Two plans, one decision.
The Local Plan adopted in September 2017 still decides every application. The joint plan written to replace it is not adopted.
Read moreRIBA Chartered · Warwickshire
Architects in Leamington Spa.
Period homes, apartments and town-centre sites. Find out what yours will take.
Selected work in Leamington Spa
Conservation area · Leamington Spa
Priory Terrace
Granted at committee, over twelve objections. A former chapel made to hold more people.
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Grade II listed · Leamington Spa
A Regency terrace
Two listed building consents, both granted. A rebuilt garden wall and a new orangery.
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Town centre · Leamington Spa
Cross Street
Eight apartments complete and sold, on a town-centre plot a refusal had stalled.
View projectPlanning in Leamington Spa · 01
Know what the council will ask for.
Warwick District Council decides on a 2017 plan while a joint replacement is being written, and Leamington's Regency streets add a layer on top. Six things shape most schemes here.
The balance is tilted your way.
Warwick District measured 1.96 years of housing land supply at April 2025, against the five years national policy asks for.
Read moreForty per cent, from eleven homes up.
Policy H2 asks for 40 per cent affordable housing on schemes of eleven dwellings or more, or over 1,000 square metres.
Read moreThe building is presumed to stay.
Policy HE2 sets a presumption in favour of keeping unlisted buildings that add to a conservation area. Demolition needs a case.
Read moreA vacant shop can change use.
The council will consider setting its retail protection aside where a unit has been vacant and properly marketed for over twelve months.
Read moreLeamington sits in the top band.
Community Infrastructure Levy is charged by the square metre, and most of the town falls in the district's highest residential zone.
Read moreWarwick District Council policy, correct at August 2026. The joint South Warwickshire plan and the levy schedule both move, so we re-check them at the point of application.
The proof
Twenty-two listed building consents.
Leamington Spa
Granted in Leamington Spa alone, on Regency terraces, a former chapel and the streets between them. A hundred and twenty-one applications granted across Warwick District, going back to 2003.
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Every application we make is a matter of public record on a council planning register. Ours reach more than 100 planning authorities across the UK, and 121 have been granted in Warwick District alone. The practice has been working since 1970.
Who we work with · 02
Start from what you are building.
Developers, homeowners and commercial clients all need the same first answer: what will this site take? The route to it changes with the project.
For developers
Apartments, conversions and town-centre infill, from residential architects who design schemes that are viable and buildable, with the planning case built in from the first sketch.
Residential developmentFor homeowners
Extensions, remodels and new houses, including listed homes and Regency terraces inside the town's conservation areas, designed around how you live.
Private homesCommercial and mixed-use
Shops, offices, community buildings and mixed-use conversions, from commercial architects who argue the case with the evidence Warwick District expects to see.
Commercial workWhy Rickett · 03
Start a conversation Why clients come back.
Work with a team that has already built here.
Eight apartments complete and sold on Cross Street. A chapel taken through committee over twelve objections. Yours would not be our first Leamington conservation-area argument, or our first buried constraint.
Get to a decision sooner.
Straight to a complete, valid submission. The delays that cost a programme are the avoidable ones, not the statutory clock.
A lead architect, start to finish.
A lead architect is involved from the first conversation to the last drawing. The team that starts your scheme stays with it, so nothing is passed down a chain.
Know the site before you commit to it.
Appraised properly, in the open, by someone who knows what a council needs to see and when the right answer is to push back.
Listed TPOChange a listed home without losing it.
Twenty-two listed building consents granted in Leamington Spa. The heritage statement is written in house while the scheme is being drawn, so the case and the design say the same thing.
heritage statement listed building consent planning permission conservation areaSpend once the risk is down, not before.
Costs staged behind certainty. Every commitment sits behind the decision that justifies it, so nothing is spent on a scheme that has not earned it.
appraisal consent your spendLet someone else hold the list.
From first appraisal to final discharge, every survey, report and condition is tracked for you. You are not the one chasing an ecologist in week nine.
Ecology surveyReport inCondition 7tracked to dischargeWorking on a site in Leamington Spa?
Tell us about it and a Senior Architect will give you an initial appraisal and guide you as to what to do next.
Start a conversationCommon questions · 04
Questions about building in Leamington Spa.
Do you work on projects in Leamington Spa?
Yes, and for a long time. Sixty Leamington addresses have one of our consents behind them, from Regency terraces to town-centre apartment buildings, and a hundred and twenty-one applications have been granted across Warwick District. You get local architects on your site, backed by a national record.
Is Warwick District Council difficult to get planning permission from?
Warwick District is exacting rather than difficult, and its validation requirements are stricter than most. It rewards a scheme that arrives complete and evidenced, and it publishes enough of its own guidance that there is no excuse for guessing.
Can I extend or alter a listed building in Leamington Spa?
Usually, yes. Listed building consent is a separate application from planning permission, and both are normally needed. Twenty-two listed building consents have been granted to us in the town, so the route is well travelled.
How much affordable housing does Warwick District Council want?
Policy H2 asks for 40 per cent affordable housing on residential sites of eleven dwellings or more, or where the combined gross floorspace is over 1,000 square metres. The amount and the mix are negotiated at application, and viability is part of that negotiation.
Can a vacant shop in Leamington town centre change use?
It can, with the right evidence. The council will consider setting its secondary retail policy aside where there is thorough evidence that a unit has been vacant and actively and appropriately marketed for over twelve months, and it will expect the new use to keep an active frontage. Start that marketing trail early.
Does Warwick District Council charge Community Infrastructure Levy?
It does, per square metre of new floorspace, and the rate depends on which charging zone the site sits in. Most of Leamington falls in the district's highest residential band, so the levy needs to be in the appraisal before a price is agreed, not after.
Refused in Leamington Spa? Is it worth appealing?
Sometimes, and sometimes the better answer is to redesign. On Cross Street a refusal was overturned by changing the building, not by arguing harder. We read the refusal on its merits and give a straight view before you commit to the process again.
