Builders and plumbers in Enfield, EN1

Enfield’s Core Strategy of 2010 names Enfield Town as the borough’s Major Centre. It is to remain the main destination for comparison shopping and the preferred location for new retail, leisure and cultural development. The draft Local Plan, consulted on in March 2024, keeps Enfield Town at the top of its hierarchy of centres. That plan is still at examination, so the Core Strategy and the Development Management Document of 2014 remain part of the adopted plan.

A busy centre changes the brief for building work. A flat above a shop may share its roof and its drainage with the business below. Deliveries, customers and residents all use the same pavements. Before any date is fixed, we record the use of each floor, who holds each lease and who can agree access. Policy is then read against the exact address, using whichever plan is in force at the time.

Enfield’s conservation area appraisal records a weekly market granted in 1303. The market place itself was established in 1632. The Town keeps its medieval street pattern and its focus on market and church. St Andrew’s Church, the King’s Head, the bank, Market Chambers and the market house enclose the space. The later Burleigh Gardens scheme of shops and flats stands between the Market and Church Street.

That mix means neighbouring frontages can be centuries apart in age. A cornice, a hanging sign and a sash window may sit side by side, each needing a different repair. We survey the elevation from the pavement and from the upper floors before proposing anything. Where a building is listed, listed building consent is a separate step from planning permission. A new shopfront or sign may need planning permission and advertisement consent, so both are confirmed for the property before design begins.

Enfield has 22 conservation areas, and the one covering the old town was assembled in stages. Its first part, Gentleman’s Row and its surroundings, was designated in October 1968. That area was enlarged in 1972 to become the Enfield Town Conservation Area, then extended again in 1983 and 1984. The council’s page for the area carries the appraisal, the management proposals and the Article 4 directions and maps.

A boundary drawn in several steps has edges that are easy to misjudge. It can run between neighbouring houses on a single road. For that reason we never treat the name of the town as proof of status. We check the council’s map for the exact address, then Historic England’s National Heritage List for any listing. St Andrew’s Church, for example, is listed at Grade II* and has origins in the twelfth century. Each result changes what counts as a repair and what needs consent.

Older guidance about Enfield Town refers to several Article 4 directions made for different parts of the conservation area. Enfield’s page on Article 4 in conservation areas records a change. On 8 January 2018 the Article 4(2) directions made in 2006 were cancelled for this conservation area. They were replaced by the 2017 Enfield Town Conservation Area Article 4(1) Direction. The council’s page for the area still lists a 2003 Article 4(1) direction beside it.

An Article 4 direction removes permitted development rights, so a change that is otherwise allowed may need planning permission. A leaflet, a sale pack or a neighbour’s memory may still describe the older rules. We therefore read each direction the council lists for the area before advising on any external change to a house or shop. Enfield also uses Article 4 to control the change from a dwelling house to a house in multiple occupation. Whether that control reaches a particular property is confirmed from the council’s records, not assumed.

The appraisal describes housing of several ages close to the centre. East of Chase Side lies a dense hinterland built from the early eighteenth century onwards. Raleigh, Sydney and Essex Roads form a compact sub-area built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was first known as Enfield New Town. The appraisal ties the wider suburban change to the coming of suburban railways.

Where early brickwork, lime mortar or timber sashes survive, they behave differently from modern materials. A damp wall is traced to its source, whether a gutter, a raised path or failed pointing, before any plaster is removed. Sound historic fabric is kept, and replacements are matched by measurement. For an extension or loft, the measured survey comes first, then structure, drainage and services. Building Regulations approval is a separate process from planning permission, and each is listed as its own line in the written scope.

The New River, built between 1604 and 1613, runs through the Enfield Town conservation area. Enfield’s strategic flood risk assessment says Saddlers Mill Stream rises out of the sewerage system beneath Enfield Town. It then runs south-east for several kilometres to Salmons Brook, and most of its course is culverted. The same report notes that Enfield has the greatest length of watercourses of any London borough.

Responsibility for flooding is divided. Enfield acts as lead local flood authority for surface water runoff and groundwater, while the Environment Agency deals with flooding from main rivers. For a householder, the practical point is to understand drainage before digging. We lift covers, trace runs and note any unexplained water before a new floor, extension or soakaway is designed. Where a culvert or watercourse may be close, the right authority is identified early and the finding is recorded in the scope.

Transport for London lists Enfield Town station on the London Overground Weaver line. Its site places Enfield Chase station in Zone 5, served by Great Northern and Thameslink. Enfield runs controlled parking zones marked by yellow lines, with signs at each entrance showing the restricted hours. A van that may stop on one street can be restricted on the next.

Anything placed on the highway needs permission from the body that manages it. A skip needs a licence for its specified site, and that licence lasts for a fixed period unless extended. Scaffolding, hoarding and projections need a separate licence, which can also be extended. On a longer project we renew each licence before it lapses. We also confirm which body manages the road outside the frontage, because a main road may carry different loading rules. Where a flat sits above a shop, deliveries are agreed with the business below as well.

Enfield’s tree guidance states that all trees within a conservation area are protected, apart from stated exemptions. It is a criminal offence to prune, fell or damage a protected tree unless the work is exempt. Where a garden tree stands near the work, we give the council notice when it is required. Roots are then allowed for in the design of foundations and drainage.

Other consents run alongside the tree check. For a flat, the lease is read and the freeholder’s consent obtained where the lease requires it. Work on or near a shared wall may call for notice under the Party Wall etc. Act. Once every consent is identified, the written scope is agreed. The work is then carried out in-house by Hampstead Renovations or Hampstead Maintenance, not passed to outside firms. At handover the file holds decisions, licences, test sheets and photographs of hidden work, kept against the address.