Planning applications in Barnet

Planning in Barnet

Rear extensions define planning in Barnet. More than 21,000 have been decided since 2019, far more than any other kind of work, and about 1 in 4 was refused. That is the highest refusal rate among the common projects here, and a good deal stricter than the 1 in 7 seen across the areas we cover. If you are planning a rear extension in Barnet, the design and its effect on your neighbours deserve real thought.

Across all of the more than 50,000 applications decided, about 1 in 5 was refused. Windows and doors, side extensions and front extensions and porches are each refused about 1 in 6 times, a little better than the council overall. Loft conversions and dormers, garden rooms and outbuildings, fences, walls and gates, and driveways and dropped kerbs all sit at about 1 in 5. Solar panels are the easiest at about 1 in 7.

The reasons recorded in refusals point to design and neighbours. Of 714 recent refusals we read, about six in ten mentioned the size, bulk or design of the work, and about four in ten the look of the street or area. About a third raised neighbours’ light, privacy or outlook, around one in seven parking, access or road safety, and about one in ten said not enough information had been supplied. Heritage came up in fewer than one refusal in ten. A scheme that keeps its bulk modest and respects the neighbours’ outlook should read better against that pattern.

Compared with the surrounding councils, Barnet refuses less often than Brent (about 1 in 4), about as often as Enfield and Harrow (both about 1 in 5), and more often than Haringey and Hertsmere (both about 1 in 6) and Camden (about 1 in 11).

Householder applications took a median of 8.0 weeks to decide between 2023 and 2025, with about 68% decided within 8 weeks. The busiest year was 2021, with 7,532 applications. In 2025 there were 5,858, against an average of about 6,300 a year in the three years before, and refusals ran at much the same level as before. Barnet has 16 conservation areas and 646 listed buildings.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.