Bromley has 48 conservation areas, Chislehurst to Keston
48 conservation areas cover this borough, Chislehurst through to Keston. What changes on designation, the job a heritage statement is actually doing, and which works keep their permitted development regardless.
The national register records 69 covering about 1,302 hectares, second only to Richmond upon Thames. None carries a designation date in the register. 12.8% of Bromley’s householder appeals involve a listed building, the third highest share in London. The borough approved 79.8% of the householder applications it decided.
Measure
Bromley
London
Conservation areas in the register
69
1,141
Area covered
1,302 hectares
second largest in London
Householder appeals involving a listed building
12.8%
—
Householder approval rate
79.8%
83.0%
Decided beyond thirteen weeks
5.1%
—
Rear dormer applications in the Datahub
3,855
78% approved
Householder appeals allowed after refusal
41.2% of 1,113
40.8% of 13,067
Sources: conservation areas from the planning.data.gov.uk register, retrieved 1 September 2026, with hectares computed from the published boundaries; decision figures from MHCLG PS1 and PS2, twelve quarters to March 2026; the Datahub row from the Planning London Datahub, retrieved 15 August 2026, comparable within Bromley only; appeals from Planning Inspectorate casework decided 2016–2026. No Bromley designation is dated in the national register, so the council’s own map is the source for when an area was designated.
Where does Bromley’s conservation area cover sit, and how much of it is Chislehurst?
The shapes on this map are the designated boundaries themselves, as the national register holds them, laid over the borough outline. There is a postcode box beneath it, and the matching is done by your own device, so the address stays with you. One warning before you lean on the result. The outlines are generalised so that a borough this size draws at a sensible speed, and generalisation costs a few metres at the edges — enough that a plot sitting on a line needs the council’s adopted plan rather than a web graphic.
Designation in Bromley is dominated by one place to a degree that is unusual even in outer London. Chislehurst runs to 591.5 hectares, very nearly half of the 1,302 hectares the borough has designated altogether, so a reader in Chislehurst and a reader in the rest of Bromley are not really looking at the same map. At the far end of the scale the register carries an area of a tenth of a hectare with no name recorded against it at all, only a reference code — a fair illustration of how uneven the national record still is. Two blanks matter more than that one. Bromley publishes no designation dates: not a single one of its areas carries a date, so nothing on this page can tell you when a boundary was first drawn or last revised. And the council has never uploaded its Article 4 directions to the national register either. Seventeen London authorities are in that position, and none of them is thereby free of directions, so the empty Article 4 layer here records what has been filed and nothing else — if a project of yours depends on a permitted development right, put the question to Bromley directly. Forty-three areas do have a council document attached, and that document is where the character description for a particular area will be found.
The boundaries, the hectare figures and the empty Article 4 layer are all read from planning.data.gov.uk — its conservation-area dataset and its article-4-direction-area dataset — downloaded on 15 August 2026, with a further check made on 1 September 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0
In detail
Answers for Bromley
How many conservation areas does Bromley have?
Bromley Town, Chislehurst, Beckenham, Keston and Bickley sit among the 48 designated areas, a spread that reflects a borough where only 49.3% of the land is built up (Ordnance Survey, built-up areas).
What changes need planning in a Bromley conservation area?
Any external alteration visible from a public space typically requires full planning permission inside a conservation area: roof additions, dormers, replacement windows, rendering, hardstanding, and demolition. Internal works generally do not, unless the property is also listed.
Do I need a Heritage Statement in Bromley?
In practice, yes. Work inside a designated area is assessed against that area's own character appraisal, so the submission needs a heritage statement that identifies what the appraisal values and shows where the proposal leaves it intact. We write it as part of the application rather than billing it as an extra.
Can I have a roof extension or mansard in a Bromley conservation area?
Rear mansards and dormers do get through in designated areas across London wherever the roofscape already carries them and the new work matches what stands either side; the inner-east boroughs, Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth and Southwark among them, have decades of precedent for it. A dormer on the front slope is a different proposition and is refused almost everywhere.
How long does conservation area approval take in Bromley?
Eight weeks is the statutory clock on a householder application, and consulting the conservation officer usually absorbs two to three of them, so 11 to 14 weeks from validation is the honest expectation. Extensions of time were agreed on 2,011 of 6,712 decisions here, 30.0% against the 34.5% recorded across the 33 boroughs (MHCLG planning statistics, retrieved 1 September 2026), so determination lands inside the original period more often than it does elsewhere. The tail is where risk hides: 24 householder decisions took more than a year.
Planning application setExisting, proposed and location plans on one sheet — as the council receives it through the Planning Portal.
Long sectionHead height over the stair, dormer geometry and ridge height resolved to scale.
The planning set that goes to the council through the Planning Portal: proposed elevations, plans, and the OS location plan with your site outlined.
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Where in Bromley does a conservation area application actually get determined?
The districts we work in across the borough, the housing that fills each of them, and who validates a conservation-area application at a given address. Every fee shown is a 2026 statutory England rate, not a price for the work itself.
Postcode
Area
Dominant stock
What it means for a conservation area application
BR6
Orpington
1930s semi-detached
BR6 covers Orpington only; Bromley Council handles the conservation area application.
BR7
Chislehurst
1930s detached, Edwardian villas
Chislehurst addresses in BR7 fall wholly to Bromley, assessed under its Local Plan and the character appraisal written for that area.
BR8
Swanley
Large 1930s detached and semi-detached in Chislehurst and Bickley; Edwardian in Beckenham; Victorian in Bromley town; Metropolitan Green Belt covers significant rural-fringe land
BR8 covers Swanley, which lies outside the borough in Kent, so an application there goes to Sevenoaks District Council instead.
