What planning restrictions apply to my address?
Enter your postcode to see the conservation areas, Article 4 directions, listed buildings, tree preservation orders and protected landscapes published for it, what has and hasn't been published by your council, and what it means for common projects.
Your postcode stays in your browser. We only fetch the data for its first half (for example "SW1A").
Example result for YO1 7HH, York city centre. Enter your postcode above to see yours.
What's published for YO1 7HH
City of York Council handles planning here. Results are for the centre of YO1 7HH, not your exact property.
- Yes Conservation area: yes, at this postcode. (Central Historic Core Conservation Area)
- Yes Article 4 direction: yes, at this postcode. The data does not say which rights it removes: read the council's description and the direction itself. (HMO) A direction about HMOs (houses in multiple occupation) usually only covers turning a house into shared housing: read it to check.
- Close by Listed building nearby: at least one listed building is within about 50 metres of this postcode's centre (Historic England). Check whether yours is listed on the National Heritage List. (57, LOW PETERGATE (See details for further address information); MINSTER SONG SCHOOL (PART); THE ADAMS HOUSE)
- Not published Listed building (outline): not published by this council. Check with City of York Council.
- Not published Tree preservation order: not published by this council. Check with City of York Council.
- None found National Park: no, not at this postcode (Natural England).
- None found National Landscape (AONB): no, not at this postcode (Natural England).
- None found World Heritage Site: no, not at this postcode (Historic England).
- None found Site of Special Scientific Interest: no, not at this postcode (Natural England).
Map of restrictions near the postcode
The pin is the centre of the postcode, not your exact property. Shaded areas are restriction boundaries; the dashed line is the council boundary. The answers above don't depend on the map.
The map loads with JavaScript. The answers above are complete without it.
- Council boundary
- National Park or the Broads
- National Landscape (AONB)
- World Heritage Site
- Site of Special Scientific Interest
- Conservation area
- Article 4 direction area
- Tree preservation order area
- Listed building outline
- Protected tree
- Listed building
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), tiles by Protomaps. Restrictions: planning.data.gov.uk (OGL v3.0); © Historic England 2026; © Natural England; Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
What City of York Council has published
Councils publish their own restriction data, and many haven't yet. Where yours hasn't, "none" would be a guess, so we say "not published".
| Dataset | Status | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation areas | Published | City of York Council publishes these on planning.data.gov.uk. |
| Article 4 direction areas | Published | City of York Council publishes these on planning.data.gov.uk. |
| Listed building outlines | Not published centrally | Not published by City of York Council centrally: check with them. |
| Tree preservation orders | Not published centrally | Not published by City of York Council centrally: check with them. |
| Listed buildings (points) | National data | All of England, from Historic England. |
| World Heritage Sites | National data | All of England, from Historic England. |
| National Parks and the Broads | National data | All of England, from Natural England. |
| National Landscapes (AONB) | National data | All of England, from Natural England. |
| Sites of Special Scientific Interest | National data | All of England, from Natural England. |
What this means for your projects
Rules from the 2015 Order that change on the kind of land at this postcode. A planning condition on your house's planning permission can also remove rights: each checker asks about that.
- "Protected land" here means conservation areas, National Parks, the Broads, National Landscapes and World Heritage Sites (the Order calls it "article 2(3) land").
- An Article 4 direction is at or near this postcode and may remove some of these rights: read it (see above).
- A listed building is close by. If your house is listed: outbuilding, fence and wall rights don't apply in its grounds, and most other works need listed building consent, which is separate from planning.
Fences, walls and gates
On the protected land at this postcode:
- In a conservation area, taking down a gate, fence or wall can be something that needs planning permission. We can't yet check which ones, so ask the council before you remove one.
Garden rooms and outbuildings
On the protected land at this postcode:
- On protected land, no outbuilding between a side wall of the house and the boundary.
Extensions
On the protected land at this postcode:
- The larger home extension route (going further back with prior approval) isn't available on this land.
- On protected land, cladding the outside of the house in stone, artificial stone, pebble dash, render, timber, plastic or tiles is not permitted development.
- On protected land, side extensions are not permitted development.
- On protected land, rear extensions of more than one storey are not permitted development.
- On protected land, a new extension joined to an existing one is judged together with it against the side-extension and multi-storey rear bans.
1 more rule applies. The checker shows them all.
Lofts and dormers
On the protected land at this postcode:
- Roof enlargements (loft dormers) are not permitted development on protected land: conservation areas, National Landscapes (areas of outstanding natural beauty), the Broads, National Parks and World Heritage Sites.
Heat pumps
On the protected land at this postcode:
- In a conservation area or World Heritage Site: not on a wall or roof that fronts a highway.
- In a conservation area or World Heritage Site: not nearer to any highway that bounds the curtilage than the part of the house nearest to that highway. That includes side roads, rear lanes and public footpaths along the boundary where they are highways, not just the road at the front.
Address questions
What planning restrictions apply to my property?
The main ones are conservation areas, Article 4 directions, listed building status, tree preservation orders, National Parks, National Landscapes, World Heritage Sites, and conditions on your house's own planning permission.
Enter your postcode above to see which of these your council and the national bodies have published for it. Planning conditions aren't in open data, so check the council's planning register for those.
How do I find out if my house is in a conservation area?
Enter your postcode above: if your council publishes its conservation areas on planning.data.gov.uk (147 of 311 planning authorities did when we checked), we show whether your postcode is in one, or close to the boundary.
If it doesn't, we say so, and the council's own website or planning team is the place to check.
How do I know if there is an Article 4 direction on my property?
Enter your postcode above: we show any Article 4 direction area your council has published that covers or is near it, with the council's own description and a link to the direction.
The published data doesn't say which rights each direction removes, so read the direction itself. 117 of 311 planning authorities published their Article 4 areas centrally when we checked.
Is my house a listed building?
Search the National Heritage List for England for your address: it's the definitive record. We show listed buildings close to your postcode, but most are mapped as a single point, so one nearby doesn't mean yours is listed.
Does my house have permitted development rights?
Most houses in England do. Flats and maisonettes don't have the householder rights in Part 1 of the Order (extensions, lofts, outbuildings), but they do have others, such as fences and walls.
Rights can be removed by a condition on the planning permission for your house or an Article 4 direction, and are narrower on protected land and for listed buildings. Each checker goes through this for its project.
Where this data comes from
- Councils' conservation areas, Article 4 direction areas, listed building outlines and tree preservation orders: planning.data.gov.uk (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Listed buildings and World Heritage Sites: © Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The Historic England GIS Data contained in this material was obtained on 14 October 2026. The most publicly available up to date Historic England GIS Data can be obtained from HistoricEngland.org.uk.
- National Parks, National Landscapes and Sites of Special Scientific Interest: © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- Postcodes: OS Code-Point Open. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right 2026. Contains National Statistics data © Crown copyright and database right 2026.
- Address data built on 14 October 2026. Results are for the centre of a postcode; we show "close by" when a boundary or listed building is within 50 metres of it (our method, not a legal limit).
This is guidance, not legal advice. For certainty, apply to your council for a Lawful Development Certificate. How we check our rules