Barking and Dagenham

Local plan

The Barking and Dagenham 2037 Local Plan, covering 2020–2037, was adopted on 18 September 2024. [1][2]

Read it alongside the national planning framework published on 17 August 2026 and the applicable London-wide policies; the new London Plan remains a draft undergoing consultation rather than an adopted replacement. [3][22]

Area-specific guidance also includes the Thames Road Supplementary Planning Document, adopted on 14 May 2025, which the council identifies as a material consideration for that area. [28]

For an extension, loft or flat conversion, check the complete policy tests, mapped designations and retained guidance for the property before assessing eligibility.

Householder design guide

For homes on the Becontree Estate, the council adopted its estate-specific Supplementary Planning Document and Design Code on 16 June 2026, and identifies it as a material consideration for planning applications there. [4]

Its published explanation emphasises the retention or restoration of characteristic brickwork, chimneys and roof forms. [5]

It generally discourages side extensions on corner plots because of their effect on openness and symmetry, while other side extensions are considered against the code’s scale, materials and appearance guidance. [5]

These are Becontree-specific points, not a set of extension dimensions applicable throughout the borough.

Validation list

Use the checklist for the correct application route: the government’s borough record links separate lists for householder applications, larger-home-extension prior approval, full planning, lawfulness certificates, advertisements and non-material amendments. [6]

That record does not establish the latest council revisions, so obtain the current checklist before assembling an application. Householder applications remain exempt from mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain. [7]

From 6 August 2026, the separate exemption for sites of 0.2 hectares or below, measured within the red-line boundary, applies unless priority habitat is impacted, while self-build and custom-build projects no longer have their own exemption for new applications made on or after that date. [7]

Article 4 directions

The government record gives 14 May 2012 as the HMO direction's start date, and the original instrument's first page identifies the C3 dwellinghouse-to-C4 HMO change of use. [8][25]

For upward extensions creating new dwellings under Part 20, Classes A–AD, the ministerial modification signed on 12 September 2023 specifies only the mapped Lymington Mews and Dagenham Village areas rather than the original wider coverage. [26]

Obtain the HMO confirmation and full boundary, and the upward-direction modification's publication or service record, before determining the applicable controls at an address. Separate Becontree restrictions on porches across the estate and side and roof alterations on corner blocks are announced for November 2026, subject to council approval; check final confirmation and the exact start date before relying on them. [4]

Conservation areas

Government Planning Data records identify Dagenham Village, Chadwell Heath Anti-aircraft Gun Site, Abbey and Barking Town Centre, and Abbey Road and Riverside conservation areas. [11][12][13][14]

The council records changes to the Abbey and Barking Town Centre boundary and management plan in October 2020, so an older town-centre map should not be assumed to show the applicable boundary. [15]

Check the specific property against the relevant boundary and appraisal; the names alone do not establish whether an address is included. Separately, the council identifies the Becontree Estate as a non-designated heritage asset; that description should not be confused with confirmation of a conservation-area designation. [5]

Basement policy

Check Barking and Dagenham's adopted basement policies, submission requirements and site-specific flood evidence before designing excavation; do not assume basement development is unrestricted. Under England's current national policy F4, proposals in Flood Zones 2, 3a and 3b should be accompanied by a site-specific Flood Risk Assessment, with additional triggers applying in Flood Zone 1. [16]

Annex F of the national framework classifies basement dwellings as highly vulnerable to flooding. [16]

Policy F7 also requires proposals to be safe from flooding and not increase flood risk elsewhere. Apply these national tests alongside the borough's adopted policies and flood-risk evidence. [16]

CIL rates

For planning permissions granted in 2026, the GLA's annual summary publishes an indexed Mayoral CIL2 Band 3 rate of £30.30 per square metre for Barking and Dagenham rather than the £25 base rate. [18]

This is the Mayoral component rather than a combined quotation: the charging provisions, exemptions, relief and collecting-authority calculation still apply. [18][19][20]

Obtain the current borough charging schedule, zone assessment and indexed local amount separately before budgeting. The consultation on proposed temporary London borough-CIL relief closed on 18 September 2026; check the final implementing measure before applying a proposed discount. [21]

Pre-application advice

The council describes a pre-application service involving a discussion with a planning officer and written feedback after the meeting, particularly for homes with complicated planning histories or site-specific constraints. [5]

Obtain written confirmation of the current fee, what it covers and the service arrangements, including the expected response period, before booking.

Building control

The council’s published building-control contact is buildingcontrol@befirst.london. [5]

Building regulations approval is different from planning permission, and a project may need both. [24]

For work that does not include a higher-risk building, the approval route can be through the local council or a private registered building control approver; retrospective regularisation is available only through a local-authority building control body. [23]