Do you need permission for shutters in a Forest Gate conservation area?

The honest answer is that it depends on your street and your house, so do not take our word for it, or anyone else’s, without checking.

Newham lists three conservation areas in Forest Gate: Woodgrange Estate, Forest Gate Town Centre and Romford Road. Its page says you may need planning permission for changing windows or doors. Interior shutters fitted inside your own reveal are a different thing from changing the windows, because the windows themselves stay as they are. Even so, rules vary by street and by house, so ask Newham before you order if you have any doubt. Tell them the shutters sit inside the reveal and nothing on the outside changes.

On the Woodgrange Estate there is also an Article 4 Direction, served in May 1977. It brings extra controls on alterations to houses and on painting the outside. The council appraisal also says there are no statutory listed buildings in that conservation area. That appraisal was approved in 2006 though, so check current Newham information instead of relying on it.

If you own a flat, ask your freeholder or managing agent. If you rent, ask your landlord. Some leases and tenancy agreements say who looks after the windows and what can be attached to them, and a quick email saves a difficult conversation later.

Five home tests before you order shutters in Forest Gate

You need a tape measure, a pencil and your phone. Write every figure down and photograph the tape in place.

Test one: measure the reveal for Forest Gate shutters at three points

The reveal is the recess between the glass and the wall face of the room. Measure its depth at the top, the middle and the bottom, on both sides, from the wall face to the first thing that sticks out. That might be the glass, a sash bar, a lift or a catch. Write down the smallest figure. Do the same for width (top, middle, bottom) and height (left, middle, right).

Old plaster and brickwork move over well more than a century, so the three figures will often differ. That is normal. It tells us whether the shutters sit inside the reveal or fix to the wall around it, and where the frame needs to be built out to look straight.

Test two: does the sash need to open behind your Forest Gate shutters?

Stand at the window and open it the way you usually do. Notice where your hands go, how far the sash travels and where the catch sits. Do you open the bottom sash, the top sash, or both? Is any sash painted shut or never touched?

Tell us all of it. If you open the window daily, the layout is planned so the panels fold back clear of your hands. If the sash never opens, we can build the shutters without that constraint.

Test three: handles, tilt rods and radiators near Forest Gate window shutters

The tilt rod is the slim rod in the middle of a panel that you push to turn the louvres. It needs room to move. Look at what stands near the window: sash catches, window stays, a radiator under the sill, a deep sill, a curtain pole or a pelmet.

Panels also need space to swing into the room and to fold back. A radiator or a wide sill changes where hinges go and how far a panel opens. Take a photo of the whole window from two metres back as well as close-ups of each obstacle.

Test four: which louvre size for which Forest Gate window shutters?

As a rough guide, which we confirm at your window:

• 47 mm suits small panes and short panels, such as a half-height set.
• 63 mm is a middle size that works on many ordinary sashes.
• 89 mm suits taller panels and gives a clearer view when open.
• 114 mm is the boldest, with the fewest slat lines, and looks best on large, tall windows such as a tall front bay.

To see it, cut card strips 63 mm and 114 mm wide. Tape a few of each in a column on the glass, step back to the middle of the room and look. Then look at the window from the pavement if you can. The size that looks calm from both places is usually the right one.

We supply shutters in basswood and in PVC (faux wood). Basswood suits living rooms and bedrooms. PVC suits kitchens and bathrooms, where steam and splashes are part of the day.

Test five: full height or tier on tier shutters on your Forest Gate sash?

Full height shutters run from sill to top in one panel. On a tall window we add a mid-rail, a horizontal bar that lets you tilt the upper and lower louvres separately. Tier on tier shutters are two separate panels, one above the other, so you can open the top, close the bottom and fold either away on its own.

Look at your sash and find the meeting rail, the bar where the two sashes overlap. Our own writing on the subject notes that the horizontal split of tier on tier mirrors a sash window’s upper and lower pane, so the shutter can follow a line your eye already expects. Our comparison of full height and tier on tier shutters goes through the joinery and the choice in more detail.

Shutters for Woodgrange Estate villas and terraces in Forest Gate

A double-fronted house has a window on each side of the front door. That can mean two bays on the ground floor and two sashes above, all facing the street. Make the front match. The same style, the same louvre size and the same finish on both sides of the door makes a front that looks planned, even if the rooms behind are used very differently.

For ground floor bays, tier on tier is a good fit because the lower panels give privacy while the upper panels let daylight in. Upstairs, taller sashes often suit full height shutters with a mid-rail. In a terrace one window wide, the front room is narrow and the bay may be the only window. Think about the whole wall you will see when the shutters are open, not just the glass.

Bedrooms need one honest word. Shutters shut out most light but not all of it, because louvres and frames leave small gaps. If you need a very dark room for sleep, tell us at the visit and we will talk through the options.

Shutters for the artisan terraces around Odessa, Field and Tower Hamlets Roads, Forest Gate

Newham’s appraisal of the Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation Area says artisan’s dwellings and smaller homes for labourers were built along Odessa, Field and Tower Hamlets Roads. The area was first designated in 1999 and extended to its present boundaries on 10 December 2001. Check with Newham whether your street sits inside it.

These are smaller houses than the Woodgrange villas, so the windows and rooms are usually smaller too. If your front room looks straight onto the pavement, cafe style shutters fitted to the lower half of the window give privacy at eye level and keep the top of the glass open to the daylight. Tier on tier gives you the same privacy and lets you close the top panels later too.

On smaller windows, narrow louvres of 47 or 63 mm usually sit better. Wide ones can look heavy.

