test. The assessment of significance has to match the asset's importance, and conserving a designated asset carries substantial weight when the decision is made. Both lines sit in the table beside this text. For the setting around the house, architectural drawings in Chelsea and architectural drawings in Holland Park describe two of the conservation areas most listed houses here fall into.

    Upper floors of a large yellow-brick Victorian house in London with chimney pots
    Pencil resting on a dimensioned technical drawing beside a scale rule
    Photograph: Sven Mieke

    03The record

    Local figures for Kensington and Chelsea

    Figures with their unit, period and source
    MeasureValuePeriodSource
    Works to listed buildings must preserve significance, setting and features; historic fabric and original features to be preserved.preserve significance and fabricNo periodrbkc.gov.uk, RBKC Local Plan 2024, Policy CD5 A-D, p236
    Removal of important internal or external features resisted without clear and convincing justification.clear and convincing justificationNo periodrbkc.gov.uk, RBKC Local Plan 2024, Policy CD5 C and F, p236
    Borough contains over 4,000 listed buildings; nearly three quarters of it is conservation area.over 4,000 listed buildingsNo periodrbkc.gov.uk, RBKC Local Plan 2024, Conservation and Design chapter, Key facts
    NPPF Aug 2026, policy HE5(1)Proposals affecting heritage assets need an assessment of significance (including setting) proportionate to the asset's importanceNo periodgov.uk
    NPPF Aug 2026, policy HE6(1)Substantial weight to the conservation of designated heritage assetsNo periodgov.uk
    Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 s9(1), s9(4)Works without consent: up to 6 months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction; up to 2 years or a fine on indictmentNo periodlegislation.gov.uk
    Concessions: application types with no current fee - Listed Building Consent0 GBPNo periodribblevalley.gov.uk
    Listed building entries1,350 list entries (Historic England, within the LPA boundary)No periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Grade I listed entries18 list entriesNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Conservation areas39 named conservation areas published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Article 4 directions84 Article 4 directions published by the councilNo periodplanning.data.gov.uk
    Listed building consent decisions (PS2)435 listed building consent decisions (to alter or extend)2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
    Listed building consents granted (PS2)92.9 % granted2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026)assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

    A blank value means the figure has not been published, not that there are none. Check your own address with the council.

    Kensington and Chelsea4 neighbouring councils
    Councils bordering Kensington and Chelsea

    04The drawing

    The listed building consent routeA, What the council weighs: Proposals affecting heritage assets need an assessment of significance (including setting) proportionate to the asset's importance. B, The weight given to conservation: Substantial weight to the conservation of designated heritage assets. C, Kensington and Chelsea: consents decided: 435 listed building consent decisions (to alter or extend). D, Kensington and Chelsea: consents granted: 92.9 % granted. E, Works without consent: Works without consent: up to 6 months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction; up to 2 years or a fine on indictmentSurvey and significanceHeritage statementDrawings and scheduleCouncil decisionABCDE

    The listed building consent route

    How works to a listed building are consented, from the first survey to the decision.

    A What the council weighs
    Proposals affecting heritage assets need an assessment of significance (including setting) proportionate to the asset's importance
    B The weight given to conservation
    Substantial weight to the conservation of designated heritage assets
    C Kensington and Chelsea: consents decided
    435 listed building consent decisions (to alter or extend)
    D Kensington and Chelsea: consents granted
    92.9 % granted
    E Works without consent
    Works without consent: up to 6 months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction; up to 2 years or a fine on indictment
    The listed house in its terrace3D
    Scroll the page: the model turns with it.

    05The detail

    How much of the Royal Borough is listed, and how much is area-controlled

    The council's own summary is over 4,000 listed buildings. Historic England's list splits 1,350 entries into 18 at Grade I, 116 at Grade II* and 1,207 at Grade II.

    Over the top of the list sit 39 conservation areas and 84 Article 4 directions, and 43 entries are on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register. A single address can be listed, inside a conservation area and under an Article 4 direction, which is why we check all three before quoting.

    Basements and vaults: where a listing stops the dig

    Lower-ground schemes are the Royal Borough's best-known planning battleground, and listing makes them harder. The council's basement policy allows no excavation underneath a listed building, vaults included, and it resists railed lightwells at the front or side where they would harm the street. A basement under a listed house here is therefore a different conversation from one under an unlisted neighbour.

    If your plans reach below ground, read basement conversion drawings in Kensington and Chelsea alongside this page. Roof schemes raise their own questions, covered under mansard roof drawings in Kensington and Chelsea. Consent and planning permission are separate applications, and the two sets of drawings must agree.

    Decisions, fee and the offence

    In the latest published year the borough decided 435 listed building consent applications to alter or extend, and 92.9% were granted. That is history, not a forecast for your house. The Royal Borough charges nothing for the consent itself (£0 in the national fee table); a planning application lodged with it is charged separately.

    Work done without consent is a criminal offence under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act. Works without consent: up to 6 months' imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction; up to 2 years or a fine on indictment. We draw to be approved, and if the officer's comments change the scheme, revising the sheets sits inside the fixed quote until approval.

    Planning sheet for a single-storey rear extension: proposed ground floor plan and rear elevation, with the Property Architecture title block
    Sample drawing. Proposed plan and rear elevation from a planning application set, sheet 03 at 1:50.

    06The papers

    What the drawings rest on

    Red-brick mansion blocks and shopfronts on a street cornerMeasured surveys
    Photograph: Tom McCarten
    Building regulations section through a rear extension, with the roof, floor, wall and foundation build-ups labelled
    Sample drawing. Section A-A with the build-ups building control checks, sheet 07 at 1:50.

    07Correspondence

    Questions

    My Chelsea house is not listed but sits in the conservation area. Do I still need consent?

    Not listed building consent, which applies only to listed buildings. Planning controls apply instead, and an Article 4 direction can widen them. Send the address and the free constraints check shows which route you are on.

    Can I dig a basement under a listed house in the Royal Borough?

    The council's basement policy allows no excavation underneath a listed building, vaults included. Work elsewhere on the site, or within unlisted parts, is judged on the basement policy as a whole.

    Does replacing sash windows or shutters at the front need consent?

    Usually, where the change affects the character of the building. Original windows and shutters are among the features the council resists losing without clear and convincing justification, so we record each one on the existing elevations first.

    What does our drawing work cost for a listed house?

    A fixed quote after a free constraints check, because it turns on how many rooms and elevations the work touches. Where the statement needs a heritage consultant, we coordinate one.

    Rows of brick terraced houses and gardens on a residential street

    92.9%

    granted

    Listed building consents granted (PS2), Kensington and Chelsea, 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 (1 Apr 2025 to 31 Mar 2026). Source: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk

    Photograph: Altaf Shah

    08Further reading

    Other services in Kensington and Chelsea

    Listed building consent drawings nearby

    09Sources

    Sources and dates

    Licences

    Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

    Send us the address of your house.

    We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.

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    Listed building consent drawings in Kensington and Chelsea