Gate planning in East 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
Hertford, Ware, Bishops Stortford, and Sawbridgeworth all contain conservation areas with tight controls on street-facing boundaries. Hertford in particular has multiple overlapping designations and an active conservation area advisory committee.
AONB and landscape
East Hertfordshire is not within an AONB but contains a significant number of listed buildings. Properties adjacent to or within the curtilage of a listed building typically require listed building consent in addition to planning permission for any gate installation.
Fees and application route
East Herts applies the standard national householder planning application fee. Listed building consent is free but must be applied for separately.
Submit via the Planning Portal. Listed building consent is submitted through the same portal as a separate application.
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 East Hertfordshire
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