Planning permission in Epping Forest
Most single-storey rear extensions within the national permitted development limits don't need planning permission in Epping Forest. The rules are stricter in its 25 conservation areas, where side extensions, two-storey extensions and loft dormers need permission. Check your address to see which rules apply.
Epping Forest at a glance
- Conservation areas
- 25
- Article 4 areas
- Not published
- Protected landscapes
- None
- Planning decisions
- Epping Forest District Council
How many conservation areas are there in Epping Forest?
Epping Forest has 25 conservation areas. In a conservation area, permitted development rights are reduced: side extensions, two-storey extensions, loft dormers and cladding all need planning permission, and many councils add Article 4 directions on top.
- Abbess Roding
- Abridge
- Baldwins Hill, Loughton
- Bell Common, Epping
- Blake Hall, Bobbingworth
- Chigwell Village
- Chipping Ongar
- Coopersale Street
- Copped Hall
- Epping
- Great Stony School, Chipping Ongar
- High Ongar
- Hill Hall, Theydon Mount
- Lower Sheering
- Matching
- Matching Green
- Matching Tye
- Moreton
- Nazeing and South Roydon
- Royal Gunpowder Factory, Waltham Abbey
- Roydon Village
- Staples Road, Loughton
- Upshire
- Waltham Abbey
- York Hill, Loughton
Read more: extensions, loft dormers, garden rooms and solar panels in a conservation area.
Does Epping Forest have Article 4 directions?
Epping Forest hasn't published any Article 4 boundaries on planning.data.gov.uk. Most councils have at least one Article 4 direction, often in conservation areas, so check the council's website or ask its planning team before relying on permitted development.
What is an Article 4 direction?
Is any of Epping Forest in a national park, National Landscape or green belt?
- There is green belt in or bordering Epping Forest. Householder permitted development rights apply as normal in the green belt, but if you need planning permission, green belt policy limits how much a home can be enlarged.
Listed buildings and protected trees in Epping Forest
Listed buildings everywhere in England are recorded by Historic England, and the checker looks for them at every address. Epping Forest doesn't publish listed building outlines, so where a listed building is recorded near an address, we ask the homeowner to check whether it's theirs.
Epping Forest doesn't publish its tree preservation orders as data. If there are mature trees near your project, ask the council whether any are protected before you start.
What planning data does Epping Forest publish?
| Data | Status | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Conservation area boundaries | Published | 25 |
| Article 4 direction boundaries | Not published | 0 |
| Listed building outlines | Not published | 0 |
| Tree preservation order areas | Not published | 0 |
| Protected trees | Not published | 0 |
Planning work on a home in Epping Forest? Put a pin on your house and we'll check it against all of this.
Start a checkOther councils in East of England
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- West Suffolk
Data from planning.data.gov.uk, published by Epping Forest District Council and national bodies under the Open Government Licence, last updated here on 30 October 2026. Epping Forest District Council website.