Gate planning in North 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
Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock, and Royston contain some of the most carefully protected streetscapes in the county. Letchworth in particular is managed under the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation scheme of management, which imposes design controls on top of ordinary planning law.
AONB and landscape
Small portions of the district touch the Chilterns AONB in the west, and a larger area near Hitchin borders the Chilterns National Landscape. Material and finish sensitivity applies close to these boundaries.
Fees and application route
North Herts and Stevenage apply the standard national householder planning fee. Letchworth properties may face additional Heritage Foundation design review outside the statutory planning process.
Planning applications are submitted via the Planning Portal. Letchworth residents should also contact the Heritage Foundation directly.
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 North Hertfordshire
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