Hackney
Planning & Building Contacts

Around 30 conservation areas include De Beauvoir Town, Stoke Newington Church Street, Clapton, Hackney Central and London Fields. The Hackney Wick and Fish Island area (partly in Tower Hamlets) is a significant creative industries and regeneration zone with its own planning framework. Shoreditch and Dalston town centres are subject to mixed-use intensification policies. Hackney Marshes and the Lee Valley Regional Park form the eastern boundary.

Building regulations approval is required for most structural work, extensions, loft conversions, new windows and heating system changes. You may use either the council's own building control service or a private Approved Inspector. For listed buildings, building control must be coordinated with Listed Building Consent requirements.

De Beauvoir Town conservation area is among the finest intact mid-Victorian planned estates in London. Stoke Newington Church Street has a unique character combining 18th century buildings with 19th century commercial development. St Augustine's Tower (Grade I) is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Hackney. Around 30 conservation areas protect a wide range of Victorian residential and commercial environments. Listed Building Consent is required in addition to planning permission for any works to a listed building that would affect its special architectural or historic interest, including internal works.

Flood risk from the River Lee affects the eastern edge of the borough, particularly around Hackney Marshes and the Lee Valley. Lee Valley Reservoir and filter beds create some local flood risk. The borough is Lead Local Flood Authority for surface water flooding, which is a significant risk given the dense impermeable urban fabric and limited green space in the central and southern parts.