What is a conservation area?
A conservation area is a place with special architectural or historic interest. Its character and appearance are protected by law.
This is set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.
There are 29 conservation areas in Birmingham. They include the Jewellery Quarter, home to the city’s largest surviving group of Victorian and early 20th-century jewellery workshops, and Bournville Village, an internationally recognised model village dating from the late 19th century.
The council is responsible for deciding whether an area should be given conservation area status after extensive research and consultation with people living and owning property in the area.
Our aim is to preserve significant buildings in conservation areas and ensure that any development maintains or improves the special character of those areas.
For more information, read our Regeneration through Conservation Strategy.
We have powers under planning law which can help us achieve this aim. These include powers to:
- control development
- control demolition
- protect trees
- control advertisements
- carry out urgent work to preserve any vacant unlisted building that has fallen into serious disrepair, and to recover costs from the owner
