Planning permission in Ribble Valley
Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in Ribble Valley. The rules are stricter in its 22 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.
Ribble Valley at a glance
- Conservation areas
- 22
- Article 4 areas
- See below
- Protected landscapes
- Forest of Bowland
- Planning decisions
- Ribble Valley Borough Council
How many conservation areas are there in Ribble Valley?
Ribble Valley has 22 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.
- Bolton by Bowland
- Chatburn
- Chipping
- Clitheroe
- Downham
- Gisburn
- Grindleton
- Hurst Green
- Kirk Mill
- Longridge
- Newton
- Newtown
- Pendleton
- Ribchester
- Sabden
- Sawley
- Slaidburn
- St Lawrence's Church
- Waddington
- Whalley
- Wiswell
- Worston
Read more: extensions, loft dormers, garden rooms and solar panels in a conservation area.
Does Ribble Valley have Article 4 directions?
Ribble Valley hasn't published its Article 4 boundaries as data. Ribble Valley's website says only two buildings have Article 4 directions removing permitted development rights: Grove House and 1-5 The Grove. It also has a Clitheroe town centre shopfronts direction and a borough-wide one for houses in multiple occupation. It notes that other homes may have lost rights through conditions on earlier planning permissions.
Read Ribble Valley's Article 4 page (checked 29 October 2026).
What is an Article 4 direction?
Is any of Ribble Valley in a national park, National Landscape or green belt?
- National Landscape (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in or bordering Ribble Valley: Forest of Bowland.
- There is green belt in or bordering Ribble Valley. Householder permitted development rights apply as normal in the green belt, but if you need planning permission, green belt policy limits how much a home can be enlarged.
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 Ribble Valley
Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. Ribble Valley 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.
Ribble Valley 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 Ribble Valley publish?
| Data | Status | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area boundaries | Published | 22 |
| 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 Ribble Valley? Put a pin on your house and we'll check it against all of this.
Start a checkOther councils in North West
- Blackburn with Darwen
- Blackpool
- Bolton
- Burnley
- Bury
- Cheshire East
- Cheshire West and Chester
- Chorley
- Cumberland
- Fylde
- Halton
- Hyndburn
- Knowsley
- Lancaster
- Liverpool
- Manchester
- Oldham
- Pendle
- Preston
- Rochdale
- Rossendale
- Salford
- Sefton
- South Ribble
- St Helens
- Stockport
- Tameside
- Trafford
- Warrington
- West Lancashire
- Westmorland and Furness
- Wigan
- Wirral
- Wyre
Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by Ribble Valley Borough Council and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 30 October 2026. Ribble Valley Borough Council website.