Lambeth profiles and statements; Wandsworth 2007Match the address to a Lambeth or Wandsworth area
Lambeth’s Clapham (CA01) was first designated in 1968, extended in 1969, 1976, 1980 and 1997 and redefined in 2002; official conservation-area data, read at points, places Old Town, Grafton Square, Crescent Grove and Macaulay Road inside it. Lambeth publishes no appraisal or statement for CA01, only designation and extension reports, notices and a map. Clapham High Street (CA22), largely commercial, was first designated on 23 October 1997, and its statement was agreed on 24 April 2009.
Lambeth: Clapham conservation area (CA01) profile · planning.data.gov.uk: conservation area dataset · Lambeth: Clapham High Street conservation area (CA22) profile · Clapham High Street conservation area statement, agreed 24 April 2009
Rectory Grove (CA02), taking in Rectory Grove, part of Turret Grove, Larkhall Rise to the railway bridge and Clapham Manor Street, was designated in June 1968 and extended in 1976, 1979 and 1986; its statement was agreed on 24 April 2009. The Chase (CA35), first designated on 7 December 1981, began as a driveway from Wandsworth Road to Clapham Common North Side and was built up with substantial houses in the 1870s. Sibella Road (CA58) was first designated on 11 December 2001.
Lambeth: Rectory Grove conservation area (CA02) profile · Rectory Grove conservation area statement, agreed 24 April 2009 · Lambeth: The Chase conservation area (CA35) profile · The Chase conservation area designation report · Lambeth: Sibella Road conservation area (CA58) profile
Clapham Park and Northbourne Road (CA17) was designated in 1974, its boundary was last changed on 18 July 2016, and Lambeth’s character appraisal for it is dated November 2023. On the Wandsworth side, Clapham Common was designated on 4 March 1969 and extended in 1976 and 1988. Its appraisal, approved by the Executive on 22 January 2007, covers Wandsworth’s part of North Side, West Side, Altenburg and Lavender Gardens, Broomwood Road and the Nightingale Lane and Balham Hill corner.
Lambeth: Clapham Park and Northbourne Road conservation area (CA17) profile · Clapham Park and Northbourne Road conservation area character appraisal, November 2023 · Clapham Common conservation area appraisal (Wandsworth), approved 22 January 2007 · Wandsworth: conservation area appraisals
Both councils’ lists, as checked on 5 October 2026Check each council’s Article 4 list
Lambeth’s Article 4 page lists directions removing rights for external alterations only in Albert Square, Hyde Farm, Lansdowne Gardens, Leigham Court Estate, Park Hall Road, St Marks, Stockwell Park, Streatham Lodge and Vauxhall, none of them in Clapham, and shows no basement direction. Its modified Class MA directions, starting on 28 October 2022, cover the Central Activities Zone, selected industrial and business areas and West Norwood, and selected town centre locations; they concern turning commercial premises into homes, so check them by address.
Lambeth: Article 4 directions · Lambeth: Article 4 directions data, including the Class MA directions
Wandsworth’s conservation-area directions cover the Dover House, Heaver, Latchmere, Shaftesbury Park and Totterdown Fields estates, Putney Lower Common, Roehampton Village and Wandsworth Common, but neither Clapham Common nor Nightingale Lane, and the council lists no basement direction. Its other directions, on offices or Class E premises becoming homes and on pubs, concern changes of use rather than alterations to an existing home. Listing, conservation-area controls and the ordinary limits on householder rights still apply.
Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Historic England: listed-building consent · Householder permitted development technical guidance
Lambeth 2021; Wandsworth 2023 and 2026Use the adopted plan for each side
Lambeth adopted its Local Plan 2021 on 22 September 2021, replacing the 2015 plan; with the London Plan and the South Bank and Waterloo and the Kennington, Oval and Vauxhall neighbourhood plans, neither of which covers Clapham, it forms the development plan. A new Lambeth plan has only reached scoping, with consultation from 1 September to 13 October 2026, and is not policy. Policy Q11 makes subordination a key consideration, expects closet extensions and rear returns generally to be retained and calls box dormers unacceptable in sensitive heritage contexts.
