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Westminster's planning policies

A summary of the several key policies and documents that planning applications in Westminster are determined by.

Westminster's Development Plan

All planning applications in Westminster are determined in accordance with adopted policies in the 'Development Plan'. In Westminster, the Development Plan consists of three parts – the Westminster City Plan (produced by the council), Neighbourhood Plans (produced by designated Neighbourhood Forums with support from the council), and the London Plan (which is produced by the Mayor of London and provides strategic policies for all of Greater London). All such documents can be accessed below.

1 - Westminster's City Plan 2019-2040

  • ​adopted by full council on 21 April 2021
  • the City Plan 2019-2040 is the key document used in determining planning applications in Westminster

See our adoption documents:

Document
City Plan 2019-2040
City Plan 2019-2040 PDF, 19.81 MB, 216 pages

You can also view an interactive version of the policies map.

2 - Neighbourhood Plans

Currently Westminster has six 'made' (adopted) neighbourhood plans:

Planning applications in any of the areas covered by these Neighbourhood Plans will, therefore, need to respond to these policies in addition to those in the Westminster City Plan and London Plan.

Work is also underway on new neighbourhood plans for other parts of the city. For further information, please see our Neighbourhood Planning webpage.

3 - London Plan

The Mayor of London adopted the London Plan in March 2021

National Planning Policy Framework

The government's National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2012 created a structure that assists local councils in creating their own local plans. It is part of the government's reforms to make the planning system less complex and more accessible.

The government published the latest NPFF in June 2019.

Policies in the NPPF can be used directly to determine planning applications in Westminster as a material consideration. They are not, however, part of Westminster's Development Plan.

Superseded City Plan and saved UDP policies

The City Plan (November 2016) and the saved UDP policies are now superseded and are not part of Westminster's Development Plan. Policies in both documents have now been deleted or replaced by policies in the City Plan 2019-2040.

The City Plan (November 2016) and the saved UDP policies should therefore not be used when determining planning applications in Westminster. However, they may continue to be used when referring to old planning applications or appeals.

The City Plan 2019-2040 Appendix 3 contains a table that sets out which City Plan (November 2016) and UDP saved policies have been deleted. When they have not been deleted, the table sets out which City Plan 2019-2040 policy supersedes them.

See the superseded documents:

Document
CORE 020 - Adopted Westminster City Plan (2016)
Document
Strategic policies map for City Plan
Document
Introduction - UDP
Introduction - UDP PDF, 85.79 KB, 10 pages
Document
Part 1
Part 1 PDF, 554.45 KB, 70 pages
Document
Chapter 1 - central area
Chapter 1 - central area PDF, 310.41 KB, 31 pages
Document
Chapter 2 - commerce - strikethrough
Document
Chapter 3 - housing
Chapter 3 - housing PDF, 504.76 KB, 44 pages
Document
Chapter 04 - transport
Chapter 04 - transport PDF, 241.27 KB, 66 pages
Document
Chapter 5 - policies for NW Westminster
Document
Chapter 6- social and community facilities
Document
Chapter 7 - shopping and services
Chapter 7 - shopping and services PDF, 457.2 KB, 70 pages
Document
Chapter 9 - environment
Chapter 9 - environment PDF, 623.82 KB, 84 pages
Document
Chapter 10 - urban design conservation
Document
Chapter 11 - River Thames
Chapter 11 - River Thames PDF, 143.43 KB, 22 pages
Document
Chapter 12 - Strategic Policies Map
Document
UDP glossary
UDP glossary PDF, 253.71 KB, 32 pages

Published: 25 January 2021

Last updated: 13 March 2024