Planning permission and building work in Bath and North East Somerset: what you need to know

The council and your planning history

Search applications by reference, postcode or address with the council's planning application search, or find a property on its planning map. Online records run from 1996, though some applications from 1996 to 2006 have no documents attached; the council holds paper files for 1948 to 2006 and supplies copies on request. What to look for is in how to read a planning history.

The World Heritage Site

The City of Bath was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1987, and in 2021 received a second inscription as one of the Great Spa Towns of Europe. The council's setting SPD describes the site as "encompassing the whole city". The Order lists World Heritage Sites among the land where householder rights are cut back.

Article 2(3) land. 1. Land within: (a) an area designated as a conservation area under section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (designation of conservation areas); (b) an area of outstanding natural beauty; ... (e) a National Park; and (f) a World Heritage Site.

B.1 Development is not permitted by Class B if: ... (f) the dwellinghouse is on article 2(3) land

Class B is the right to add a dormer or otherwise enlarge a roof. In Bath it does not exist, whether or not the street is also in a conservation area. The same land status also means:

• no side extension, no rear extension of more than one storey and no cladding under Class A (paragraph A.2);
• no larger rear extension under the prior approval route, which is only for a house "not on article 2(3) land" (paragraph A.1(g));
• no extra storeys under Class AA (paragraph AA.1(b));
• outbuildings more than 20 metres from the house limited to 10 square metres in total, and none between a side wall and the boundary (paragraphs E.2 and E.3).

A single-storey rear extension within the ordinary Class A limits, and rooflights under Class C, can still be permitted development, subject to their conditions; Class C has no article 2(3) exclusion. What is permitted development sets out the general rules.

Conservation areas

The council gives 35 conservation areas in the district. One is the Bath conservation area, which the council divides into sixteen character areas, with draft appraisals published for some and the rest in preparation. The others include Keynsham, Midsomer Norton and Welton, Radstock, Saltford, Paulton, Pensford, Chew Magna, Chew Stoke, Batheaston, Bathampton, Bathford and Freshford. Find boundaries on the council's conservation area map and appraisals on its character appraisals page. The effect on a house is in living in a conservation area.

Article 4 directions

The council's Article 4 page publishes these directions:

The list also has a direction on estate agents' boards in Bath and directions protecting specific land at Keynsham, Monkton Combe, the Swainswick Valley, Twerton Park, Warleigh Wood and the horse showground at Lambridge. The Central Bath direction of 9 March 2019, also on the list, was made under Class O of Part 3 (offices to homes); the Order carried directions of that kind over to the replacement Class MA only until 31 July 2022 (SI 2021/428, article 15(3)). For a house in the Bath conservation area, the 1995 walls direction is the one to know. The boundaries are on the council's policy map. See Article 4 directions for how they work.

Listed buildings and local heritage

Search the National Heritage List for England to see whether a building is listed. B&NES has published a draft document on locally listed heritage assets (consultation draft, January 2018) that sets out how buildings are selected for a local list. Works to a listed building need listed building consent.

National Landscapes

The council's landscape page says two National Landscapes are partly within B&NES: the Cotswolds to the north and east of Bath, and the Mendip Hills, taking in the Chew Valley and Blagdon lakes. The Order still calls them areas of outstanding natural beauty, and they are article 2(3) land, so the same limits apply to houses there as in Bath. The district has no National Park.

CIL

B&NES has charged CIL since 2015. Its annual CIL rates summary, updated on 26 January 2026, gives these residential rates for permissions granted in 2026: £154.44 per square metre district wide, £77.22 on strategic sites or urban extensions, and £0 at Bath Western Riverside. An extension under 100 square metres that creates no new dwelling is not liable (CIL Regulations 2010, regulation 42). See CIL on an extension.

Design guidance for householders

The council's SPD index has no general guide to house extensions. The documents that bear on home alterations are:

• Bath city-wide character appraisal, written as a guide for householders and developers.
• Existing dwellings in the Green Belt, on extending or replacing a house in the Green Belt.
• Energy efficiency, retrofitting and sustainable construction (January 2022), and the permitted development checklist for energy efficiency and domestic renewables, last updated in January 2015, so check it against the current Order.
• The climate emergency and the historic environment.
• Village design statements for Paulton, Peasedown St John and Priston.

Planning data coverage

B&NES has not supplied its own conservation area or Article 4 data to planning.data.gov.uk. The government's provider dashboard shows its Article 4 direction and Article 4 direction area data as not submitted, and marks the 35 conservation area records the platform holds as "not from an authoritative source", meaning they came from elsewhere. A national postcode checker that relies on this data will not show Bath's Article 4 directions, and its conservation area boundaries are not the council's own. Check the council's map instead.

What this means for you

• If you live in Bath, start from the position that a dormer, side extension or two-storey rear extension needs a planning application.
• Outside the city, check the conservation area and National Landscape layers on the council's map for your address.

Parallel in Bath and North East Somerset

Parallel Architecture works across Bath and North East Somerset. Projects here:

• The Copse, Batheaston, near Bath

For a view on a particular house or site, see the planning potential review or get in touch.