Lambeth Local Plan 2021, adopted 22 September 2021 · Lambeth Local Plan 2021 adoption statement · Lambeth: new Local Plan, scoping consultation 1 September to 13 October 2026 (not policy) · Lambeth Local Plan 2021: policy document
Q11 also normally resists rooflights on the street-facing roof pitches of heritage assets, and PN5 seeks to conserve Clapham Common through its masterplan and to minimise construction impacts by planning and co-ordinating activities. Lambeth’s Design Guide SPD, adopted on 8 August 2023, includes parts on building alterations, extensions and retrofit and on basements. Across the boundary, Wandsworth decides applications under its Local Plan of 19 July 2023; a partial review adopted on 4 March 2026 superseded only housing policies LP23, LP24 and LP28 to LP31.
Lambeth Local Plan 2021: policy document · Lambeth: supplementary planning documents, including the Design Guide SPD adopted 8 August 2023 · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 4: building alterations, extensions and retrofit · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 5: basements · Wandsworth: the adopted Local Plan (19 July 2023) and Partial Review (4 March 2026) · Wandsworth Local Plan Partial Review adoption statement, 4 March 2026
On Wandsworth’s side of the Common, Policy LP3 welcomes the return of lost features and the stripping of harmful additions like pebbledash, painted brick and windows of a non-original style, while LP5 wants roof changes at the rear and only minor-scale changes at the front. The Clapham Common appraisal names hardstandings in front gardens, hip-to-gable roof extensions, painted elevations and basement extensions among the area’s negative elements; it predates the 2023 plan, so read the two together.
Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Clapham Common conservation area appraisal (Wandsworth), approved 22 January 2007
Lambeth Q27 and Wandsworth LP6Keep a lower-floor refit apart from excavation
Refitting a bathroom in a lower-ground room you already have is a fit-out; digging new space under the house or garden is basement development, so before lowering a floor or opening a lightwell, ask the council how its basement policy applies. Neither council lists a basement Article 4 direction. In Lambeth, Policy Q27 limits a basement under an existing home to one storey, not beneath an existing basement or semi-basement, with a positive pumped device; basement extensions beyond the house footprint should be limited to the rear and should generally leave a minimum proportion of the rear garden, set out in Q27, free of subterranean development.
Lambeth: Article 4 directions · Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Lambeth Local Plan 2021: policy document
Lambeth accepts front or side lightwells only where they are needed for outlook and daylight, which in conservation areas is likely to mean lightwells with pavement grilles rather than open basement areas. It requires a Stage 1 screening Basement Impact Assessment, with further stages possible at the applicant’s cost, and says the engineer for a listed building should be CARE accredited. Policy EN5 rules out basement bedrooms in areas susceptible to flooding, which include areas at high risk of surface water flooding. Part 5 of its Design Guide deals with basements.
Lambeth Local Plan 2021: policy document · Lambeth Design Guide SPD, Part 5: basements
On the Wandsworth side, LP6 limits a new or extended basement to one storey under no more than half the existing rear garden, keeps at least two metres or half the original front garden depth, whichever is greater, free of lightwells in conservation areas, and asks for a positive pumped device. Its basement guidance adds that a basement at a flat or a listed building, or any lightwell, always needs planning permission, and regards multi-level basements as not appropriate in Wandsworth.
Wandsworth Local Plan 2023–2038: policy document · Wandsworth: basements and extensions guidance
Before you order windows, alter a roof or commit to excavation in Clapham, confirm whether Lambeth or Wandsworth covers the address, and only then work out the consents. Each council’s plan, Article 4 list and street rules apply on its own side. Planning permission, listed building consent, conservation-area controls, Building Regulations, the lease and the Party Wall Act are separate tests, and an emerging plan is not adopted policy.
Find the council for the property · Lambeth: Article 4 directions · Wandsworth: Article 4 directions · Historic England: listed-building consent · When Building Regulations approval is needed · LEASE: alterations and home improvements · Party-wall work requiring notice · Lambeth: new Local Plan, scoping consultation 1 September to 13 October 2026 (not policy)
