Which Kensington and Chelsea postcodes does this rear dormer service cover?
Every Kensington and Chelsea postcode we draw in, what it is built of, and who validates a rear dormer there. The fee column shows the 2026 statutory charges due to the council; those are national rates and apply identically everywhere.
| Postcode | Area | Dominant stock | What it means for a rear dormer |
|---|
| SW7 | South Kensington / Knightsbridge | Stucco terraces, mansion blocks, listed buildings | SW7 crosses into Westminster around South Kensington and Knightsbridge. Either council may determine a dormer there, and the SW7 policies map decides which, street by street. |
| SW10 | West Brompton / World's End | Georgian and Victorian terraces, listed buildings | SW10 straddles the boundary at West Brompton and World’s End. A dormer there may be the Royal Borough’s to decide or Hammersmith and Fulham’s, and the policies map settles it property by property. |
| W8 | Kensington | Stucco terraces, listed buildings | W8 is Kensington only. RBKC Planning determines the dormer and case officers apply the W8 designation map, under which most of the district’s stucco terraces fall. |
| W10 | North Kensington / Ladbroke Grove | Victorian terraces, post-war estates | North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove sit wholly inside W10, so RBKC Planning validates every dormer from that district, whether the house is a mews cottage or an estate villa. |
| W11 | Notting Hill / Holland Park | Victorian stucco terraces | The whole of W11 is Royal Borough territory. A dormer at Notting Hill or Holland Park is read against the W11 designation boundaries, and very little of that district falls outside them. |
| SW1X | Knightsbridge / Belgravia | Regency stucco terraces, listed buildings | SW1X is Belgravia and Knightsbridge, split with Westminster. The determining authority is fixed from the address before drawings are started, never afterwards. |
| W14 | West Kensington / Barons Court | Victorian and Edwardian villas | W14 is shared with Hammersmith and Fulham over West Kensington and Barons Court. Which authority validates a dormer depends on the address, so we place it before agreeing any route. |
| SW3 | Chelsea / Brompton | Georgian and Victorian terraces, listed buildings | SW3 is Chelsea and Brompton alone, handled entirely by RBKC Planning, with officers reading the dormer against the SW3 conservation-area boundaries — which take in most of the district. |
Which Kensington and Chelsea neighbourhoods suit a rear dormer best?
No two Kensington and Chelsea streets share a pitch, a wall build-up and a plot depth, and each of those differences changes what a dormer can achieve at an address — as does the fact that 62.6% of the borough’s 89,250 dwellings were standing before 1900, the highest such share in London (VOA stock table, 31 March 2025).
- Knightsbridge (SW1X, SW7) — rear dormer work in Knightsbridge means regency and victorian terraces, mansion blocks. Knightsbridge is Regency and Victorian terraces, luxury. Full-width rear dormers on Victorian terraces here are the default throughout SW1X. RBKC Planning decides the Knightsbridge application, and Harrods anchors the Knightsbridge location plan.
- North Kensington (W10) — rear dormer work in North Kensington means victorian terraces, post-war estates. North Kensington is Victorian terraces, post-war estates. Full-width rear dormers on Victorian terraces here are the default throughout W10. RBKC Planning decides the North Kensington application, and Golborne Road anchors the North Kensington location plan.
- Brompton (SW3) — rear dormer work in Brompton means stucco terraces, edwardian mansion blocks. Brompton is Victorian stucco terraces, mansion blocks. The deeper Edwardian rear slope takes a full-width dormer without breaching the 40 m³ or 50 m³ volume limits on most of these houses throughout SW3. RBKC Planning decides the Brompton application, and Brompton Cross anchors the Brompton location plan.
- Kensington (W8) — rear dormer work in Kensington means stucco terraces, listed buildings. Kensington is Georgian and Victorian stucco terraces. Full-width rear dormers on Victorian terraces here are the default throughout W8. RBKC Planning decides the Kensington application, and Kensington Palace anchors the Kensington location plan.
