Paddington Renovations & Design-Build — W2

Identify the conservation area and read its audit

Westminster’s guide records that the Bayswater conservation area was first designated on 9 November 1967 and extended on 23 October 1978, 20 November 1990 and 1 May 2002, and its audit was adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance on 13 July 2000. The 2002 extension took in the complete southern frontage of Praed Street up to Junction Place and an area its report describes as mainly post-war development.

Westminster: Bayswater conservation area mini guide · Bayswater conservation area audit SPG, adopted 13 July 2000 · Westminster: conservation area audits, maps and guidance A–K

A 2010 extension added the station area, which the council describes as an important group of Victorian and early 20th-century transport-related and other public buildings, including Paddington Station, listed Grade I, the Great Western Hotel, St Mary’s Hospital buildings and The Bays warehouses on South Wharf Road. That report anticipated an updated audit, but the council still lists the 2000 document. Westminster cautions that older audits may cite superseded policies, so read them alongside City Plan Policies 44 and 45.

Westminster: Bayswater conservation area extension 2010, description of extension area · Westminster’s conservation areas: character summaries and overview · Historic England: Paddington Station, Grade I · 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

North of the Westway flyover, the Paddington Green conservation area, centred on St Mary’s Church and its gardens, began as a detached part of the Maida Vale conservation area; it was extended, and was renamed on 17 November 1988; its audit became Supplementary Planning Guidance on 16 April 2003. The Hallfield Estate conservation area, designated in November 1990 and extended in July 1996, has an audit adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document on 15 October 2008.

Westminster: Paddington Green conservation area mini guide · Paddington Green conservation area audit SPG, adopted 16 April 2003 · Hallfield Estate conservation area audit SPD, adopted 15 October 2008 · Westminster: conservation area audits, maps and guidance L–Z · Westminster: conservation area audits, maps and guidance A–K

Match the address to the Article 4 directions

Westminster’s Sussex Gardens direction covers the garden areas fronting 168–176, 178–192 and 194–208 (even) Sussex Gardens. Sealed on 12 August 1982 and approved by the Secretary of State on 20 August 1982, it removes, for that land only, permission to put up gates, fences, walls or other means of enclosure, up to one metre high beside a road used by vehicles or two metres elsewhere, and to maintain, improve or alter them. Nos 168 to 174 are also listed Grade II.

Westminster: Article 4 direction, garden areas fronting 168–208 (even) Sussex Gardens W2, 1982 · Westminster: Article 4 directions and address map · Historic England: Nos 168 to 174 (even) Sussex Gardens, Grade II

Westminster’s basement direction has applied across the whole city since 31 July 2016, removing householder rights to build basements, lightwells or other development below a house or its curtilage. Its Class MA direction for the Central Activities Zone covers designations including Praed Street District Centre, the Edgware Road (south) retail cluster and the Paddington Opportunity Area, but only within the zone; such directions concern turning shops and offices into homes, not work to an existing home. Check the interactive map by address.

Westminster: Article 4 directions and address map · Westminster: city-wide basement Article 4 direction, confirmed July 2016 · Westminster: Class MA Article 4 direction for the Central Activities Zone, as modified

Use the 2026 City Plan; no neighbourhood plan has been made

Applications here are judged against the City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), which full council adopted on 21 January 2026, together with the London Plan. Policy 3 sets priorities for the Paddington Opportunity Area, including new homes and jobs, public realm and canal access, and Policy 8 allocates St Mary’s Hospital; these concern development sites, not alterations to existing homes. Policy 19F protects existing hotels but makes an exception where 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 gave notice in July 2026 that it intends to prepare a New City Plan, which remains emerging rather than adopted policy. The Hyde Park and Paddington area was designated as a neighbourhood business area on 28 March 2014, and its forum was re-designated for a further five years in a decision published on 29 July 2022, but no neighbourhood plan has been made for Paddington.

Westminster: New City Plan (emerging, not adopted) · Westminster: Hyde Park and Paddington neighbourhood business area designation notice · Westminster: Hyde Park and Paddington Neighbourhood Forum re-designation decision, July 2022 · Westminster: adopted planning policies and made neighbourhood plans

Separate a lower-ground refit from new basement space

Lowering a floor, excavating under the garden or opening a new lightwell is a separate project from refitting a bathroom in the lower ground floor you already have. Policy 50 supports new basement space that goes one storey at most below the lowest original floor, takes up half the garden or less, keeps a minimum of 1 m of soil on top and leaves an undeveloped margin of garden around the whole site, and it asks schemes affecting the TfL road network to seek TfL’s advice.

City Plan 2019–2040 (2026), adopted 21 January 2026 · TfL: red routes and the TLRN map

In a listed house, a basement must not unbalance the original hierarchy of spaces, and the May 2026 Code of Construction Practice treats every new or extended basement as a Level 3 project needing a Construction Management Plan. Historic England’s 2017 appraisal puts Edgware Road, on the line of Roman Watling Street, a corridor along Bayswater Road and the historic settlement of Paddington Green in Tier 2 priority areas, where groundworks applications need a desk-based assessment. Their extent is a map reading, so check the address.

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