Block Management in Bourton-on-the-Water
Article 4 here follows 34 individual properties, not the conservation area boundary
For residents' management companies, RTM companies and freeholders in Bourton-on-the-Water, we provide block, estate and leasehold management. The Article 4 direction made in December 2000 covers 34 separate property curtilages along the High Street and Sherborne Street and withdraws most external permitted development. Flood areas on both the Windrush and the Dikler reach the town, with one Windrush warning area alone covering 16.80 per cent of it.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Bourton-on-the-Water
Confirm Whether the Block Is Among the 34
The council does not publish the addresses covered by the December 2000 direction, so the list has to be obtained from it directly. We would get that confirmation, and any consent, before specifying roof, cladding or painting works.
Major works and Section 20Place Insurance Around Two Flood Rivers
The Windrush warning area from the A436 to the Little Rissington pits covers 16.80 per cent of the town and the Dikler area 4.11 per cent. Because the warning is area-based rather than street-based, we would register the block and brief insurers accordingly.
InsuranceMeasure Radon in Communal Areas
Three quarters of Bourton by area is class 4 and a quarter class 5, and the published advice in both bands is that measurement is advised. We would arrange radon measurement in ground-floor communal areas and keep the results on the compliance record.
ComplianceSurvey Listed Fabric Before Specifying
Of the 110 listed entries in the built-up area, 101 sit inside the conservation area and seven are Grade II*, including Harrington House and Sherborne Terrace. For a listed block we would schedule a survey before any specification is drawn up.
InspectionsManaging a Block in Bourton-on-the-Water at a Glance
- Local authority
- Cotswold District Council
- Authority type
- District, under the county council
- Building control
- Cotswold District Council Building Control
- County
- Gloucestershire
- Fire and rescue service
- Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Thames Water
- From our Plymouth office
- About 147 miles in a straight line
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Bourton-on-the-Water to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
Only 34 Property Curtilages Carry the Article 4 Direction
Bourton's Article 4 direction was made on 19 December 2000 under article 4(2). It withdraws a broad set of permitted development rights: extensions, roof alterations and dormers, exterior cladding and painting, porches, outbuildings, chimneys and flues, satellite dishes, gates, walls and fences, and demolition. In practice that leaves very little external work that can be done without an application. It covers 34 separate parcels totalling just 0.36 hectares. They are individual property curtilages, running as a north to south band through the village core along the High Street and Sherborne Street. All 34 sit inside both the built-up area and the conservation area. So the question for a block is not whether it is in the conservation area but whether it is one of the 34. The council does not publish the addresses, so the list has to be obtained from the council directly before roof, cladding or painting works are specified.
A Terraced Village That Ward Data Makes Look Detached
The two wards covering Bourton are together about two and a third times the size of the town, so neither should be quoted as a town figure. The census output areas inside the built-up area hold 1,162 households. Of these, 139 are in purpose-built blocks, 12.0 per cent, 11 in a converted or shared house, seven in another converted building and 11 over commercial premises. The Bourton Vale ward sweeps in countryside toward the Rissingtons and reports 23 caravans and 49.3 per cent detached housing, none of which describes the village. The town itself is 32.4 per cent terraced. The ward data therefore makes Bourton look like a detached-house area when the settlement is largely terraced. For a block, budgets and comparisons should be based on the village figures, not the ward.
The Windrush and the Dikler Both Reach Bourton
Flood risk at Bourton-on-the-Water comes from two rivers, the Windrush and the Dikler. Four Environment Agency areas contain part of the built-up area. On the Windrush, the warning area running from the A436 down to the Little Rissington pits covers 16.80 per cent of the town. The wider Windrush alert from Bourton to Newbridge covers 17.43 per cent. On the Dikler, the warning area between Stow-on-the-Wold and Bourton covers 4.11 per cent and its alert 3.99 per cent. The Environment Agency names the A436 but no streets, describing its extents by river, settlement and landmark instead. The warning is therefore area-based rather than address-based. Stow-on-the-Wold, four miles north, is touched by no flood area at all. For a block, the building should be checked against the mapped areas themselves, then registered for warnings and the result passed to insurers.
110 Listed Entries and Not One of Them Grade I
One conservation area, designated on 7 July 1971, with a later record date of January 2000 in the national register. The council publishes a conservation area statement for it, not just a boundary map, together with a character map. No formal adoption date is given for the statement, so it should be cited as published rather than adopted. The designation covers 38.48 hectares, but only about half of it lies inside the built-up area, amounting to 12.6 per cent of the town. Bourton on the Hill is a separate conservation area covering a different village thirteen kilometres north, designated in July 1972. For a block, the statement and character map are the documents to read before specifying visible external works.
110 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the built-up area, and not one of them is Grade I. Seven are Grade II* and the remaining 103 Grade II, with 101 of the total sitting inside the conservation area. The Grade II* entries are the Church of St Lawrence with its gates and gatepiers, and Harrington House with its screen walls and gate piers. The others are Sherborne Terrace, Baines House and the John Jordan bale tomb south of the church. The council publishes no count for any settlement; these figures come from Historic England's data. For a listed block, works to the fabric need listed building consent, and a survey should come before any specification is drawn up.
Three Quarters Class 4, the Remaining Quarter Class 5
Bourton is split between two radon bands. Across the eight one-kilometre squares over the built-up area, three quarters of the town by area is class 4. That band means 5 to 10 per cent of homes at or above the action level. The remaining quarter is class 5, at 10 to 30 per cent. The published advice in both bands is that radon measurement is advised. Nearby, Moreton-in-Marsh is uniformly in the 1 to 3 per cent band, and Stow-on-the-Wold is almost entirely in the 10 to 30 per cent band. For a block, radon measurement in ground-floor flats and communal areas belongs on the compliance record.
No Neighbourhood Plan, Wholly Inside the Cotswolds National Landscape
Planning decisions are made under the Cotswold District Local Plan 2011 to 2031, adopted 3 August 2018. There is no neighbourhood plan and none in preparation: Bourton appears on neither the council's made list nor its list of plans in development. The whole of the built-up area lies inside the Cotswolds National Landscape. For a block, external works are judged against the district plan and National Landscape policy, with no town-level policy layer.
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Bourton-on-the-Water Questions
Is Every Building in Bourton's Conservation Area Covered by the Article 4 Direction?
No. The direction covers 34 separate property curtilages totalling just 0.36 hectares, running north to south through the village core along the High Street and Sherborne Street. All 34 sit inside the conservation area, which is far larger at 38.48 hectares. The council does not publish the addresses, so the list has to be obtained from it directly.
What Does the Bourton Article 4 Direction Stop Us Doing Without Permission?
It withdraws an unusually broad set of rights: extensions, roof alterations and dormers, exterior cladding and painting, porches, outbuildings, chimneys and flues, satellite dishes, gates, walls and fences, and demolition. For one of the 34 properties covered, that leaves very little external work that can be carried out without first making an application.
Is Radon Measurement Advised for a Block in Bourton-on-the-Water?
Yes, across the town. Three quarters of Bourton by area is class 4, at 5 to 10 per cent of homes at or above the action level. The remaining quarter is class 5, at 10 to 30 per cent. The published advice in both bands is that radon measurement is advised.
Nearby Areas
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