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Planning permission in Canterbury

Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in Canterbury. The rules are stricter in its 98 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.

Canterbury at a glance

Conservation areas
98
Article 4 areas
463
Protected landscapes
Kent Downs
Planning decisions
Canterbury City Council

How many conservation areas are there in Canterbury?

Canterbury has 98 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.

Read more: extensions, loft dormers, garden rooms and solar panels in a conservation area.

Does Canterbury have Article 4 directions?

Canterbury has published 463 Article 4 areas. Inside them, some permitted development rights are removed, so work that would normally be allowed needs planning permission.

463 of the published areas don't say which rights they remove. Our checker tells people at those addresses to check with the council.

What is an Article 4 direction?

Is any of Canterbury in a national park, National Landscape or green belt?

National parks and National Landscapes restrict permitted development in similar ways to conservation areas. Read more: extensions, loft dormers and garden rooms.

Listed buildings and protected trees in Canterbury

Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. Canterbury also publishes 1,876 listed building outlines, which show exactly which building is listed.

Canterbury publishes its tree preservation orders (1,573 areas and individual trees), so we can flag protected trees near an address.

What planning data does Canterbury publish?

DataStatusRecords
Conservation area boundaries Published 98
Article 4 direction boundaries Published 463
Listed building outlines Published 1,876
Tree preservation order areas Published 1,573
Protected trees Published 0

Planning work on a home in Canterbury? Put a pin on your house and we'll check it against all of this.

Start a check

Other councils in South East

Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by Canterbury City Council and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 30 October 2026. Canterbury City Council website.