Ealing planning applications: 87.7% approved, 2013 policies still in force and a New Local Plan under examination

Why do 572 Ealing decisions sit outside the eight-week clock?

MHCLG splits each council's decisions into two groups. The first is decisions that stayed on the statutory clock, 421 for Ealing, of which 408 (96.9%) were made within eight weeks. The second is decisions made under a planning performance agreement, an agreed extension of time or an environmental impact assessment, 572 for Ealing, of which 547 were made in the time agreed. Only Hammersmith and Fulham has a larger share in the second group, 63.0%.

The council's own decision page says most applications are decided within eight weeks and that the timeframe may be extended if the applicant has entered into a planning performance agreement. It does not mention agreed extensions of time, so the statistics group is wider than the council's page. Read the 96.9% as the punctuality of the minority of cases that stay on the clock.

For a homeowner the practical point is the date, not the percentage. The council aims to validate within 5 to 10 working days. The eight weeks run from the day after a valid application with the fee is received (DMPO 2015 art 34(2)(b)), and the council says most applications are decided within them. An application returned unvalidated after 28 days of silence has to start again. If a builder's slot or a lease event depends on the decision, build in the chance that the officer asks for longer.

How many conservation areas does Ealing have?

The national planning data register holds 31 records for Ealing, three of them parts of Canalside, so it names 29 areas and does not yet include Lammas Park. The council's pages say 30, on both its conservation areas page and its heritage page. The council's area pages are grouped by town: Acton, Ealing, Hanwell, Northolt, Southall and a single NW10 area (Old Oak Lane, first designated by Hammersmith and Fulham Council in 1990, extended in 1994 and last appraised in 2007). Names include Bedford Park, Ealing Green, Haven Green, Brentham Garden Estate, Hanger Hill Garden Estate, Canalside and Hanwell Clock Tower.

The council's conservation area review ran a consultation from 16 October 2023 to 31 January 2024, which the review page calls a six-week consultation, although its dates span about 15 weeks. It has closed. The planning committee considered the full review on 19 November 2025 and approved boundary changes that the review page lists as 14 extensions, 7 reductions and one new area, Lammas Park. Ealing Green appears in both the extended and the reduced lists, as does Hanwell Clock Tower (spelt 'Clocktower' in the reduced list), and the page gives no date for the changes taking effect. Check the council's conservation area map for your address before drawing anything.

Status changes the route. The council's permitted development page says planning permission is usually needed for flats and maisonettes, listed buildings, houses in conservation areas and houses subject to an Article 4 direction. In a conservation area, side extensions, rear extensions of more than one storey, roof enlargements such as dormers, and cladding need permission; window replacement needs it only where an Article 4 direction applies. A dormer is an enlargement of the roof, and Class B of Part 1 of the General Permitted Development Order does not apply on article 2(3) land, which includes conservation areas. A single-storey rear extension within the 3m or 4m limit keeps its right, but the larger 6m or 8m prior approval route is not available there. Our conservation areas and Article 4 guide explains both.

Do Ealing's HMO rules need planning permission or a licence?

The council's HMO guidance says planning permission is needed to change a C3 dwelling to a C4 small HMO (three to six occupants) in the areas the two directions cover, and that each proposal is considered case by case. New HMOs with more than six unrelated occupants already needed a planning application and the directions do not change that. The guidance adds that planning permission is separate from HMO licensing, and most HMOs also need a licence from the council's licensing team.

The council's page does not say the direction covers the whole of Ealing, because it excludes Perivale ward (covered by its own immediate direction) and the OPDC area (covered by separate directions). Our guide to HMO planning permission in London sets out the planning side, and HMO floor plans covers the drawings.

Why does Ealing refuse so many large rear extension prior approvals?

Ealing decided 269 large householder extension prior approvals in 2025-26 and refused 70, 26.0%, the 11th highest of the 24 boroughs with a published rate. Hillingdon's rate was 8.6% and Bromley's 12.0%. The statistics give no reasons, so the figure is a warning that a 6m rear extension is not a formality in Ealing, not a verdict on any scheme.

The route allows a single-storey rear extension of up to 6m on an attached house or 8m on a detached one. If a neighbour objects, the council must judge the effect on the amenity of all adjoining premises and can approve, approve with conditions or refuse. A refusal can be appealed. A householder application at a lesser depth, read against the council's 3m guide in SPD 4, gives an officer room to grant something.

Ealing's mix of housing probably matters. 28.3% of its homes predate 1919 and 30.1% are interwar, which suggests narrower and closer plots than the post-war suburbs. That is our reading of the stock data, not a finding the council makes.