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Free 2026 London Planning Report — Richmond TW9

Row of tall red-brick buildings with bay windows, balconies and gabled rooflines behind low brick boundary walls
TW9 · Richmond · Richmond

Planning and building regulation drawings in Richmond (TW9)

TW9 covers Richmond and Kew, and much of its older housing sits in conservation areas. Around Richmond Green and Kew Green the older stock is Georgian: yellow-brick cottages and townhouses, with Cambridge Cottages and Kew Green itself in that group. Victorian and Edwardian terraces and semi-detached villas fill much of the rest, Lawn Crescent being an Edwardian example, and Leyborne Park, Gainsborough Road and Alexandra Road are among Kew's other streets. The Central Richmond conservation area runs along the George Street and Kew Road frontages, where the tight town-centre grain limits the scope for visible extensions.

  • MCIAT chartered technologists
  • London Borough of Richmond upon Thames granted 82% of 1362 householder applications
  • Drawings in about 7 days

Free Richmond planning assessment

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For homeowners the practical consequence is that design judgement comes before arithmetic. Where there are terraces, rear gardens are well suited to side-return and full-width kitchen extensions, and a loft can add space without touching the front elevation, but the council assesses both for their effect on a consistent terrace rhythm. Original details such as timber sashes and yellow stock brick are treated as part of the character, so replacing them on the wrong house can turn into a planning matter rather than a quick job.

Kew carries an extra layer. The Royal Botanic Gardens, a World Heritage Site, bring strong protection for the townscape and long views, and the several conservation areas here, including Kew Green, Kew Road, Kew Gardens and Lawn Crescent, govern frontages, rooflines and materials. Street trees and garden trees are often protected as well, which can limit how far a single-storey extension can reach. We start every TW9 job by checking the conservation boundary, the Article 4 position, the listing and the trees for your address.

Planning in Richmond: what to know before you apply

Richmond carries some of the widest Article 4 coverage in London, so permitted development should never be assumed for modest works. Article 4 directions apply to Cambridge Cottages and across the Kew Green conservation area, bringing extensions, replacement windows and doors, painting or rendering brickwork, removal of chimneys and hard-surfacing of front gardens under planning control. For other TW9 streets, including Lawn Crescent and the Kew Road frontages, the position is not confirmed in published sources, so we check it with the council. In any conservation area, roof enlargements, side extensions and rear extensions of more than one storey are not permitted development. Flats have no householder rights. Thames flood-zone considerations apply near the river.

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

Check your route

Does your Richmond project need planning permission?

Route check · Richmond (TW9)

Listed building?
Conservation area?
Likely permitted development — no planning applicationNeeds checking
  • A single-storey rear extension up to 4 m deep on a detached house, or 3 m on any other house, is Class A permitted development subject to the height and materials conditions.
  • An Article 4 direction applies here and may withdraw this freedom — the schedule must be checked before relying on it.
  • One or more constraints are unknown — we check the council's registers as part of the free appraisal.
  • Where permitted development applies, a lawful development certificate proves it for lenders and buyers.

Sources: GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1 · Planning Portal — common projects · Building Regulations 2010 — when approval is needed

This is a first-pass indication from the national rules, not planning advice for your property. Your council's registers, any Article 4 schedule and the exact dimensions decide it — the free appraisal checks all three before we recommend a route.

Confirm it with a free appraisal

Richmond (TW9) in numbers

What London Borough of Richmond upon Thames has decided, and what TW9 is built of — the two facts that shape every job here.

Householder planning decisions — London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Richmond (TW9) applications are decided by London Borough of Richmond upon Thames; these are its published householder figures for the last four quarters.

Householder applications decided2025 Q2 to 2026 Q11,362
Granted1,113
Refused249
Grantedof 1362 decisions · England 90%82%
Decided within 8 weeksof 958, excluding prior approvals98%

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS2 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Permitted development prior approvals — London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

How the larger-home-extension route has fared with London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, which decides TW9 notifications.

Larger home extension prior approvals — not required2024 Q2 to 2026 Q10
Prior approval granted135
Prior approval refused46
Grantedof 181 determined75%

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS1 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Planning appeals — London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Refusals in TW9 can be appealed to the Planning Inspectorate; this is London Borough of Richmond upon Thames's householder appeal record.

Householder appeals determined2021–2026379
Allowed169
Allowedof 379 · England 36%45%

Source: Planning Inspectorate appeals casework. Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Conservation areas and Article 4 directions — London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

Register counts for London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. A count describes what the council has published, never a rank against another council.

Conservation areas in the register85 dated, 1969–202385

Source: MHCLG Planning Data Platform. Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

What TW9 is built of

Residential building form across Richmond (TW9), from 349 classified buildings — the fact that decides party walls, side returns and loft headroom before any policy does.

Attached on more than one side47%
Attached on one side42%
Detached10%
Median building footprint71 m²
Addresses per buildingAbove about 2 means flats and maisonettes dominate1.67
Buildings classified349

Source: Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database (derived statistics). Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Extracted 2026-09-22.

  1. Day 0Measured survey of your Richmond property — or your existing plans if you have them.
  2. About 7 daysDrawings issued for your approval. Free redraws until you are happy.
  3. SubmissionWe validate against London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’s checklist and submit on your behalf.
  4. Council: 8-week targetHouseholder applications carry an 8-week statutory target. London Borough of Richmond upon Thames decided 98% of 958 recent householder applications inside it.

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (PS2 district planning application statistics). Open Government Licence v3.0 Extracted 2026-09-22.

Neighbourhoods

Streets and neighbourhoods in TW9

Richmondpredominantly Georgian and VictorianKewpredominantly Victorian, with Georgian around Kew Green
Nearby

Nearby postcode districts

Brentford TW8Ham & Petersham TW10Isleworth TW7Teddington TW11Cranford TW5Hampton TW12Hounslow TW3Feltham TW13
FAQ

Richmond (TW9) — FAQs

Do I need planning permission to replace windows in Kew?+
Where an Article 4 direction applies, such as at Cambridge Cottages and in the Kew Green conservation area, replacing windows and doors needs planning permission. Like-for-like repair of existing joinery is not development. We check whether a direction covers your address before advising.
Can I add a loft conversion on a Richmond terrace?+
Possibly, but in a conservation area a roof enlargement is not permitted development and needs a planning application. Richmond looks at how the roof reads against the rest of the terrace and from protected views. We design it to leave the front roof slope alone where we can and to keep to the existing rhythm.
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