An extension puts a planning route, a building control route and a foundation design on the same programme, and they do not run to the same timetable. We appoint the structural engineer, build to their calculations, and coordinate the building control application and inspections with Epping Forest District Council.
Where permitted development rights have been withdrawn
Two Loughton conservation areas carry Article 4 directions, and one of them works address by address. AD02 was made on 17 August 1999 and came into force on 27 August 1999, withdrawing permitted development rights from certain dwelling houses in the York Hill Conservation Area. That direction applies to a schedule of named addresses rather than to every property in the conservation area, and the schedule covers properties in York Hill, Forest Way, Kings Hill, Pump Hill and Kings Green.
Baldwins Hill Conservation Area is not covered by either of the two Article 4 directions the council lists for Loughton. Separately, Epping Forest District Council requires a street scene elevation for any householder work to the front or side of a property fronting a road, drawn to show the proposal in context with neighbouring properties as viewed from the street.
The ground your foundations go into
Loughton's geology changes over a short distance, and the foundation design follows it. British Geological Survey 1:50,000 mapping shows the Claygate Member, the sandier upper part of the London Clay, as the bedrock on the higher ground at the north of the town around Goldings Hill, Englands Lane and Forest Road, and in Epping Forest at Loughton Camp. Along the High Road and Traps Hill spine, the same mapping shows a superficial deposit of Lowestoft Formation diamicton, a glacial till, over the London Clay.
The British Geological Survey describes the Lowestoft Formation as an extensive sheet of chalky till characterised by its chalk and flint content, with a matrix carbonate content of about 30 per cent. Depth is decided by trial hole and by the engineer, not by a map. On sloping sites the council requires a cross section through the proposed building showing how it relates to existing ground levels and the adjacent level of the land.
The Roding valley: alluvium and flood zones
The eastern and southern edge of Loughton is a different foundation problem. British Geological Survey mapping shows Alluvium along the Roding valley, including at Chigwell Lane, Valley Hill, Torrington Drive, Borders Lane and the eastern end of Debden Broadway. The survey describes Alluvium as normally soft to firm consolidated, compressible silty clay, which can contain layers of silt, sand, peat and basal gravel.
Environment Agency Flood Zones 2 and 3 follow the same corridor, taking in Chigwell Lane, Valley Hill and Borders Lane. Epping Forest District Council requires a Flood Risk Assessment with a householder application in Flood Zone 2 or 3, and states that this covers sheds, garages and games rooms within the curtilage as well as physical extensions to the house itself.
Green Belt and protected trees
Two further constraints sit over an extension here. Over 90 per cent of the Epping Forest district is designated Green Belt. The council has deliberately not defined what counts as a disproportionate addition or a materially larger building, on the basis that it depends on the characteristics of the site, the locality and the existing building. That leaves the judgement with the case officer, so a pre application conversation earns its keep.
Every tree in a conservation area with a stem diameter of 75mm or more is protected, and the council requires six weeks notice before any work is carried out on one. That notice period belongs in the programme from the start, not halfway through the groundworks.
- Levels, drainage and landscaping made good around the new build
- Steel goalpost frames where the rear wall opens up
- Insulation, airtightness and thermal detailing to regulations
- Drainage diversion and build-over agreements with the water authority
- Architectural drawings and structural engineer coordination
Why Loughton Homeowners Choose GS Renovation
An extension is the job where the planning application, the building control application and the foundation design all have to move at once, and each has a different lead time. We appoint the structural engineer, coordinate the building control applications and inspections, and keep the trees, the levels and the ground investigation on the programme rather than in the way of it. Free no obligation quotation, fully insured, one point of contact.
- Registered in England, Companies House no. 14611254
- Party Wall notices served for excavation near a neighbour's wall
- Free, no-obligation quotations
- Straight advice on what is and is not worth spending money on
- Waste cleared as we go, not left piled in the garden
- Drainage diverted or built over with the right approval in place