Barnet

Local plan

Barnet’s Local Plan 2021–2036 was adopted on 4 March 2025; a May 2025 appeal decision confirms that the relevant 2012 Core Strategy and Development Management policies had been superseded. [1][2]

That decision identifies CDH01, HOU03 and CDH07 in its assessment of design, local character and privacy, but is not a substitute for the complete adopted policies. [2]

Use the council’s WebMap directory to locate the Local Plan mapping and other property constraints. [4]

Check the complete adopted policy wording, replacement-policy matrix and mapped boundaries for the property, including the detailed tests for extensions, roof alterations and house-to-flat conversions.

Householder design guide

Use Barnet’s Sustainable Design and Development Guidance SPD, adopted on 15 June 2026. It replaces the 2016 Residential Design Guidance and Sustainable Design and Construction SPDs. Part 4 covers residential extensions and alterations; read it with the adopted Local Plan and the guidance for the property’s setting. [30]

For Hampstead Garden Suburb, the council and Trust’s joint Design Guidance covers repairs, alterations, extensions, trees and gardens; the Trust’s current FAQ identifies the 2010 guidance as the basis for its decisions. [5][7]

The Trust also publishes 2024 retrofit guidance, expressly to be used alongside the main design guidance rather than instead of it. [5]

These Suburb documents must not be treated as a borough-wide householder design guide.

Validation list

Use Barnet’s current checklist for your application type and agree any site-specific supporting reports before commissioning them. The national requirements include the application form, relevant information and the correct fee, with additional local information where applicable. [9]

The older validation consultation linked in the government directory dates from 2017. Use the council’s current submission guidance rather than treating that consultation as today’s checklist. [8]

Article 4 directions

Barnet’s confirmed borough-wide Article 4 direction, effective from 29 May 2016, removes the permitted-development right to change a C3 dwellinghouse to a C4 small HMO, requiring planning permission for that change. [10][11]

The council’s instrument catalogue includes additional directions for places such as Hampstead Garden Suburb, Finchley Garden Village, Mill Hill and Totteridge, but expressly warns that historic documents and maps may have been superseded. [12][29]

Check the specific instrument, any later variation or cancellation and the current boundary for the proposed work, including any restriction on Class MA commercial-to-residential conversions.

Conservation areas

Barnet’s official conservation archive provides designation documents, character appraisals and boundary maps, including material for Hampstead Garden Suburb, Monken Hadley, Mill Hill, Totteridge, the Watling Estate and Golders Green. [13]

Use the council's boundary dataset alongside the relevant appraisal to check the actual property and its design requirements. [13][14]

In Hampstead Garden Suburb, Trust consent is separate from planning permission and is required for external changes governed by its Scheme of Management or a lease under which the Trust is freeholder. [7]

The Trust’s joint guidance should therefore be considered alongside the applicable council controls, not as a substitute for them. [5][7]

Basement policy

Barnet’s Local Plan basement controls include the following requirements: a September 2025 appeal applied CDH06, alongside other policies, and found that meeting the submitted daylight targets did not overcome poor outlook from the proposed basement rooms. [15]

For Hampstead Garden Suburb specifically, the joint guide generally limits basements to the house footprint but allows possible consideration beneath part of a rear garden at larger houses with extensive gardens, where a mature garden can be established and maintained above; see printed page 17. [6]

Printed page 18 calls for a structural-stability engineer’s report and says a hydrogeological report may be required where groundwater could be diverted. [6]

Obtain the full borough policy and assessment requirements for the site. The geographically limited Suburb guidance must not be applied automatically elsewhere in Barnet.

CIL rates

Barnet’s charging schedule effective 1 April 2022 sets a £300/m² residential base rate, including the residential uses identified in its schedule. [16]

Its other listed base rates are £200.09/m² for hotels and retail, £20/m² for employment, and £0 for leisure and other uses. These dated base rates require the appropriate indexation before they can be used for a 2026 calculation. [16]

The separate 2026 Mayoral CIL2 Band 2 rate is £72.73/m² for relevant permissions granted during 2026, subject to the applicable charging provisions and reliefs. [25]

Obtain Barnet's indexed 2026 tariff and calculate the local and Mayoral components separately. Check the applicable schedule, indexation, chargeable floorspace and relief before budgeting; do not deduct proposed temporary London CIL relief unless the final implementing rules establish an entitlement. [18][19]

Pre-application advice

The West London Strategic Flood Risk Assessment contact directory lists planning.enquiry@barnet.gov.uk for Barnet planning enquiries; use this for general enquiries and confirm the dedicated pre-application submission route before sending a formal request. [26]

Before booking, obtain the current council tariff, written scope, required plans, fee and VAT position, expected response period and terms for follow-up advice.

Pre-application advice cannot guarantee the outcome of a subsequent planning application. [21]

For Hampstead Garden Suburb proposals, the Trust separately offers free preliminary advice, but this is not the council’s pre-application service or a grant of Trust consent. [7]

Building control

Use Barnet's current building-control service page to obtain direct contact details, the application charge and inspection-booking arrangements before submitting or arranging a visit.

Building regulations approval and planning permission are separate, and a planning decision does not replace any building regulations approval needed for the work. [22]

For relevant building-control applications and initial notices submitted from 1 October 2026, the separate Building Safety Levy must also be considered, including the applicable exemptions. [22][27]

Government guidance says extensions or improvements that create no new dwellings or purpose-built student-accommodation bedspaces do not need levy information; this does not remove any ordinary building-control application or charge that applies. [22][27]