- Chelsea (SW3, SW10) — Georgian and Victorian terraces, riverside defines Chelsea, where georgian and victorian terraces, listed buildings set what a rear dormer can do. A dormer on a Georgian roof has to sit behind the parapet line to stand any chance of consent across SW3. Any Chelsea rear dormer is validated by RBKC Planning, with King's Road the usual Chelsea reference point on the site plan.
- Notting Hill (W11) — a rear dormer in Notting Hill starts from victorian stucco terraces, and Notting Hill reads as stucco terraces, painted facades. Full-width rear dormers on Victorian terraces here are the default in W11. RBKC Planning assesses Notting Hill rear dormers against its own Notting Hill character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Notting Hill references Portobello Road.
- Holland Park (W11, W14) — a rear dormer in Holland Park starts from victorian and edwardian villas, and Holland Park reads as Victorian villas around the park. Full-width rear dormers on Victorian terraces here are the default in W11. RBKC Planning assesses Holland Park rear dormers against its own Holland Park character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Holland Park references Holland Park.
Does Kensington and Chelsea planning policy restrict a rear dormer?
Kensington and Chelsea conservation designations: there are 38 across RBKC Planning, Earls Court, Kensington, Chelsea among them. Designation costs a Kensington and Chelsea owner the permitted-development route: a rear dormer then needs a £548 householder application over 8 weeks, in place of the £249 prior approval route that takes 6 weeks. Notting Hill is the Kensington and Chelsea designation that most often changes a rear dormer design.
What Article 4 removes near Kensington and Chelsea: Article 4 Directions covering HMOs, office-to-residential, and basement developments — RBKC has some of the strictest basement policies in London. Before pricing a rear dormer we check whether the SW3 address is inside the mapped area, because RBKC Planning draws the Kensington and Chelsea boundary street by street rather than across the whole of Kensington and Chelsea.
Kensington and Chelsea below-ground policy: one storey under no more than half the garden is the limit, and a second is refused in principle on residential streets. A dormer scheme that also goes beneath existing foundations picks up section 6 of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 with its two months notice, and the Royal Borough will expect the ground and groundwater conditions at that address to be stated in the submission rather than left open.
The building fabric around Kensington and Chelsea: Grand white stucco Regency and Victorian terraces; red-brick Queen Anne mansions in Kensington; Edwardian mansion blocks; almost no post-war housing stock. Internationally wealthy residents; extensive listed building coverage; heritage and streetscape prioritised in every decision. A rear dormer in Kensington and Chelsea is scoped against that stock first, because it decides whether the scheme runs as permitted development, a £274 Lawful Development Certificate, or a full £548 application to RBKC Planning.
Who decides a rear dormer on the edge of Kensington and Chelsea?
- Westminster — the Westminster boundary runs against Kensington and Chelsea, so a rear dormer a street from Kensington and Chelsea is decided by Westminster City Council instead. Westminster runs 56 conservation areas across SW1 and its neighbours, which is why rear dormers priced for Kensington and Chelsea are re-checked against Westminster policy whenever the Kensington and Chelsea address sits on that edge.
- Hammersmith and Fulham — the Hammersmith and Fulham boundary runs against Kensington and Chelsea, so a rear dormer a street from Kensington and Chelsea is decided by Hammersmith & Fulham Council instead. Hammersmith and Fulham runs 45 conservation areas across W6 and its neighbours, which is why rear dormers priced for Kensington and Chelsea are re-checked against Hammersmith and Fulham policy whenever the Kensington and Chelsea address sits on that edge.
- Brent — cross the Kensington and Chelsea boundary and Brent Council takes the rear dormer instead, applying 22 conservation areas of its own around NW2. We re-price rear dormers at the Kensington and Chelsea edge because Brent policy and Kensington and Chelsea policy rarely align on rear dormer depth.
Sources for this Kensington and Chelsea rear dormer page: borough policies maps and
conservation-area registers (2025–26), Royal Mail postcode district boundaries,
the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (England) Regulations, the Town
and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 as amended,
and the Party Wall etc. Act 1996.
