Planning application drawings in Hertsmere

Hertsmere planning decisions and design rules

Hertsmere Borough Council granted 94% of the householder planning decisions it made in its latest published year — 7 points above the 87% England-wide householder average. Hertsmere contains Aldenham, Bushey Heath High Road, Bushey Heath The Lake conservation areas (Aldenham designated 1973), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, which is where a policy-literate drawing pack earns its keep. Its dominant postwar (1945–1970) housing stock sets the design brief on most streets.

Before permission is required, Class B allows 40m³ of added loft volume on a terrace and 50m³ on a semi or detached house, and Class A allows a 3m single-storey rear extension on a terrace or 4m on a detached house. In conservation areas such as Aldenham, Bushey Heath High Road and Bushey Heath The Lake those rights are removed, so we confirm your exact address before a line is drawn. A validated householder application in Hertsmere is determined against an 8-week statutory target.

Aldenham (conservation area designated in 1973), Bushey Heath High Road (conservation area designated in 1990), Bushey Heath The Lake (conservation area designated in 1998), Bushey High Street (conservation area designated in 1973), Bushey Melbourne Road (conservation area designated in 1973), Elstree Village (conservation area designated in 1976), Letchmore Heath (conservation area designated in 1969), Patchetts Green and Delrow (conservation area designated in 1998), Aldenham East (ward of Hertsmere), Aldenham West (ward of Hertsmere), Bushey Heath (ward of Hertsmere), Bushey St James (ward of Hertsmere), Elstree (ward of Hertsmere) and Shenley (ward of Hertsmere) — these are the Hertsmere pockets our drawings cover most. Heritage designations here include Aldenham, Bushey Heath High Road, Bushey Heath The Lake, Bushey High Street, Bushey Melbourne Road, Elstree Village, Letchmore Heath and Patchetts Green and Delrow. Hertsmere Borough Council weighs each proposal against the adopted Hertsmere local plan and Hertsmere Borough Council's design guidance for householder work, where the 13,370 homes here are 15% 1955-1964, 8% 1965-1972, 7% 1993-1999, which is what sets the realistic roof and rear-projection options. On roofs the borough is shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building and shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building, over late-1950s and early-1960s houses (15% of 13,370 homes), late-1960s and early-1970s houses (8%) and 1990s estate houses (7%).

Why a Hertsmere scheme is judged on Hertsmere terms

What is permitted in Hertsmere turns on designation first, so that is where we start: Aldenham (conservation area designated in 1973), Bushey Heath High Road (conservation area designated in 1990), Bushey Heath The Lake (conservation area designated in 1998), Bushey High Street (conservation area designated in 1973), Bushey Melbourne Road (conservation area designated in 1973), Elstree Village (conservation area designated in 1976), Letchmore Heath (conservation area designated in 1969) and Patchetts Green and Delrow (conservation area designated in 1998). Inside those boundaries permitted development is curtailed and Hertsmere Borough Council assesses materials, window detail and roof form against the area's own appraisal, so a scheme that would be waved through two streets away can need a full application here.

Beyond the designated areas, Hertsmere takes in Aldenham East, Aldenham West, Bushey Heath, Bushey St James, Elstree and Shenley. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Hertsmere Borough Council, but the district's 8 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets.

On stock, Hertsmere is late-1950s and early-1960s houses (15% of 13,370 homes), late-1960s and early-1970s houses (8%) and 1990s estate houses (7%) — which is why shallow gabled roofs typical of that period's building and shallow-pitched roofs and integral garages typical of that period's building govern what a loft or rear projection can realistically be. Hertsmere Borough Council decided 466 householder applications in the latest published year and granted 94%, with 49% issued inside the eight-week target. We draw to that record rather than to a national average.

The full build-period split for Hertsmere runs pre-1900 3% (190 homes), 1900-1918 0% (30 homes), 1919-1929 0% (10 homes), 1930-1939 6% (350 homes), 1945-1954 3% (170 homes), 1955-1964 30% (1,850 homes), 1965-1972 33% (1,990 homes), 1973-1982 4% (260 homes), 1983-1992 5% (310 homes), 1993-1999 4% (220 homes) and 2000-2008 3% (170 homes). That distribution is why pre-1900 detailing dominates the drawings here, and it is measured from council-tax records rather than assumed from the street name.

Hertsmere Borough Council also decides for Aldenham East, Aldenham West, Bushey Heath, Bushey St James, Elstree and Shenley, so a decision in Hertsmere sits inside a wider pattern of decisions we track across the same authority — useful when an officer cites a precedent from the next area over.

What goes in a Hertsmere planning application

Whatever you are building, Hertsmere Borough Council decides it from the same core set. A location plan at 1:1250 fixes the site on the map with the red-line boundary; a block plan at 1:500 shows the property in its plot; then existing and proposed floor plans and elevations at 1:100 or 1:50 show the house as it is and as it will be. Larger schemes add a section and, where policy requires, a design and access statement. Miss one and the application is returned invalid before an officer has looked at it.

The drawings are also the argument. Hertsmere Borough Council assesses each proposal against the adopted Hertsmere local plan and Hertsmere Borough Council's design guidance for householder work, and the elevations are where the case is won or lost — ridge and eaves heights, window positions, materials and how the change reads from the street. On Hertsmere's stock, which runs to late-1950s and early-1960s houses (15% of 13,370 homes), late-1960s and early-1970s houses (8%) and 1990s estate houses (7%), the same scheme is drawn differently to answer the concerns officers raise here. Hertsmere contains Aldenham, Bushey Heath High Road, Bushey Heath The Lake conservation areas (Aldenham designated 1973), so materials, fenestration and roof form are assessed against the appraisal, so the pack is built to pre-empt exactly that.

Where the property sits in a conservation area — Aldenham, Bushey Heath High Road, Bushey Heath The Lake, Bushey High Street, Bushey Melbourne Road, Elstree Village, Letchmore Heath and Patchetts Green and Delrow among Hertsmere's — validation is stricter still, often demanding heritage detail and sometimes additional plans. No Article 4 direction is recorded for Hertsmere Borough Council, but the district's 8 conservation areas still limit permitted development on those streets. We confirm the designation before drawing so the pack meets the higher bar first time.