Appraisals approved 2006–2014; adopted 2023Read the appraisal for your conservation area
The Battersea Square area was designated on 9 November 1972 and extended on 24 May 1989 and 28 November 1991, and Wandsworth adopted its current appraisal on 31 August 2023; a further extension taking in St John’s Estate forms part of that appraisal. It notes that roof extensions have generally been kept to a single storey, typically mansards, finds slate and lead cladding often the most appropriate, and says painting and render are uncommon, with new finishes not normally approved.
Battersea Square conservation area appraisal, adopted 31 August 2023
The older Battersea appraisals were approved on these dates: Town Hall Road on 20 March 2006, Latchmere on 10 January 2007, Westbridge Road on 3 March 2008, Shaftesbury Park on 2 March 2009, Park Town on 22 November 2010 and Battersea Park on 18 February 2014, endorsed by the Executive on 24 February 2014. The Three Sisters area was designated in December 1999. These documents cite policies since replaced, so read them alongside the 2023 Local Plan.
Town Hall Road conservation area appraisal, approved 20 March 2006 · Latchmere conservation area appraisal and management strategy, approved 10 January 2007 · Westbridge Road conservation area appraisal, approved 3 March 2008 · Shaftesbury Park Estate conservation area appraisal and management strategy, approved 2 March 2009 · Park Town conservation area appraisal and management strategy, approved 22 November 2010 · Battersea Park conservation area appraisal and management strategy, 2014 · Three Sisters conservation area appraisal and management strategy · Wandsworth: conservation area appraisals · Wandsworth: the adopted Local Plan (19 July 2023) and Partial Review (4 March 2026)
Article 4 list updated 23 October 2025Check the Latchmere and Shaftesbury Park directions
The council’s Article 4 page, last updated on 23 October 2025, includes directions for the Latchmere Estate and Shaftesbury Park Estate conservation areas. Latchmere’s was sealed on 23 March 1990, and its schedules name individual houses. Windows and doors, re-roofing, porches and front boundaries appear among the controls on the council’s page, yet that page and the 2007 appraisal disagree over extensions, painting and hard surfaces, so check the direction itself for your house.
Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Wandsworth: Latchmere Estate conservation area Article 4 direction · Latchmere Estate Conservation Area Article 4 Direction 1990 (direction document) · Latchmere conservation area appraisal and management strategy, approved 10 January 2007
The Shaftesbury Park direction is set out in schedules. The first covers enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a house, roof alterations, front boundaries and painting of elevations visible from a public highway; the second covers front porches; the third, for maisonettes and other properties, covers only boundaries and painting. Listed buildings are excluded. The council’s own summary omits extensions, so rely on the direction itself.
Shaftesbury Park Estate Conservation Area Article 4 direction (direction document) · Wandsworth: Shaftesbury Park Estate conservation area Article 4 direction
No direction is listed for Battersea Square, Westbridge Road, Three Sisters, Battersea Park, Park Town or Town Hall Road, and Wandsworth has no basement direction. That does not free flats there: with no householder permitted development rights of their own, flats still need permission for most external changes.
Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Householder permitted development technical guidance · Battersea Square conservation area appraisal, adopted 31 August 2023
Local Plan adopted 19 July 2023; review 4 March 2026Work from the adopted Local Plan
Applications in Battersea are decided against the Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038, adopted on 19 July 2023, together with the London Plan of March 2021. A Partial Review, adopted on 4 March 2026, swapped out only housing policies LP23, LP24 and LP28 to LP31, leaving the heritage, basement, flood and housing-stock policies cited here as they were. Some council guidance still uses the superseded plan’s policy numbers, so quote the 2023 numbering.
Wandsworth: the adopted Local Plan (19 July 2023) and Partial Review (4 March 2026) · Wandsworth Local Plan Partial Review adoption statement, 4 March 2026 · Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Wandsworth: basements and extensions guidance
For historic buildings, Policy LP3 backs putting lost features back and taking away harmful later additions, naming pebbledash, paint over brickwork and windows of a non-original style. If you hope to join two flats, Policy LP25 permits the loss of a home only exceptionally, for example where no more than two non-family-sized flats become one family-sized home of 130 square metres or less.
Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document
Policies LP6 and LP12, adopted 2023Refitting a lower floor is not the same as excavating
Refitting a lower-ground room that is already there is ordinary refurbishment; digging or enlarging a basement is a separate project. Wandsworth has made no basement Article 4 direction, and the Local Plan accepts that some new basements fall within permitted development, yet the council’s guidance says a flat, a listed building or a lightwell always requires planning permission. Policy LP6 limits a new basement to one storey taking no more than half of the rear or other undeveloped garden, with a positive pumped device against sewer flooding where it contains toilets or bathrooms.
Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Wandsworth: basements and extensions guidance
Check the flood zone before planning any new basement in Battersea. Policy LP12 does not permit basements in Flood Zone 3b or self-contained basement homes in Zones 3a and 2, and refuses basement bedrooms in tidal Zone 3a where the breach hazard is extreme, significant or moderate, as mapped in the council’s flood risk assessment. The Three Sisters appraisal also seeks stricter control over basement excavation to protect front-garden planting.
Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Wandsworth: Strategic Flood Risk Assessment guidance · GOV.UK: flood map for planning, checked by address · Three Sisters conservation area appraisal and management strategy
Historic England’s 2017 appraisal recommends archaeological priority areas for the old settlement centred on Battersea Square, for Battersea Park and for a wider Battersea Channel zone. Policy LP3 asks for a desk-based assessment before ground disturbance in a priority area shown on the Policies Map, so check the map for the address. The council’s guidance strongly encourages a Construction Method Statement for basement work and requires one for a listed building.
Historic England: Wandsworth Archaeological Priority Areas appraisal, June 2017 · Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Wandsworth: basements and extensions guidance
Before windows are ordered, a roof is stripped or any digging is booked, work out which consents the Battersea address actually needs. Planning permission and any Article 4 direction, listed building consent, conservation-area controls, the lease, the Party Wall Act and Building Regulations each stand on their own, and satisfying one never discharges another. For the Latchmere and Shaftesbury Park directions, rely on the direction document rather than a summary.
