Bayswater Renovations & Design-Build — W2

Identify the conservation area and read its audit

The Bayswater audit has been Supplementary Planning Guidance since Westminster adopted it on 13 July 2000. The area has been extended more than once; the extension of 1 May 2002 brought in, among other areas, Monmouth Road and Hereford Road, Moscow Road and the area south of it to Bayswater Road, and Queensborough Terrace with 2 Porchester Gardens and 3–8 Porchester Gate. Use the current conservation area map, not an older plan, to confirm the boundary.

Bayswater conservation area audit SPG, adopted 13 July 2000 · Westminster: Bayswater conservation area mini guide · Westminster: Bayswater conservation area map

The Queensway conservation area, designated on 1 May 2002, is a linear area taking in both sides of Queensway from Bayswater Road to Porchester Hall, with frontages to streets including Inverness Terrace and Redan Place; its audit was adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document on 16 June 2008. The Hallfield Estate conservation area, which Westminster’s mini guide describes as virtually surrounded by the Bayswater conservation area, has its own audit, adopted as an SPD on 15 October 2008.

Queensway conservation area audit SPD, adopted 16 June 2008 · Westminster: Hallfield Estate conservation area mini guide · Hallfield Estate conservation area audit SPD, adopted 15 October 2008

On the north-west fringe, around and north of Westbourne Grove, the Westbourne audit was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance on 20 February 2002; it describes an area built up by many individual builders, without a single great estate. Westminster cautions that adopted audits may refer to policies that predate its current framework and should be read alongside it, so weigh their advice against the City Plan 2026.

Westbourne conservation area audit SPG, adopted 20 February 2002 · Westminster: conservation area audits, maps and guidance A–K · Westminster: conservation area audits, maps and guidance L–Z · City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026

Match the address to the Article 4 directions

Since 31 July 2016 Westminster’s basement direction has applied across the whole city, removing householder rights for basement development, lightwells or other development below a house or its curtilage. The council’s minor-alteration directions are another matter: apart from one covering the garden areas in front of 168–208 (even) Sussex Gardens, on the Paddington side, none that it lists falls within the Bayswater, Queensway or Hallfield Estate conservation areas.

Westminster: Article 4 directions and address map · Westminster: city-wide basement Article 4 direction, confirmed July 2016

The council also lists a direction for Nos 1–27 Bridstow Place W2, a short street between Chepstow Road and Hereford Road in the Westbourne conservation area. Sealed on 6 November 1974 and approved by the Secretary of State in May 1975, its schedule removes the 1973 Order’s class for development within the curtilage of a dwelling house and the first paragraph of its class for sundry minor operations; ask the council how those older classes bear on your work.

Westminster: Article 4 directions and address map · Westminster: Article 4 direction, Nos 1–27 Bridstow Place W2, sealed 6 November 1974 · Westbourne conservation area audit SPG, adopted 20 February 2002 · Westminster: Westbourne conservation area mini guide

Westminster’s directions on turning shops and offices into homes cover listed designations inside the Central Activities Zone, among them the Porchester Road Local Centre, and land in its town centre hierarchy outside the zone; check the interactive map by address. They concern converting those premises, not work inside an existing home, and a flat has no householder rights to begin with.

Westminster: Article 4 directions and address map · Westminster: permitted development rights · Westminster: Class MA Article 4 direction for the Central Activities Zone, as modified

Apply the City Plan 2026; no neighbourhood plan is made

Westminster decides applications against the City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted on 21 January 2026, and the London Plan. Its replacement, the New City Plan, has only reached a notice of intention, published in July 2026, so it is emerging rather than adopted. The plan names Queensway / Westbourne Grove as Westminster’s only Major Centre, with a traditional high street character largely surrounded by residential areas, and Policy 19F protects existing hotels unless, for example, a proposal in a predominantly residential area would re-instate an original residential use.

Westminster: adopted planning policies and made neighbourhood plans · City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026 · Westminster: New City Plan (emerging, not adopted)

In principle, Policy 45E supports a roof extension that does no harm to heritage assets, but paragraph 45.11 treats building upwards as usually inappropriate where a mansard or other later roof extension is already in place. Paragraph 45.12 says larger extensions of more than one storey may be appropriate in commercial locations, including the Major Centre, though not every building there will be suitable. The Bayswater audit saw very little scope for roof extension on the high roads or in the mews, and the Queensway audit maps buildings where upward extension is unlikely to be acceptable.

City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026 · Bayswater conservation area audit SPG, adopted 13 July 2000 · Queensway conservation area audit SPD, adopted 16 June 2008

On the council’s designation map, the Bayswater neighbourhood area runs roughly from the Kensington and Chelsea boundary to Queensway, and from Bayswater Road to about Westbourne Grove. It was designated on 10 January 2014 after an application by the Bayswater Residents Association, but the council lists no forum for it and no neighbourhood plan has been made. The Notting Hill East Neighbourhood Plan, for a different area, has been under examination since 16 April 2026 and is not made either; check which area, if any, includes your address.

Westminster: Bayswater neighbourhood area designation notice, 10 January 2014 · Westminster: designated neighbourhood forums · Westminster: adopted planning policies and made neighbourhood plans · Westminster: Notting Hill East Neighbourhood Plan (under examination, not made)

Treat a lower-ground refit and a new basement as different projects

Fitting out an existing lower ground floor, such as the basement storey Historic England records at Nos 1 to 20 Prince’s Square, is a different brief from lowering a floor, digging beneath the garden or adding a lightwell. For new space below ground, Policy 50 looks for a single storey at most beneath the lowest original floor, excavation under no more than half the garden, a covering of at least 1 m of soil and an undeveloped margin left around the whole site boundary.

Historic England: Nos 1 to 20 Princes Square, Grade II · City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026

Inside a listed house, Policy 50 adds that a basement must leave the original hierarchy of spaces in balance. Westminster’s May 2026 Code of Construction Practice classifies new or extended basement projects according to their scale and impacts. Confirm the classification with the council: Level 3 requires a Construction Management Plan, while Level 1 or 2 requires a Site Environmental Management Plan. Historic England’s 2017 appraisal places a Tier 2 archaeological priority area along Bayswater Road, which follows the approximate route of the London to Silchester Roman road, and groundwork applications in a priority area need a desk-based assessment. Its extent is a map reading, so check whether the address falls inside it.

City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026 · Westminster Code of Construction Practice, May 2026 · Historic England: City of Westminster Archaeological Priority Areas appraisal, March 2017