Check the planning before you choose

Houses

Replacing the windows of a house with ones that look similar is normally permitted development, so no application is needed. That covers the great majority of homes around Oxted, including many inside conservation areas.

The exceptions are listed buildings, houses where an Article 4 direction removes those rights, and houses where an old planning condition says something about the windows.

Oxted's conservation areas

Oxted has three separate conservation areas: the old village around the High Street and church, the early twentieth-century mock-Tudor shops of Station Road West, and Broadham Green with Spring Lane. They are small, distinct pockets, so most of the town sits outside them. Check the mapped boundary for your address on Tandridge's conservation areas page or on the government's planning data record for Station Road West.

Article 4 directions

An Article 4 direction removes particular permitted development rights in a particular place. Tandridge publishes its directions on the Article 4 map. Read what each one actually covers: some are about land use or front boundaries, not windows.

Listed buildings

Any change to the windows of a listed building needs listed building consent, and sound old windows are normally repaired. Search the National Heritage List for England by address. Listed building consent and planning permission are separate.

Flats and maisonettes

Flats and maisonettes have no permitted development rights for windows, so changing how a flat's windows look (the material, the style or the way they open) normally needs planning permission. An exact like-for-like replacement may not. You'll also need the freeholder's consent, so check with Tandridge District Council and your freeholder before ordering.

Timber, glass and glazing bars

Depending on the building, there can be rules on the glass you're allowed and on the exact layout of the glazing bars. That applies to listed buildings, to many houses in conservation areas and to any covered by an Article 4 direction. It's best to check with the council first, and Oxted Windows can help you through that process.

Edenbridge falls under Sevenoaks District Council, which has its own conservation area appraisals and its own Article 4 list.

Read next: Timber windows  ·  Sash windows  ·  Areas