TN16
Biggin Hill / Downe
1930s semi-detached
A conservation area application at an TN16 address in Biggin Hill / Downe is determined by Bromley Council under its own Local Plan policies for Biggin Hill / Downe.
SE9
Eltham / Mottingham
1930s semi-detached, post-war flats
Eltham and Mottingham share SE9 with Greenwich, and both policies maps are read against the plot before a route is chosen.
SE12
Lee / Grove Park
Large 1930s detached and semi-detached in Chislehurst and Bickley; Edwardian in Beckenham; Victorian in Bromley town; Metropolitan Green Belt covers significant rural-fringe land
SE12 around Lee and Grove Park is divided with Lewisham, so the receiving authority is confirmed from the address before anything is submitted.
SE26
Sydenham
Victorian villas, Edwardian terraces
Sydenham straddles SE26: Lewisham determines part of it and this borough the remainder, so the boundary decides your case officer.
SE20
Anerley / Penge
Victorian and Edwardian terraces
Penge and Anerley sit either side of the SE20 line with Croydon, which is settled plot by plot rather than by district.
Which Bromley neighbourhoods suit a conservation area application best?
Pitch, the make-up of a wall and the depth of a plot can change within a few hundred metres out here, and all three bear on what a conservation-area application can realistically propose.
Keston (BR2) — conservation area application work in Keston means edwardian villas, 1930s semi-detached. Keston is Edwardian and 1930s village. Edwardian houses here typically need the same householder set plus a roof plan where a dormer is proposed throughout BR2. Bromley Council decides the Keston application, and Keston Ponds anchors the Keston location plan.
Penge (SE20) — Victorian and Edwardian terraces defines Penge, where victorian and edwardian terraces set what a conservation area application can do. Most applications on these Victorian streets are householder applications validated on existing and proposed plans across SE20. Any Penge conservation area application is validated by Bromley Council, with Penge East station the usual Penge reference point on the site plan.
Bromley (BR1, BR2) — Victorian and Edwardian centre defines Bromley, where victorian terraces, edwardian villas, post-war flats set what a conservation area application can do. Most applications on these Victorian streets are householder applications validated on existing and proposed plans across BR1. Any Bromley conservation area application is validated by Bromley Council, with Bromley High Street the usual Bromley reference point on the site plan.
Beckenham (BR3) — Edwardian villas, 1930s semi-detached defines Beckenham, where edwardian villas, 1930s semi-detached set what a conservation area application can do. Edwardian houses here typically need the same householder set plus a roof plan where a dormer is proposed across BR3. Any Beckenham conservation area application is validated by Bromley Council, with Beckenham Junction the usual Beckenham reference point on the site plan.
Chislehurst (BR7) — a conservation area application in Chislehurst starts from 1930s detached, edwardian villas, and Chislehurst reads as Large 1930s detached, conservation. Edwardian houses here typically need the same householder set plus a roof plan where a dormer is proposed in BR7. Bromley Council assesses Chislehurst conservation area applications against its own Chislehurst character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Chislehurst references Chislehurst Caves.
Bickley (BR1) — conservation area application work in Bickley means 1930s detached, edwardian villas. Bickley is 1930s detached, conservation. Edwardian houses here typically need the same householder set plus a roof plan where a dormer is proposed throughout BR1. Bromley Council decides the Bickley application, and Bickley station anchors the Bickley location plan.
Orpington (BR5, BR6) — a conservation area application in Orpington starts from 1930s semi-detached, and Orpington reads as 1930s semi-detached, post-war. On these 1930s semis the prior approval route often replaces a full application in BR5. Bromley Council assesses Orpington conservation area applications against its own Orpington character guidance, and the location plan we draw for Orpington references Orpington High Street.
Does Bromley planning policy restrict a conservation area application?
What designation costs you in process: permitted development goes, and with it the £249 prior approval decided over six weeks; what remains is the full householder route, £548 to lodge and eight weeks on the clock. Chislehurst, Beckenham and Keston are the areas owners here meet most often, and in Bickley the street elevation is what a case officer reads before anything else. Those extra weeks come from consultation, not from the drawings.
Bromley permitted development status: there is no borough-wide direction from Bromley Council, so a conservation area application at a SE20 address is normally still permitted development. We certify that with a £274 Lawful Development Certificate rather than leaving a Bromley sale to argue it later.
The building fabric around Bromley: Large 1930s detached and semi-detached in Chislehurst and Bickley; Edwardian in Beckenham; Victorian in Bromley town; Metropolitan Green Belt covers significant rural-fringe land. Largest London borough by area; substantial Green Belt; conservation areas in most town centres; generally permissive elsewhere. A conservation area application in Bromley is scoped against that stock first.
Which neighbouring authorities border Bromley?
Lewisham — adjoining Bromley, with 30 conservation areas centred on SE3. A conservation area application on the far side of the Bromley line is determined by Lewisham Council, so the Bromley quote for conservation area applications is checked against Lewisham guidance before it is issued.
Greenwich — the Greenwich boundary runs against Bromley, so a conservation area application a street from Bromley is decided by Greenwich Council instead. Greenwich runs 20 conservation areas across SE3 and its neighbours, which is why conservation area applications priced for Bromley are re-checked against Greenwich policy whenever the Bromley address sits on that edge.
Bexley — cross the Bromley boundary and Bexley Council takes the conservation area application instead, applying 16 conservation areas of its own around DA1. We re-price conservation area applications at the Bromley edge because Bexley policy and Bromley policy rarely align on conservation area application depth.
Croydon — adjoining Bromley, with 24 conservation areas centred on CR0. A conservation area application on the far side of the Bromley line is determined by Croydon Council, so the Bromley quote for conservation area applications is checked against Croydon guidance before it is issued.
Sources for this Bromley conservation area application 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.
A london terraced street of the type we survey — conservation area planning in Bromley.
