Driveway installation in Harlow

Why is Harlow different for driveways?

Harlow was built as a new town after the Second World War, planned as a series of neighbourhoods with their own shops, separated by green wedges and linked by footpaths and cycle tracks. Many homes were designed for a time when few households had a car. Rows of houses often face onto a footpath or a green rather than a road, and parking was put into garage courts and shared bays behind or beside them.

That layout means a front driveway is not always possible. If your front door opens onto a path, there may be no way for a car to reach the house at all.

What should I check before I plan a drive?

• Who owns the land between your house and the road. A strip of grass, a verge or a path may belong to the council, a housing association or a management company rather than to you.
• Whether a car would have to cross a footpath or cycle track that is not part of the road.
• Whether your home is a flat or maisonette, which does not have the same permitted development rights as a house.
• Whether you hold a lease or tenancy that limits changes outside.

Who approves a dropped kerb in Harlow?

Harlow is in Essex, so the highway authority is Essex County Council, and applications are handled through Essex Highways. Harlow Council is the planning authority for the town itself; villages that share Harlow postcodes, such as Roydon and Matching, are in Epping Forest District. On an A, B or Class III road, Essex asks for planning permission before you apply for a crossing. Once a crossing is approved, Essex lets you choose a suitably qualified contractor to build it, and checks their accreditation and insurance before they work on the highway.

What about Old Harlow and the newer estates?

Old Harlow, the original village in CM17, has older houses and a conservation area, where walls, hedges and trees deserve care. On the eastern side, newer developments such as Church Langley and Newhall were built with more parking in mind, so the questions there are usually about widening a drive or replacing the developer's surface, and about any covenants in the deeds.

Which surfaces suit Harlow homes?

Block paving and resin-bound surfaces are popular for small frontages, and both can be made permeable. A front garden that is paved over needs to let water soak away, or to drain to a planted border, unless planning permission is granted. On heavy ground a soakaway may be needed.

How does an enquiry from Harlow work?

Send one form. With your consent, it goes to one local driveway installer who covers your postcode. If nobody covers it, we say so, and your details go no further.