Planning and building regulation drawings in Twickenham (TW1)

The narrow lanes running off Church Street have tightly enclosed plots and framed views toward the river. The council protects those views, and the riverside setting between Radnor Gardens and Marble Hill Park, which includes Eel Pie Island, adds river-frontage sensitivities to anything built at the back or side of a house. A rear extension near the water also brings flood-zone considerations, so a design may need to deal with levels and drainage as well as appearance.

The most important fact is Article 4. Richmond has applied directions across the Twickenham Riverside conservation area that remove permitted development rights from the historic riverside streets, so work that would be routine elsewhere, such as an extension, new windows and doors, painting or rendering brickwork, removing a chimney or paving a front garden, needs planning permission. The Twickenham Green conservation area is the district's other designation. Where an address sits on the conservation map is therefore the first thing to establish.

For the older housing, the options include a carefully detailed single-storey rear extension, a repair-led refurbishment, a roof alteration that respects the neighbours, or reorganising a cottage interior, which is not development at all, although a listed cottage still needs listed building consent for works affecting its character. We draw to the council's own submission requirements after checking your address.

Planning in Twickenham: what to know before you apply

Richmond has some of the widest Article 4 coverage in London, so in TW1 permitted development cannot be assumed even for modest external work. On the riverside streets the directions remove rights that would otherwise cover small alterations, and in any conservation area roof enlargements, side extensions and rear extensions of more than one storey are not permitted development in any case. The council weighs a proposal against its conservation area, protected views and the river frontage, and near the Thames the flood-zone position forms part of the assessment. Listed buildings need listed building consent for changes. A householder application needs scaled existing and proposed plans, a location plan and the right ownership certificate or notice, and before any drawing begins we check which constraints apply to your particular address.

Applications are decided by London Borough of Richmond upon Thames — its planning pages.