Planning permission in Stockport
Stockport restricts what you can build to your own home more heavily than almost any borough in the North West — and most homeowners have no idea. Of its 37 conservation areas, 24 have had permitted development rights removed. In five of them, that includes the back of your house.
General guidance, not planning advice. Article 4 boundaries follow individual properties and named streets, not suburb names, and they change. Always confirm your own address with Stockport Council before starting work.
🚨 In 24 of Stockport's 37 conservation areas, permitted development has been switched off
In the council's own words: "Where a Direction is in place, planning permission is required for alterations to windows, doors, roofs and chimneys. This includes changes in materials such as UPVC windows. Permission is also required for erecting porches, gates, walls and fences, the laying down of hardstanding and the demolition of walls around dwellings."
In plain terms, you need planning permission to:
- ❌Extend the house — Class A is removed
- ❌Alter the roof, or add a dormer
- ❌Build a porch
- ❌Lay a hard surface — yes, a driveway
- ❌Put up gates, fences or walls — or take an existing wall down
- ❌Change your windows or doors, including swapping to UPVC
- ❌Paint the house
This is not the same as ordinary conservation area status. This is a step further — and Stockport has applied it more widely than anywhere else nearby.
Needs planning permission? We'll handle it.
We prepare and submit householder planning applications and Lawful Development Certificates in-house. Book a free site visit and we'll tell you exactly which Direction — if any — sits over your address, before you commit to anything.
⭐ The bit nobody explains: 4(1) and 4(2) are not the same thing
Stockport has both kinds, and the difference decides whether you can build at the back of your house without permission. Straight from the council:
Article 4(2) — the front only
"Generally, they only apply to dwellings and to external alterations to the elevations of properties fronting a highway, waterway or public open space."
So the front of the house is controlled. A rear extension may still be permitted development.
Article 4(1) — everything
"Affect all external parts of a property and not just those facing onto a highway, waterway or open space."
A rear extension needs planning permission too. This is the strict one.
If you're planning a rear extension in Cheadle or Cheadle Hulme, this is the distinction that decides your project — and it's why a generic "am I in a conservation area?" check isn't enough here.
The five strictest areas — every elevation controlled
These carry an Article 4(1) Direction. Front, side and rear are all caught.
| Area | In force since | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cheadle Village (Hall Street / Lime Grove) | 1984 | Carries express Secretary of State approval |
| Brooklyn Crescent, Cheadle | 1984 | |
| Hulme Hall Road / Swann Lane / Hill Top Avenue, Cheadle Hulme | 1985 | |
| Davenport Park | 1980 | |
| Mill Brow, Marple | 1982 |
Article 4(2) areas we work in
Road-facing elevations controlled. These are six of the 24 — the council holds the full list.
| Area | In force since |
|---|---|
| Bramhall Park | 2005 |
| Bramhall Lane South | 2005 |
| Syddal Park, Bramhall | 2006 |
| Heaton Moor Road | 2008 |
| Heaton Mersey | 2008 |
| Mauldeth Road | 2008 |
Source: Stockport Council — Article 4 Directions. The council holds the definitive boundaries and the street-by-street address schedules.
Found your street? We'll tell you exactly what you can build.
We build across Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall, and we prepare and submit the planning application in-house. A free site visit gets you a straight answer on what's possible at your address — before you spend anything.
What this means, suburb by suburb
Cheadle — the strictest of the lot
Cheadle has three conservation areas, and two of them — Cheadle Village and Brooklyn Crescent — carry Article 4(1) Directions dating from 1984. That's the strict kind: every external elevation is controlled, so a rear extension is not automatically permitted development either. The Cheadle Village direction covering Hall Street and Lime Grove carries express Secretary of State approval on the face of the document. Streets in the schedules include Hall Street, Lime Grove, Crescent Grove, Ernest Street, Massie Street, Ashfield Road and Depleach Road.
Cheadle Hulme — Article 4(1) since 1985
The Hulme Hall Road / Swann Lane / Hill Top Avenue conservation area has been under an Article 4(1) Direction since 1985 — again, all elevations. Streets named in the schedule include Hulme Hall Road, Swann Grove, Linley Road, Higham Street, Heathbank Road, Beechfield Road, Holmefield Drive and Ravenoak Road. If you're planning a kitchen extension or a loft conversion on one of those roads, assume you need permission.
