Building work in Richmond upon Thames: area guide

Richmond Council is the planning and building control authority for Richmond upon Thames, which covers TW9, TW1, TW2, TW10, TW11, TW12, SW13 and SW14 and takes in Twickenham, Teddington, Kew and Barnes. This is our area guide to building work in the borough; for whole-house refurbishment go to Home renovation in Richmond upon Thames.

Take the 85,810 or so homes the valuation list gives Richmond upon Thames: 42% flats, 58% houses, 38% from before 1919, 24% interwar and 37% post-war. VOA Council Tax stock of properties, March 2025, for all 23 statistical areas in Richmond upon Thames. Counts rounded by the VOA.

Planning and building control in Richmond upon Thames

What Richmond Council publishes about building work in the borough, with each point linked to the council page it comes from:

• There are currently 85 conservation areas in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. richmond.gov.uk
• Richmond's Article 4 Directions on basements and subterranean developments together cover the whole of the borough. richmond.gov.uk
• Richmond's basement Article 4 Directions were made on 28 February 2017 and confirmed on 12 April 2017. richmond.gov.uk
• The new Richmond Local Plan and Policies Map was adopted on 7 October 2025. richmond.gov.uk
• Richmond Council runs its own building control service, responsible for ensuring notifiable building work in the borough complies with national Building Regulation standards. richmond.gov.uk
• Richmond offers three types of Building Regulation application: Building Notice, Full Plans and Regularisation. richmond.gov.uk
• If an owner uses an Approved Inspector instead of Richmond Council's Building Control service, the Approved Inspector must submit an Initial Notice to the Council before work commences. richmond.gov.uk
• Richmond Local Plan Policy 54 resists basement development of more than one storey below existing ground level to residential properties. www2.richmond.gov.uk

58% of Richmond upon Thames' homes are houses, which keep householder permitted development: a single-storey rear extension within the size limits can usually go ahead without an application, in a conservation area too unless an Article 4 direction removes it. The 42% that are flats have no householder permitted development, so their extensions and most external changes need planning permission from Richmond Council. Check Richmond Council's conservation area and Article 4 lists for the street before anything is drawn. Taking out a wall or a chimney breast is building regulations work, not planning, unless the building is listed.

Richmond upon Thames is the only London borough on both banks of the river, and the water shapes a great deal of what happens here. Georgian and Victorian townhouses in TW9 and TW10, Victorian and Edwardian terraces through Twickenham and Teddington, period cottages and larger family houses in Barnes and Kew. Conservation coverage is extensive and listed buildings are common, so consents lead the programme and decide which job you can have, long before anyone orders materials.

Designated streets: what that means for openings and windows

Richmond Council has designated a large number of conservation areas across the borough, and a high proportion of the older housing is either inside one or listed in its own right. Where a building is listed, listed building consent is required for alterations that affect its character, inside as well as outside, separately from planning permission.

So design within what will be approved and build precisely to it: sash window repair rather than replacement, matching brick and lime mortar for new work, and internal changes that leave the principal rooms and staircase intact. That makes a new opening a structural alteration question before it is a kitchen one. We coordinate the structural engineer and construct to the design they issue, with temporary support in place.

Riverside ground: flood resilient detailing at ground level

Parts of Twickenham, Teddington, Barnes and the streets nearest the Thames fall within Environment Agency flood zones. That has real consequences for construction: finished floor levels, the choice of materials at low level, how a basement or lower ground floor is tanked, and where electrical sockets and consumer units are positioned.

Design for it. Solid floors with resilient finishes, raised socket heights and drainage detailed to cope belong in the brief for any house extension or kitchen renovation job at ground level here. Where a scheme touches ground levels or below-ground space, the structural engineer and the flood risk position both feed into the design, and we build to that rather than a standard detail lifted from a job somewhere drier.

Popular starting points in Richmond upon Thames: kitchen renovation in Richmond upon Thames, house extensions across Richmond upon Thames, what to check before hiring a builder in Richmond upon Thames and How to Plan a Renovation.