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Planning permission in Tower Hamlets

Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in Tower Hamlets. The rules are stricter in its 59 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.

Tower Hamlets at a glance

Conservation areas
59
Article 4 areas
63
Protected landscapes
None
Planning decisions
London Borough of Tower Hamlets

How many conservation areas are there in Tower Hamlets?

Tower Hamlets has 59 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 Tower Hamlets have Article 4 directions?

Tower Hamlets has published 63 Article 4 areas. Inside them, some permitted development rights are removed, so work that would normally be allowed needs planning permission.

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

Directions listed by Tower Hamlets:

And 4 more.

What is an Article 4 direction?

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

Listed buildings and protected trees in Tower Hamlets

Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. Tower Hamlets also publishes 970 listed building outlines, which show exactly which building is listed.

Tower Hamlets publishes its tree preservation orders (1,779 areas and individual trees), so we can flag protected trees near an address.

What planning data does Tower Hamlets publish?

DataStatusRecords
Conservation area boundaries Published 61
Article 4 direction boundaries Published 63
Listed building outlines Published 970
Tree preservation order areas Published 1
Protected trees Published 1,778

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

Start a check

Other councils in London

Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by London Borough of Tower Hamlets and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 31 October 2026. London Borough of Tower Hamlets website.