Bramhall — three conservation areas, all with Article 4(2)
Bramhall Park, Bramhall Lane South (both 2005) and Syddal Park (2006) all carry Article 4(2) Directions — so the road-facing elevations are controlled. Streets in the schedules include Bramhall Park Road, Carrwood Road, Ladybrook Road, Hall Road, Parkway, Manor Road and Lerryn Drive around Bramhall Park; and Athol Road, Lees Road, Ogden Road, Thorn Road, Holly Road, Woodford Road, Syddal Road, Patch Lane and Moss Lane around Syddal Park. Bramall Hall itself sits inside the Bramhall Park conservation area.
The good news: 13 conservation areas have no Article 4 at all
It isn't restriction everywhere. Gatley Village, Cheadle Royal Hospital, Market & Underbanks, the Town Hall area, St Peter's, Dodge Hill and Houldsworth are conservation areas without an Article 4 Direction. There, the standard conservation area rules apply — no side extensions, no dormers or loft conversions, no cladding, no larger home extension route — but the rest of your permitted development rights are intact. Knowing which of the two categories you're in is the whole game.
🌳 Don't forget the trees — 6 weeks' notice
In any conservation area, you must give the Council six weeks' written notice before you fell, top, lop or uproot a tree with a stem thicker than 75mm — about three inches — even if it has no Tree Preservation Order on it. That catches a lot of extension and garden room projects, where a tree is in the way and nobody thinks to check. It's a criminal offence to do it without notice. Stockport has 3,242 live TPO records on top of that.
Applying to Stockport Council
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local planning authority for Stockport, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Gatley, Marple and the Heatons. We prepare and submit householder planning applications and Lawful Development Certificates in-house, so you don't deal with the process yourself.
Stockport also applies its own separation distances under the Extensions and Alterations to Dwellings SPD: 21m between habitable-room windows front-to-front, and 25m rear-to-rear — which is stricter than the 21m many councils use, and it catches two-storey rear extensions on ordinary suburban plots. Add 3m per storey above two.
And a warning worth repeating, in the council's own words: "Even outside Conservation Areas, permitted development rights may also have been withdrawn when planning permission was originally granted to build your house." On newer estates, the restriction can sit in the deeds, not the map.
Planning an extension in Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme or Bramhall?
We handle the architectural design, the planning, the Building Regulations and the build — and we check all of this at the free site visit, before you commit to anything. See our extensions, kitchen extensions and loft conversions services, or our work in Stockport and Cheadle.
Don't forget the Party Wall Act either — it's separate from planning, and standard extension foundations often trigger it. We've also written up the conservation areas in Cheshire East and Warrington.
⚠️ Two things you'll read elsewhere that aren't true.
Stockport does not have an HMO Article 4 Direction. It has only ever resolved to consider one — the emerging Local Plan says merely that "consideration will be given to the making of an Article 4 direction" if small-HMO numbers rise. It has not been made and is not on the council's register. (Manchester, Salford, Bolton and Trafford do have one; Stockport doesn't.)
And there is no borough-wide Article 4 coming. Unlike Alderley Edge — where the council has actively resolved to serve a sweeping new Direction — Stockport's Local Plan expresses only a generic intent to "consider using Article 4 directions… wherever harm… might arise". That is not a proposal, and anyone telling you your rights are about to disappear is guessing.
General information, not advice. Article 4 Directions are defined by named streets and itemised address schedules held by Stockport Council — being "in Bramhall" is not the same as being on the schedule. Designation years above are as recorded in the council's register and the national planning dataset. Planning conditions, listed status and restrictive covenants can all affect what you can build, and Directions can be made, varied or revoked at any time. Confirm your position with Stockport Council, or via a Lawful Development Certificate, before starting work. Cheshire Design & Build NW accepts no liability for reliance on this page. Correct as at July 2026.
Stockport Planning FAQs
Do I need planning permission for an extension in Stockport?
