Coverage Epping Forest New dwellings in gardens

New house in a garden planning permission refused in Epping Forest

Most were refused over design. We read 32 of the 32 new dwellings in gardens Epping Forest refused since April 2024 and sorted each by what its reasons were about. Each dot is one of them.

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Design and character of the area 20 of 32
Insufficient information 18 of 32
Green Belt and open countryside 15 of 32
Heritage assets 7 of 32
Neighbours' amenity 5 of 32
Highways and parking 4 of 32
Living conditions for future occupiers 4 of 32
Trees, landscape and ecology 4 of 32

Each dot is one refusal. A refusal usually gives more than one reason, so it can stand in more than one row.

Also cited: flooding and drainage (3), principle of development (2).

Of the 32 refusals of new dwellings in gardens Epping Forest made since April 2024 that we read, 63% were refused at least in part over design or the character of the area. Plan Forecast, 4 November 2026.

Design and character of the area

of the refusals we read

20 of the 32 new dwellings in gardens Epping Forest refused that we read gave a reason about how the work looked, or how it sat in its street: its size, its shape, its materials.

How the councils compare

Epping Forest 63%
Buckinghamshire 58%
North Yorkshire 54%

Share of each council's refused new dwellings in gardens we read that gave a reason about it.

Insufficient information

of the refusals we read

18 of the 32 new dwellings in gardens Epping Forest refused that we read gave a reason about drawings or details the council needed and did not have.

How the councils compare

Epping Forest 56%
North Yorkshire 26%
Buckinghamshire 20%

Share of each council's refused new dwellings in gardens we read that gave a reason about it.

Green Belt and open countryside

of the refusals we read

15 of the 32 new dwellings in gardens Epping Forest refused that we read gave a reason about building in the Green Belt or open countryside.

How the councils compare

Epping Forest 47%
North Yorkshire 43%
Buckinghamshire 37%

Share of each council's refused new dwellings in gardens we read that gave a reason about it.

Also cited

Heritage assets 7 of 32
Neighbours' amenity 5 of 32
Highways and parking 4 of 32
Living conditions for future occupiers 4 of 32
Trees, landscape and ecology 4 of 32
Flooding and drainage 3 of 32
Principle of development 2 of 32

Policies cited most

The plans and policies Epping Forest's refusals named, each counted once a refusal.

National Planning Policy Framework 32 of 32
DM9, Local Plan 25 of 32
DM2, Local Plan 24 of 32
DM22, Local Plan 21 of 32
DM10, Local Plan 14 of 32
DM4, Local Plan 13 of 32

How we count

These are Epping Forest's own refusals of new dwellings in gardens, decided in the last three years and listed on its register. For each one we read the decision notice and sorted its reasons by what they were about. 0 we have not read yet; they are counted as refusals and not as refusals without reasons.

A refusal usually gives more than one reason, so the shares add up to more than a hundred. Which refusals they were, where, and what each said, is in the Planning Forecast for your address, with a link to each council's own notice.

What Epping Forest approves · Why new dwellings in gardens are refused at every council we read · Why planning permission gets refused, anywhere

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