Conservatories in London: planning, conservation areas and installers

Quick answer: in London the planning answer depends on your borough. Most rear conservatories on houses still fall under national permitted development rules, but London has more than 1,100 conservation area records across its 33 planning authorities, from 4 in Barking and Dagenham to 85 in Richmond upon Thames. In a conservation area you lose side extensions and the larger-extension route. If building control is needed, Richmond charges £1,069 including VAT for an extension under 40 square metres.

Who decides: your borough, not London

There is no London-wide planning service for home extensions. Each of the 32 boroughs and the City of London Corporation is the planning authority for its own area, keeps its own conservation area maps and Article 4 directions, and runs (or contracts out) its own building control team. Before you design anything, find your borough and check three things on its website: whether your street is in a conservation area, whether an Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights there, and whether your house, or a building next to it, is listed.

Permitted development in London

In England a conservatory is treated as a house extension. Under the national permitted development rules (Class A of the General Permitted Development Order), a single-storey rear conservatory usually does not need a planning application if it stays within limits including: no more than 3 metres beyond the original rear wall of an attached house or 4 metres for a detached house; no more than 4 metres high; eaves no higher than 3 metres if it is within 2 metres of a boundary; and extensions and outbuildings together covering no more than half the garden. The government’s technical guidance also allows a larger single-storey rear extension (up to 6 metres, or 8 metres for a detached house) through the prior approval process, where neighbours are consulted. Flats and maisonettes have no householder permitted development rights, and a planning condition on your estate may have removed them. Our guide to how permitted development works explains the tests.

Conservation areas and listed buildings in London

London is where conservation areas matter most for conservatories. The government’s planning data platform holds conservation area records for every London borough, and the spread is wide:

Borough	Conservation area records
Richmond upon Thames	85
Bromley	73
Lambeth	65
Tower Hamlets	61
Westminster	56
Southwark	56
Hammersmith & Fulham	47
Wandsworth	47
Hackney	44
Camden	40
Havering	11
Newham	9
Barking and Dagenham	4

Source: conservation area dataset (planning.data.gov.uk), read September 2026. A sample of boroughs; the London total across 33 authorities was 1,161 records. Boroughs supply this data themselves, so check your borough’s own map before relying on it.

If your home is in a conservation area (which the rules call “article 2(3) land”), the government’s technical guidance says a conservatory beyond a side wall is not permitted development, any extension beyond the rear wall must be single storey, cladding the house is not permitted development, and the prior approval route for a 6 or 8 metre extension is not available. A modest single-storey rear conservatory can still be permitted development, but many London boroughs add Article 4 directions on top. Read conservatories in conservation areas and on listed buildings and our guide to Article 4 directions.

Listed buildings are separate: listed building consent is needed for any works that affect the character of a listed building, including an attached conservatory, and there is no application fee for it.

Planning and building control fees in London

Planning fees are set nationally, so they are the same in every borough:

Application	Fee	Notes
Householder planning application (one house)	£548	From 1 April 2026, set nationally
Prior approval for a larger single-storey rear extension	£249	Not available in conservation areas
Lawful development certificate (proposed)	£274	Half the full application fee; optional proof that a design is permitted development
Listed building consent	No fee	Needed for works affecting a listed building’s character, whether or not planning permission is

Building control charges are set by each council, so they vary. Two London examples published for 2026:

Borough	Extension size	Charge (incl. VAT)
Richmond upon Thames	Extension under 40 m²	Full plans £427.60 plan fee plus £641.40 inspection; building notice £1,069
Havering	Extension up to 30 m²	£859 (£945 fast track)

Separately from planning, a conservatory in England is exempt from the building regulations only if it is at ground level, under 30 square metres of floor area, separated from the house by external-quality walls, doors or windows, not heated by an extension of the house’s heating system, and glazed to the safety glazing rules. Take out the dividing doors, run radiators into it, or build a solid-roofed orangery that fails the definition, and it becomes an extension that needs building control approval. See the building regulations exemption.

London-specific practicalities. Terraced houses and tight rear gardens mean many London conservatories sit on or near a boundary, so the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply: see the Party Wall Act explained. Public sewers often run under London back gardens, and building over or near one needs the water company’s agreement.

Typical private prices

We have not found a reliable price survey for London alone, so use the national ranges in our UK conservatory costs guide. Checkatrade’s 2026 guide puts a 3.5m by 3.5m uPVC lean-to at £9,000–£11,500 and a uPVC Victorian at £12,000–£13,500, with timber versions costing more, and a 16 square metre hardwood orangery at about £30,000–£35,000. Any planning, prior approval or building control fees above come on top unless your quote says they are included.

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How to choose an installer

Who handles the paperwork. Ask in writing whether the firm will check permitted development, prepare any planning, prior approval or listed building consent application, and deal with building control if the design is not exempt. Our guide to surveys, contracts and payment stages covers what to agree.
Glazing certification. If the job includes replacing windows or doors in the house itself, ask whether the installer is registered with a competent person scheme such as FENSA or Certass, and check the scheme’s own register. If not, building control has to sign that work off.
Base, roof and drainage. Ask how the foundations are designed, what the roof is (glass, polycarbonate or solid), and where rainwater and any nearby drains go.
Deposits and guarantees. Ask how much deposit is taken, whether it is protected, and what the guarantee covers if the firm stops trading.
Compare like with like. Get at least two written quotes to the same specification.

Conservatory and orangery installers in London

These firms appear in public business listings for the London area. We have not checked their work, prices, insurance or memberships, and they have not paid to appear. Services are taken from the business name or listing only, so ask each firm what it actually builds.