Building Regulations in Conservation Areas

What is a Conservation Area?

Conservation areas were introduced in the late 1960’s and there are now over 10,000 within the UK. The general purpose of a conservation area is to preserve and enhance areas of special architectural or historic interest, as well as seeking to minimise the loss of the existing build and natural environment. A conservation area can come in many different formats and can include the centre or older towns and village, specific historical housing estates, country estates as well as areas around significant historical landmarks.

How do I know if my home is within a Conservation Area?

It isn’t always easy to get this information as it doesn’t always come up on property searches so the best way of finding this information out is speaking to your neighbours, contacting the local authority to see if they have a map of the local conservation areas as well as getting to know your local parish council and planning officers too.

Looking to add new windows and doors to your home?

So you know that your home is within a conservation area and you are looking to replace your windows and doors, so what should you do?

This actually is a bit of a grey area. As long as your home isn’t subject to an Article 4 Directive removing Permitted Development Rights, then you can in theory replace your existing windows and doors. They key thing here is that you replace them with windows and doors that are of a similar appearance of those that were used within the construction of the property.

Article 4 Directive - Another Consideration

This directive can be invoked by the planning authority to further prohibit the type of small alterations that would be usually allowed under Permitted Development rights, even in a Conservation Area. This legislation is specifically to stop certain types of development in certain streets, parts of a street or even a specific house. This can even include what colour a front door should be, definitely something to think about if you are looking to invest in a new front door.

Here at Evolution, we are experienced in the pitfalls of building regulations for Conservation Areas, so please do ask our friendly Customer Services team for their advice when looking to purchase new windows and doors in a suspected Conservation Area.