Planning applications in Brentwood

Planning in Brentwood

Brentwood Borough Council has handled more than 50,000 planning applications since 1989, and the long-run record is stricter than the national picture: about 1 in 5 decided applications was refused, compared with about 1 in 7 across the areas we cover. Basildon and Havering, both neighbours, refuse about 1 in 6, so Brentwood sits a little above them.

The recent picture is gentler. In 2025 about 1 in 9 decided applications was refused, against about 1 in 7 in the three years before, so the council has been refusing less often lately. There were 1,437 applications in 2025, a little below the average of 1,512 a year over the three years before, and well short of the busiest year, 2021, which had 2,027.

Rear extensions are the biggest category by some distance, with more than 16,000 applications, and about 1 in 6 was refused. Side extensions and garden rooms and outbuildings are each refused about 1 in 5 times, and front extensions and porches about 1 in 6. All of these are refused more often than nationally. Loft conversions and dormers are refused about 1 in 5 times, the same as the national rate. The hardest work to get through is at the edges of the property: fences, walls and gates, and driveways and dropped kerbs, are each refused about 1 in 4 times.

The reasons for refusal here lean towards design. Of 686 recent refusals we read, about two in three mentioned size, bulk or design, and almost six in ten the look of the street or area. About a quarter raised neighbours’ light, privacy or outlook. Green belt came up in about one in five refusals, and heritage in just under one in five, which is worth knowing if your home sits near the edge of town or an older part of it.

For householder applications, the median decision took 8.1 weeks across 2023 to 2025, and about half were decided within 8 weeks.

Brentwood has 13 conservation areas and 522 listed buildings. If you live in an older property, check its status before you plan anything visible from the street.

Figures in this section as of 9 October 2026.