Very possibly — Stockport restricts permitted development far more heavily than most boroughs. Of its 37 conservation areas, 24 are covered by an Article 4 Direction. Where one is in place, the council requires planning permission for work that would normally be permitted development: alterations to windows, doors, roofs and chimneys, erecting a porch, putting up gates, walls or fences, and laying a hardstanding — a driveway. In five areas the restriction goes further still and covers every elevation of the property, including the rear.
What's the difference between an Article 4(1) and an Article 4(2) Direction?
This is the single most important thing to understand in Stockport, and almost nobody explains it. In the council's own words, an Article 4(2) Direction "only applies to dwellings and to external alterations to the elevations of properties fronting a highway, waterway or public open space" — so it bites on the front of your house, not the back. An Article 4(1) Direction, by contrast, "affects all external parts of a property and not just those facing onto a highway, waterway or open space". That means in an Article 4(1) area, even a rear extension needs planning permission. Stockport has five Article 4(1) areas: Cheadle Village, Brooklyn Crescent in Cheadle, Hulme Hall Road/Swann Lane in Cheadle Hulme, Davenport Park and Mill Brow in Marple.
Is Bramhall a conservation area?
Parts of it. Bramhall has three conservation areas — Bramhall Park, Bramhall Lane South and Syddal Park — and all three are covered by an Article 4(2) Direction. Streets named in the legal schedules include Bramhall Park Road, Carrwood Road, Ladybrook Road, Hall Road, Parkway and Manor Road in Bramhall Park, and Athol Road, Lees Road, Ogden Road, Thorn Road, Holly Road, Syddal Road, Patch Lane and Moss Lane around Syddal Park. If your property is inside one, you need planning permission to change your windows or doors, alter the roof, add a porch, put up a fence or wall, or lay a driveway.
Is Cheadle a conservation area, and what does it stop me doing?
Cheadle has three conservation areas — Cheadle Village, Brooklyn Crescent and Cheadle Royal Hospital. Cheadle Village and Brooklyn Crescent both carry an Article 4(1) Direction dating from 1984, which is the strictest kind: it covers all external parts of the property, not just the elevations facing the road. So in those areas a rear extension is not automatically permitted development either. The Cheadle Village direction covering Hall Street and Lime Grove carries express Secretary of State approval on the face of the document.
Does Cheadle Hulme have an Article 4 Direction?
Yes — the Hulme Hall Road, Swann Lane and Hill Top Avenue conservation area has carried an Article 4(1) Direction since 1985. Because it is an Article 4(1) rather than a 4(2), it covers every external elevation, so rear extensions need permission as well as front alterations. Streets in the schedule include Hulme Hall Road, Swann Grove, Linley Road, Higham Street, Heathbank Road, Beechfield Road, Holmefield Drive and Ravenoak Road.
Are all Stockport conservation areas covered by an Article 4?
No, and it matters. 24 of the 37 are — but 13 are not, including Gatley Village, Cheadle Royal Hospital, Market and Underbanks, the Town Hall area, St Peter's, Dodge Hill and Houldsworth. In those, standard conservation area rules apply (no side extensions, no dormers or loft conversions, no cladding, no larger home extension route) but your remaining permitted development rights are intact. Establishing which category your address falls into is the first thing to do.
Does Stockport have an Article 4 Direction for HMOs?
No. You will see this claimed, but it is not true. Stockport has resolved to consider one — the emerging Local Plan says only that "consideration will be given to the making of an Article 4 direction" if levels of small HMOs increase. It has not been made, has not been confirmed, and does not appear on the council's Article 4 register. Converting a house to a small HMO in Stockport remains permitted development, unlike in Manchester, Salford, Bolton and Trafford, which all do have one.
Who do I apply to?
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local planning authority for Stockport, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Bramhall, Gatley, Marple and the Heatons. (Didsbury, despite being next door, is Manchester City Council — a different authority with different rules.) We prepare and submit householder planning applications and Lawful Development Certificates in-house.
Building in Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme or Bramhall?
Book a free site visit and we'll tell you exactly which Direction sits over your address — before you spend a penny.