Areas
Planning permission and building work in South Gloucestershire: what you need to know
Short answer
South Gloucestershire Council decides planning applications across the district, from the north and east fringes of Bristol to Thornbury, Yate, Chipping Sodbury and the villages. Its free site information map shows, for any address, whether a conservation area, flood risk or other designation applies.
There are 30 conservation areas. The council lists only two Article 4 areas, in Stoke Park and Cheswick and in Filton, and both concern houses in multiple occupation, so neither removes the rights to extend or alter a family house. Part of the district lies in the Cotswolds National Landscape, where outbuildings and extensions have tighter limits. CIL is charged at £55 or £80 per square metre for new homes before indexation. The council has supplied its conservation area and Article 4 data to the national planning data platform.
The council and your planning history
Search applications, decisions, appeals and enforcement notices by address or reference on the council's Public Access system. For designations, use the council's map Find information about where you want to develop: drop a pin or enter an address and it lists the local and national policies that apply, including conservation areas and flood risk. What to look for in an address's history is in how to read a planning history.
Conservation areas
The council has 30 conservation areas, each with an appraisal. They include Thornbury, Chipping Sodbury, Marshfield, Frenchay, Almondsbury, Olveston, Hawkesbury, Wickwar, Bitton, Warmley and Great Badminton. The boundaries are on the South Gloucestershire edition of Know Your Place. The council's page lists what needs planning permission for a house in a conservation area, and living in a conservation area covers the same ground in more detail.
Article 4 directions
The council's Article 4 page lists two areas, both in force from 10 January 2024:
| Area | What needs permission |
|---|---|
| Stoke Park and Cheswick ward | Converting a house into a house in multiple occupation |
| East of Southmead Road and Gloucester Road North, Filton ward | Converting a house into a house in multiple occupation |
Neither touches extensions, windows, roofs or boundaries. On the council's list, then, no direction limits extensions or other building work to a house under permitted development; the conservation area and the National Landscape are the designations to check. How directions work in general is in Article 4 directions.
Listed buildings and the local list
The council's page puts the number of listed buildings in South Gloucestershire at approximately 2,500. Check any address on the National Heritage List for England. The council also has a local list of buildings SPD, adopted in 2008, and publishes advice notes for owners of listed buildings on lime render, pointing and window repairs. Consent is covered in listed building consent.
The Cotswolds National Landscape
National planning data shows the Cotswolds National Landscape crossing into South Gloucestershire, and the council appoints a member to the Cotswolds National Landscape board. The Order still uses the older name, area of outstanding natural beauty, and it is article 2(3) land. There is no National Park or World Heritage Site in the district.
On article 2(3) land, Class A does not permit side extensions, rear extensions of more than one storey or cladding (paragraph A.2), and Class B roof enlargements are not permitted at all (paragraph B.1(f)). A National Landscape also has its own limit on outbuildings, which catches a garden room or workshop placed well away from the house.
E.2 In the case of any land within the curtilage of the dwellinghouse which is within: (a) an area of outstanding natural beauty; (b) the Broads; (c) a National Park; or (d) a World Heritage Site, development is not permitted by Class E if the total area of ground covered by buildings, enclosures, pools and containers situated more than 20 metres from any wall of the dwellinghouse would exceed 10 square metres.
Conservation areas do not carry the 20 metre rule, but they share the side garden limit in paragraph E.3. The general limits are in garden rooms and sheds.
CIL
South Gloucestershire adopted its CIL charging schedule on 18 March 2015 and began charging on 1 August 2015; the schedule was revised in November 2023 for changes to the use classes. The residential rates it sets are £55 per square metre in the communities of the north and east fringe of Bristol, Yate and Sodbury, and Severn Beach, and £80 in the rest of the district (£100 and £130 for small sites below the affordable housing threshold). The Cribbs Patchway and East of Harry Stoke new neighbourhoods are zero rated. The council indexes these rates each year, so the figure on a 2026 liability notice will be higher; its CIL page carried no annual rate summary for 2026 when checked in September 2026. 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
- Householder Design Guide SPD (adopted March 2021).
- Annexes and Outbuildings SPD (adopted October 2021).
- Development in the green belt SPD (adopted May 2007).
- Assessing residential amenity, technical advice note (June 2016).
- Village design statements for Olveston, Frampton Cotterell and Coalpit Heath, Watleys End and Winterbourne Down, endorsed by the council.
Planning data coverage
South Gloucestershire has supplied its own data to planning.data.gov.uk. The government's provider dashboard shows its conservation area, Article 4 direction and Article 4 direction area data live. In September 2026 the platform held 30 conservation area records, 29 of them supplied by the council, and both Article 4 areas. National postcode checkers that use the platform have the council's boundaries to work from, but the council's own map remains the record.
What this means for you
- Put your address into the council's site information map first; it answers the conservation area and National Landscape questions together.
- In the Cotswolds National Landscape, measure how far a planned outbuilding sits from the house before assuming it is permitted development.
- Where the answer is marginal, a lawful development certificate settles it.
Parallel in South Gloucestershire
Parallel Architecture works across South Gloucestershire. For a view on a particular house or site, see the planning potential review or get in touch.
Sources
- South Gloucestershire Council: conservation areas southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: Article 4 direction areas southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: search and comment on planning applications southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: find information about where you want to develop southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: listed buildings and consent southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: planning policy guidance and SPDs southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: Community Infrastructure Levy southglos.gov.uk
- South Gloucestershire Council: CIL charging schedule (adopted March 2015, revised November 2023) southglos.gov.uk
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 1, Part 1: article 2(3) land legislation.gov.uk
- GPDO 2015, Schedule 2, Part 1: Classes A, B and E legislation.gov.uk
- CIL Regulations 2010, regulation 42: exemption for minor development legislation.gov.uk
- Cotswolds National Landscape: our board cotswolds-nl.org.uk
- Planning data: area of outstanding natural beauty dataset planning.data.gov.uk
- Planning data: conservation area dataset planning.data.gov.uk
- Check and provide planning data: South Gloucestershire Council overview provide.planning.data.gov.uk
- Historic England: search the National Heritage List for England historicengland.org.uk