Planning permission in South Gloucestershire

Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in South Gloucestershire. The rules are stricter in its 30 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.

How many conservation areas are there in South Gloucestershire?

South Gloucestershire has 30 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.

• Acton Turville Conservation Area
• Almondsbury Conservation Area
• Beach Conservation Area
• Bitton Conservation Area
• Chipping Sodbury Conservation Area
• Church Lane, Winterbourne Conservation Area
• Cold Ashton Conservation Area
• Doynton Conservation Area
• Dyrham Conservation Area
• Frenchay Conservation Area
• Great Badminton Conservation Area
• Hambrook Conservation Area
• Hanham Abbots Conservation Area
• Hawkesbury Conservation Area
• Horton Conservation Area
• Iron Acton Conservation Area
• Little Badminton Conservation Area
• Marshfield Conservation Area
• Olveston Conservation Area
• Pucklechurch Conservation Area
• Siston Conservation Area
• Thornbury Conservation Area
• Tockington Conservation Area
• Tormarton Conservation Area
• Tytherington Conservation Area
• Upton Cheyney Conservation Area
• Warmley Conservation Area
• West Littleton
• Whitfield Tabernacle Conservation Area
• Wickwar Conservation Area

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

Does South Gloucestershire have Article 4 directions?

South Gloucestershire has published 2 Article 4 areas. Inside them, some permitted development rights are removed, so work that would normally be allowed needs planning permission.

The rights they remove most often:

• Turning a house into a small shared house (HMO) (Part 3 Class L, in 2 of the areas)

Directions listed by South Gloucestershire:

• Land at Gloucester Road North in the Filton ward
• Land at Stoke Park and Cheswick ward East of Southmead Road

What is an Article 4 direction?

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

• National Landscape (Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in or bordering South Gloucestershire: Cotswolds.
• There is green belt in or bordering South Gloucestershire. 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 South Gloucestershire

Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. South Gloucestershire also publishes 2,084 listed building outlines, which show exactly which building is listed.

South Gloucestershire publishes its tree preservation orders (7,171 areas and individual trees), so we can flag protected trees near an address.

What planning data does South Gloucestershire publish?

Other councils in South West

• Bath and North East Somerset
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
• Bristol
• Cheltenham
• Cornwall
• Cotswold
• Dorset
• East Devon
• Exeter
• Forest of Dean
• Gloucester
• Isles of Scilly
• Mid Devon
• North Devon
• North Somerset
• Plymouth
• Somerset
• South Hams
• Stroud
• Swindon
• Teignbridge
• Tewkesbury
• Torbay
• Torridge
• West Devon
• Wiltshire

Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by South Gloucestershire Council and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 31 October 2026. South Gloucestershire Council website.