Royal Borough of Greenwich
Planning & Conservation in Greenwich
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is defined by its maritime history and Georgian and Victorian townscape. We design and prepare drawings across the borough to its conservation and heritage standards.
The Royal Borough of Greenwich includes Greenwich and Blackheath, with their Georgian terraces, Victorian villas and celebrated open spaces. The borough has around twenty-three conservation areas — among them West Greenwich, East Greenwich, Blackheath, Blackheath Park and Greenwich Park — where external alterations and additions are designed and assessed with care. The Blackheath conservation area straddles the boundary with Lewisham, so the responsible authority depends on the exact address.
A further layer applies near the town centre and park: Maritime Greenwich is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1997, and the council treats the East Greenwich, West Greenwich and Blackheath conservation areas as its buffer zone — assessing alterations within them much as it would a conservation-area application, with control often extending to boundaries and walls. We confirm which designations apply to a property and prepare the planning, heritage and building regulations information the project needs.
How planning works here
Royal Borough of Greenwich: process for homeowners
Greenwich combines historic town centre and riverside heritage with family housing stock — confirm World Heritage / CA context where relevant and householder validation for the pin.
Householder process
1. Designations
Confirm conservation area, listing, and any strategic heritage setting constraints for the address. Not every Greenwich pin is in the World Heritage core — but some are highly sensitive.
2. Householder route
Extensions and lofts follow householder or full applications depending on tenure and works. Flats need full applications for many external changes.
3. Design and amenity
Scale, materials and neighbour living conditions are assessed. Sections through neighbours support amenity arguments.
4. Technical stage
Building regulations drawings and party wall notices follow a settled envelope.
Project types & evidence
Extensions and lofts
Subordinate rear works are typically more defensible than dominant street-facing change in formal heritage settings — property-specific.
Basements
Confirm current Greenwich basement policy and evidence list for the application date; ground and flood conditions can matter on riverside pins.
Heritage sensitivity varies by street
Do not apply World Heritage-level caution to every SE postcode, and do not ignore CA appraisals where they apply. Confirm the pin.
Package
Complete existing/proposed sets; heritage statements where listed/CA requires them; sections for roof and level changes.
Official sources used on this page
Policy and Article 4 maps change. Confirm designations for your exact address on the council’s live planning map before relying on any general description.
Areas we cover
Prime neighbourhoods in Greenwich
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Architects in Greenwich
We work on Greenwich’s Georgian and Victorian homes with a careful, evidence-based approach, from listed terraces near the town centre to villas on the hill. Many projects here turn on getting listed building consent and conservation approvals right.
View areaRoyal Borough of Greenwich / Lewisham
Architects in Blackheath
We design extensions, refurbishments and careful alterations to Blackheath’s Georgian and Victorian homes, from the streets around the heath to the villas of the Cator Estate. Nearly everything here sits within a conservation area, and we plan for that.
View areaPlanning in Greenwich: FAQs
What does the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site mean for my project?
Is Blackheath in Greenwich or Lewisham?
Planning a project in Greenwich?
Send us the address, property type and a short description of the work. We will advise whether you are likely to need planning drawings, building regulations drawings, listed building advice or leasehold approval drawings.