Planning permission in Braintree
Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in Braintree. The rules are stricter in its 37 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.
Braintree at a glance
- Conservation areas
- 37
- Article 4 areas
- Not published
- Protected landscapes
- None
- Planning decisions
- Braintree District Council
How many conservation areas are there in Braintree?
Braintree has 37 conservation areas. In a conservation area, permitted development rights are reduced: side extensions, two-storey extensions, loft dormers and cladding all need planning permission, and many councils add Article 4 directions on top.
- Ashen
- Belchamp Otten
- Belchamp St Paul
- Belchamp Walter
- Birdbrook
- Bocking Church Street
- Braintree Town Centre and Bradford Street
- Bulmer
- Bures Hamlet
- Castle Hedingham
- Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation
- Coggeshall
- Cressing
- Earls Colne and White Colne West and East
- Feering
- Finchingfield
- Foxearth
- Gosfield
- Great Bardfield
- Great Saling
- Great Yeldham
- Halstead Town Centre
- Helions Bumpstead
- Kelvedon
- Pebmarsh
- Rayne
- Ridgewell
- Sible Hedingham South
- Sible Hedingham West
- Silver End
- Steeple Bumpstead
- Stisted
- Terling
- Toppesfield
- Wethersfield
- White Notley
- Witham Town Centre
Read more: extensions, loft dormers, garden rooms and solar panels in a conservation area.
Does Braintree have Article 4 directions?
Braintree hasn't published any Article 4 boundaries on planning.data.gov.uk. Most councils have at least one Article 4 direction, often in conservation areas, so check the council's website or ask its planning team before relying on permitted development.
What is an Article 4 direction?
Is any of Braintree in a national park, National Landscape or green belt?
There are no national parks, National Landscapes, World Heritage Sites or green belt in or bordering Braintree.
Listed buildings and protected trees in Braintree
Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. Braintree doesn't publish listed building outlines, so where a listed building is recorded near an address, we ask the homeowner to check whether it's theirs.
Braintree doesn't publish its tree preservation orders as data. If there are mature trees near your project, ask the council whether any are protected before you start.
What planning data does Braintree publish?
| Data | Status | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area boundaries | Published | 37 |
| Article 4 direction boundaries | Not published | 0 |
| Listed building outlines | Not published | 0 |
| Tree preservation order areas | Not published | 0 |
| Protected trees | Not published | 0 |
Planning work on a home in Braintree? Put a pin on your house and we'll check it against all of this.
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Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by Braintree District Council and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 30 October 2026. Braintree District Council website.