Gate planning in Central Hertfordshire.
This page is general guidance, not formal pre-application advice. Council policy changes and individual addresses can have specific restrictions that override the general rules. Always check the council planning portal for your address before signing a contract.
Conservation areas
Welwyn, Knebworth, Codicote, and parts of Brookmans Park contain conservation areas with particular sensitivity around Welwyn Garden City's original Ebenezer Howard-planned streets. Design coherence with the surrounding era and setting is expected.
AONB and landscape
This region is largely outside AONB designations but green belt constraints apply widely, and green belt openness is a material consideration in gate height and solidity decisions.
Fees and application route
Welwyn Hatfield and East Herts apply the standard national householder application fee. Check the council website for the current figure.
Planning Portal is the standard submission route for both councils.
The four rules that apply everywhere in Hertfordshire
Gates fronting a highway used by vehicles must not exceed 1 metre in height without planning permission.
This is the headline rule most homeowners encounter. Any gate taller than 1 metre that opens onto a road used by cars requires a householder planning application.
Gates not fronting a highway can be up to 2 metres without planning permission.
If the gate opens onto a private drive, alley, or rear boundary away from a vehicle road, the permitted height rises to 2 metres.
Conservation areas, listed buildings, and article 4 directions remove permitted development rights.
In any of these cases the height allowances above do not apply and planning permission is almost always required. Always check the council planning map before committing to a design.
Automation does not itself trigger planning permission.
Motorising an existing gate that already complies with height rules does not normally require a separate application, though BS EN 12453 safety compliance is a separate legal obligation under CE / UKCA rules.
Towns and villages in Central Hertfordshire
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