How likely is my planning application to get approved in Croydon?

Croydon is one of London's largest and most varied boroughs — which is precisely what makes planning permission so difficult to second-guess here. The rules that apply in Addington Village are not the rules that apply in South Norwood, and the constraints layered onto a semi-detached in Coulsdon look nothing like those on a terrace in CR0. Most homeowners assume planning permission is a straightforward yes or no, and then discover it isn't — until you see what applies to your exact address before you commit to anything — free, in about a minute.

The borough is not one place — it's dozens

Croydon stretches from the dense urban centre around CR0 all the way south to the Green Belt fringe near Kenley and the Surrey Hills National Landscape. That southern edge triggers Article 2(3) designated land rules, which quietly remove permitted development rights that homeowners elsewhere take for granted. Conservation areas around Croydon Minster, Addington Village, Waddon, and South Norwood each carry their own character appraisals and informal expectations — and what Croydon Council approved on one street may have been refused on the next.

Flood zones along the Wandle valley add another layer. If your property sits within one, your application faces scrutiny that has nothing to do with your design and everything to do with risk categories most applicants have never heard of.

Article 4 Directions — the rule most people miss

Article 4 Directions in Shirley, Coulsdon, and Upper Norwood remove specific permitted development rights that would otherwise let you build without applying at all. Most homeowners in these areas don't realise their rights have been restricted — they assume what a neighbour did without permission is equally available to them. It often isn't. And the boundaries of these directions don't follow roads neatly — they can cut through a single street, catching some properties and not others.

If you're in or near one of these areas, the best way to know whether your specific plot is affected is to check whether Article 4 or conservation area constraints actually apply to your property.

What your neighbours got approved matters more than you think

Croydon Council's 8-week decision window is the statutory target, but what really shapes your outcome is the precedent set around your property. An identical extension on your street that sailed through a few years ago is a meaningful signal. A cluster of refusals nearby for similar schemes should give you pause. Neither of these signals is visible from a council website — they require digging into the actual decision record.

That's the part most homeowners skip. They spend time on drawings and design, and comparatively little time understanding whether the context around their property favours or undermines their chances. Your £548 application fee is non-refundable whether you're approved or refused.

WhatCanIBuild pulls together the approval and refusal record for properties near yours, so you can see what similar projects on your street actually achieved and what that means for your odds — free, no signup needed.