Extension plans for a Buckhurst Hill house cost £645 drawings + £150 survey (£795 total) with us, a fixed fee from the laser measured survey to submission and the case officer's queries. Epping Forest District Council's householder fee of £548 is paid to the council separately. For most houses in the town, the planning questions are the usual ones. For 50 Victorian houses around St John's Church, a 2025 Article 4 direction changes what can be done without asking. The surprise is that it leaves the back of the house largely alone and controls the front and the roof.
On this page
Is my house covered by the St John's Article 4 direction?
The council's notice names the houses one by one:
- Church Road: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22
- Trent Road: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8
- Hills Road, north side: 17 to 31, odd numbers
- Hills Road, south side: 2 to 38, even numbers
- Osbourne Road: 1 to 6
- High Road: 80, 82 and 84
That is 50 houses. The wider St John's Conservation Area is larger, taking in the church, the school, the pond and the open land by the forest. Houses inside the conservation area but not on this list have the normal conservation area limits, without the extra controls. The notice said the direction was intended to come into effect on 25 June 2026. We have not found the council's confirmation that it took effect, so we treat it as applying and check its status for your house before we design.
What does the direction bring under control?
On the 50 named houses, these need a planning application:
- Alterations to the front elevation, such as replacing front windows or doors
- Additions or alterations to the roof
- Putting in, altering or replacing a chimney
- Solar panels and solar thermal equipment
- Microwave antennas, such as satellite dishes
- A porch on the front
- Hard surfacing in the front garden
- Gates, fences, walls and other boundaries
- Painting the outside walls
The notice lists roof additions and alterations without limiting them to the front slope. A rooflight on the back slope may therefore need permission too, and we read the full direction for your house before advising.
Can I still build a rear extension?
Often, yes. The direction does not list rear extensions. A single-storey rear extension can still be built as permitted development, within the limits that apply in any conservation area:
- Single storey only at the back. A two-storey rear extension needs permission.
- No side extension without permission, of any height.
- No cladding of the outside walls in stone, timber, plastic or tile.
- No larger home extension prior approval. That route is not available in a conservation area.
The appraisal notes that Victorian terraces here were built with rear wings, often paired with next door, holding service rooms. That original wing is part of the "original house" when the permitted development limits are measured. Extending alongside it, the classic side-return infill, is usually treated as a side extension, so it needs planning permission in a conservation area. We recommend a lawful development certificate for any rear extension built as permitted development here, so a buyer's solicitor has proof.
What will the council look for in an application?
The character appraisal, dated 27 May 2025, describes houses from after the railway arrived in 1856. It lists terraces in symmetrical pairs with deeply recessed doors, canted bay windows, multi-coloured brickwork, large paned sash windows, red and yellow stock brick, natural slate and crested ridge tiles. Its management plan asks that extensions suit the area in scale, massing, materials, form, detail and windows. It also says the council will resist box dormers unless they are shown to have no impact.
For a planning application, that means:
- Matching materials, stock brick and slate, named on the drawings rather than "to match".
- A rear extension that stays below the original wing and does not hide the paired rear forms.
- A loft extension designed with the roof, not as a box. On the 50 named houses, any roof change needs an application anyway.
- uPVC kept off the front. The appraisal treats uPVC and aluminium windows and doors as out of character.
Epping Forest's local validation list also asks for street scene elevations wherever work is at the front or a road-facing side, and for its sustainability checklist and statement with every householder application. We include both.
What might one house need?
An illustrative example, not a real job: the owner of a Victorian terrace on Hills Road wants a kitchen extension at the back, a rooflight in the rear slope and a new front gate.
- The rear extension, single storey and within the depth limits, can be permitted development. We would draw it and apply for a lawful development certificate.
- The rooflight is a roof alteration, so on a house named in the direction it goes into a planning application.
- The gate is a means of enclosure, so it needs permission too. It can go into the same application as the rooflight.
So one house can need two routes at once. We sort the work into the right routes before drawing, so nothing is built that should have had permission.
How long will it take?
A householder application and a lawful development certificate each have an 8-week target. In the year to 30 June 2026, Epping Forest decided 542 of its 566 householder applications (prior approvals excluded) within 8 weeks, according to the government's PS2 statistics. The council also offers written householder pre-application advice for £300, aiming to reply within 6 weeks. A house on the direction's list, with a front or roof proposal, is where that advice is most likely to be worth it.
Frequently asked questions
My house is in the conservation area but not on the list. What changes for me? The ordinary conservation area limits apply: no side extensions, no dormers and no cladding without permission. The extra Article 4 controls on the front, the roof and the boundaries do not.
Do I need permission to replace my front windows? On the 50 named houses, yes: alterations to the front elevation need planning permission under the direction.
Can I pave my front garden for parking? On the named houses, front hard surfacing needs planning permission.
Is the council fee included in your price? No. The £548 householder fee, or £274 for a lawful development certificate, is paid to the council and shown separately.
What about the rest of the district? We cover all of Epping Forest District. See loft conversion drawings in Loughton, or over the border, our Woodford loft post. The planning drawing service lists what the fee covers.
If the application goes through the Planning Portal, the Portal adds its own service charge: nothing, £99 or £149 including VAT, depending on the application type and complexity, paid to the Portal at submission and not normally refunded with a council fee (Ashford Borough Council, Planning Portal service charges, 11 September 2026). It is not ours and not the council's. Other submission routes exist; where your council accepts one without a charge, we can use it.
