Do I need permission to paint my front door?

Usually not. Occasionally, very much so — and the cost of finding out afterwards is repainting the whole elevation.

The straightforward case

If your house is not listed, not in a conservation area, and not covered by an estate management scheme, you can paint your front door whatever colour you like. That covers most of London.

Conservation areas

Designation mostly controls demolition, extensions and windows rather than paint. Repainting an already-painted surface is normally fine. Where it gets complicated is painting something that was never painted — rendering over or colouring bare brickwork on a frontage can count as a material alteration.

Article 4 directions

These remove permitted development rights in a specific area, and some do cover alterations to the front elevation. They are local and specific, so the only reliable answer comes from the borough’s planning pages for your actual address.

Listed buildings

Different regime entirely. Listed building consent can be required for repainting in a different colour, inside as well as out. If your house is listed, ask before you buy paint.

The Dulwich exception

If you are in Dulwich, there is an extra layer. A large number of properties sit within the Dulwich Estate’s Scheme of Management, which requires consent for external alterations — and that expressly includes repainting exterior woodwork and render in a different colour. It applies whether or not the building is listed, and it sits on top of the normal planning rules. Your deeds will say whether you are within it.

The practical answer

Same colour, already-painted surface, ordinary house: go ahead. Changing the colour on a frontage in a conservation area, a listed building, or anywhere in Dulwich: one phone call first, before anyone orders paint.