Article 4 Direction Checker — Is This Address in an Article 4 Area?
An Article 4 Direction removes permitted-development rights in a defined area — most importantly for landlords, the right to convert a house to a small (C4) HMO without a full planning application. This tool checks a postcode against the official Article 4 map on planning.data.gov.uk and gives you a plain in/out verdict, with any nearby designations listed. It is an area/point-level reading of the national map, not a property-level planning decision, and the exact scope of rights removed varies by council — so we always tell you to confirm the direction's wording with the local planning authority. No signup. England (the national planning-data platform). For HMO investors this is a deal-killer to check before you offer; the £109.90 Investor Pro report ties it to 15+ other checks on the address.
This check runs on screen, no signup. The full property report is £9.99 Lite / £24.99 Complete — one report, one price, no subscription.
Frequently asked questions
It's a planning tool that lets a council remove specific permitted-development rights in a defined area, so changes that would normally be automatic need a full planning application instead. Councils use them to control HMO conversions, extensions, demolition, cladding or shopfront changes in sensitive areas. The one that matters most to landlords removes the right to convert a house (C3) to a small HMO (C4) without applying for permission.
Enter the postcode above and we check it against the Article 4 Direction areas published on the government's planning.data.gov.uk map, returning whether the point falls inside one and what's mapped nearby. Because councils publish and update these directions themselves, a clear result is a strong signal rather than a legal guarantee — always confirm with the local planning authority before you commit.
Outside an Article 4 area you can usually convert a house to a small HMO (up to six sharers) under permitted development, with no planning application. Inside one, that right is removed: you must apply for planning permission, and the council can refuse it. So Article 4 is an earlier and harder gate than licensing — it can stop the HMO scheme before you ever get to a licence.
No. Not every council has published its directions to the national platform, and boundaries are tight — so a clear result means the postcode isn't inside a mapped Article 4 area, not that one can't exist. Treat it as a strong first check and confirm the position for the exact plot with the local planning authority.
The Article 4 map here is the England planning-data platform. Scotland and Wales run their own planning systems and registers, so this check is for English addresses; for Welsh or Scottish properties, check with the local council directly.
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