Kingston upon Thames Local Plan: adopted policies and emerging plans

Check the planning authority first

Kingston Council is the borough planning authority in the GLA directory. Confirm the site is inside Kingston before applying these policies, particularly where a town or postcode crosses into a neighbouring London or Surrey authority.

Waste policy is jointly prepared with Croydon, Merton and Sutton, but this does not make the four boroughs one application authority. The Kingston register supplies its own adoption date and local planning contact.

Adopted development-plan documents

Read the relevant policy wording and map together. An unverified date is a gap in this profile, not a finding that a document has no legal effect.

• London Plan 2021

  Adopted. March 2021 published plan.

  London-wide strategic policies; the current GLA page labels the March 2021 published plan adopted.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  Not verified

  Adopted or made

  Exact date not verified

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

• Kingston Core Strategy

  Adopted. 2012 adopted strategy.

  Strategic vision and policies for growth and development across Kingston. The 2026-2027 scheme explicitly retains this in the current development plan pending adoption of the replacement Local Plan. Exact adoption day was not verified.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  To 2027

  Adopted or made

  Exact date not verified

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

• Kingston Town Centre Area Action Plan

  Adopted. 2008 adopted plan.

  Area-specific framework for Kingston town centre. The expired title horizon does not prove the plan has ceased to apply: the current council scheme still lists it and says the new Local Plan will replace it on adoption.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  To 2020

  Adopted or made

  Exact date not verified

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

• South London Waste Plan 2022-2037

  Adopted. 2022 adopted joint plan.

  Adopted 13 December 2022.

  Joint waste policy with Croydon, Merton and Sutton, including waste-facility decisions and safeguarding. The date here is Kingston’s adoption date, not a date assumed to apply to every partner borough.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  2022-2037

  Adopted or made

  13 December 2022

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

Policies maps and site boundaries

Use the adopted-map gateway for policies currently in force. It explains that the geographic layer changes when a development-plan document is adopted. A proposed allocation from the 2026 consultation is not automatically an adopted designation.

For town-centre land, read the Area Action Plan alongside the Core Strategy and inspect the relevant map area. No parcel-level interactive-map search has been undertaken for this profile.

• Local Development Scheme 2026 to 2027
• Adopted policies map

Emerging plans and examination progress

The live Local Plan page is later process evidence than older timetable targets: it says the publication consultation has closed and submission is intended by December 2026. No submission or Inspector appointment is claimed here.

The same page says a six-week HRA consultation will launch shortly. Its exact opening and closing dates were not verified. Representations from both consultations are intended to accompany submission.

The replacement plan period is 2028-2043. The old town-centre plan’s 2020 end year and the Core Strategy’s 2027 horizon should not be mistaken for automatic withdrawal dates.

• Kingston Local Plan 2028-2043

  Emerging. 2026 publication version, Regulation 19.

  Proposed replacement for both the Core Strategy and town-centre Area Action Plan. The council reports the Regulation 19 stage closed and a separate Habitats Regulations Assessment consultation forthcoming; submission is targeted by the end of 2026.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  2028-2043

  Adopted or made

  Not adopted in checked sources

  Separate effective date

  Not verified

Published milestones and events

• South London Waste Plan adopted by Kingston

  13 December 2022

  Council policy register confirms this borough-specific adoption date.

  • Planning policy and South London Waste Plan register

• Regulation 19 consultation closed

  Date not verified

  Current Local Plan page records closure; exact closing date was not independently established.

  • Kingston Local Plan

Check the official programme before attending a hearing or relying on a deadline. A consultation, hearing or inspector's report is distinct from adoption. This page is a checked snapshot, not a live calendar.

Local design and supporting guidance

The Residential Design SPD addresses local context, amenity and privacy, housing mix, public realm, servicing and safety. Choose its new-build or alterations section according to the proposal; it is more useful than relying on a borough-wide summary alone.

Use the corrected November 2013 edition when checking detailed guidance. The policy register also routes users to affordable-housing, viability, sustainable-transport and recycling-storage advice for the relevant submission requirements.

• Residential Design SPD

  Supporting guidance. July 2013, corrected November 2013.

  Adopted 9 July 2013.

  Two-part design guidance for new housing and household extensions or alterations. The council records a November 2013 spelling correction on page 96 and says that edition supersedes the earlier published copy.

  Plan period and recorded dates

  Plan period

  Not verified

  Adopted or made

  9 July 2013

  Separate effective date

  16 July 2013

Design guidance does not establish that work is permitted development. Check the national rules, planning conditions and any relevant local restrictions.

What to do for your property

1. Confirm Kingston’s boundary and whether the town-centre Area Action Plan applies.
2. Save an adopted-map extract separately from proposed 2026 allocations.
3. Check the HRA consultation dates and the later submission notice on the live plan page.
4. Use the corrected Residential Design SPD and identify any additional transport or waste-storage evidence needed.

Keep the document versions, maps and date of your check with your project notes. A boundary, policy conflict or transition may need assessment by the relevant authority or a suitably qualified planning professional.

Sources, review and changes

These AI-assisted checks cover published document identity, status, dates and links. They do not decide how policy applies to an individual site, and professional planning review has not been completed.

Source-check dates describe when we inspected the source. They do not renew automatically when the website is rebuilt. We link to official documents without claiming a licence over them or republishing them.

First published 8 September 2026. Recorded adopted and emerging documents, source dates and stated gaps.

Report a correction with this page and an official source link.