Shutters for Forest Gate flats above Woodgrange Road shops and near the station

Newham’s appraisal describes Woodgrange Road as having a busy shopping frontage of three storeys. Some homes sit above the shops. Their windows face a main road, with people on the pavement and across the street, so privacy and street noise are the two things people want help with.

Shutters can take the edge off street noise and give you a firm line of privacy. They will not silence a main road, and we would not tell you they do. Full height shutters suit a flat window that is tall and plain. Plenty of flats have simpler windows than a Victorian bay, so the layout is often simpler too, but we check each one.

Forest Gate station is on the Elizabeth line, in zone 3. If you leave early for the train, or sleep after a night shift, light control at the hours you sleep matters more than looks. Tell us when you need the room dark.

Before you order, check with your landlord, freeholder or managing agent. Some leases cover windows and how the building looks from outside, and it is better to ask first than to explain after.

Shutter terms you will hear at a Forest Gate visit

These are the terms you will hear at a visit.

Canted bay

A bay window with flat faces set at angles, rather than a curve. Common on Woodgrange houses.

Reveal

The recess between the window glass and the wall face inside the room. Inside mount shutters sit in it.

Inside mount

Shutters fitted within the reveal, so the frame sits inside the window recess and the wall around it stays clear.

Louvre

One of the slats you tilt to let in light or close off the view.

Mid-rail

A horizontal bar across a panel that lets you tilt the upper and lower louvres separately.

T-post

An upright bar in the frame that panels hinge from. We use one where a wide window needs more than one set of panels.

What we check at your Forest Gate window before we order your shutters

Measuring is free and there is no call-out charge. This is what we work through at your window:

• The reveal depth, width and height at three points each.
• Whether the opening is square, by comparing the diagonals.
• Where the sash lifts, catches and meeting rail sit, and how far the sash travels.
• What sits close to the window: radiators, pipes, deep sills, curtain poles.
• The angle and width of every face of a bay, measured one at a time.
• Which way the window faces and what it looks onto, whether that is a terrace opposite or the open edge of Wanstead Flats.
• How you use the room: when you need light, when you need privacy, when you need dark.
• Whether a mid-rail, tier on tier or half-height set suits the glass and your day.

We give you a free on-site quotation after that. The quote is non-binding, so you can think it over.

Are shutters cord free for Forest Gate homes with small children?

BS EN 13120 is the British standard for internal blinds and it applies to plantation shutters. The standard louvre tilt mechanism used on most full height and tier on tier shutters is cord free. Some sliding, bi-fold or cafe style set-ups use a cord or chain, depending on the specific product. Where a cord or chain exists, the bottom of an accessible loop needs to sit at least 1.5 m from the floor, or 60 cm if a breakaway device is fitted.

So the answer depends on the style you pick. Ask us which mechanism your set-up uses and we will tell you at the visit. Our page on how shutters meet the BS EN 13120 child safety rules explains the standard in full.

When blinds beat shutters in a Forest Gate house

Shutters are not the answer to every window. A shallow reveal can make blinds the neater choice. A back door that you use all day often does better with a vertical blind or a roller than with panels that swing. Some people want a pattern or a soft fabric that shutters cannot give.

A mixed house is common. Shutters on the front bays, where the street can see in and the look from outside matters most, and a Roman or vertical blind on the rear doors and the small bathroom window. A Google review from a Romford customer (Zeba Ehsan) describes that kind of split: “Had wooden shutters installed on both my bay windows in Romford, also had verticals installed on my back doors”. It is a Romford home, but the same mix of bays and back doors turns up in many Forest Gate houses. For a fuller view of the trade-offs, read our comparison of plantation shutters and blinds. You can also see the finished look on our before and after photos.

Book a free measuring visit for shutters in Forest Gate E7

Call us on 07852 257 307 or email info@londonblinds4u.co.uk. We are open Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm. You can also use our contact page.

We come to you from our base in Dagenham. Measuring and fitting are free, with no call-out charge. If you send photos of each window and your three reveal depths first, we can tell you which styles are worth looking at before we arrive. If you are comparing areas, East Ham is also in Newham and has its own page: shutters in East Ham.

Shutters questions from Forest Gate homes

Q: How long do shutters last in a Forest Gate home?

Our cost and suitability guide says shutters commonly last twenty years or more with basic care, against around five to ten years for a well made blind. Real life varies. A sunny bay, a steamy bathroom and a busy family all age things at different speeds.

Q: How do I clean shutters in a Forest Gate house?

Dust the louvres with a soft cloth or a duster, tilting them open and shut so you reach both sides. For marks, use a lightly damp cloth and dry it straight away. Do not soak basswood. PVC (faux wood) copes better with damp, which is why we suggest it for kitchens and bathrooms.

Q: How much do shutters cost for a Forest Gate bay window?

It depends on the size of each window, the style, the material and the louvre size, so we give a free on-site quotation after measuring rather than a figure from a list. For a typical window, our cost guide puts shutters at around two to four times the cost of a comparable blind, which is a fair way to compare before you ask for a quote. The quote is non-binding.

Q: Do shutters keep the heat in a Forest Gate Victorian house?

They add a layer at the window. Our shutters pages list warmth in winter and coolness in summer among the benefits, and full height shutters help reduce draughts. They do not replace good glazing or loft insulation, but they help with how the room feels.

Q: How much room do open shutters take up in a Forest Gate bay?

The panels fold back against the sides of the opening, so they take a strip of the reveal on each side even when open. How wide that strip is depends on the louvre size, the number of panels and the depth of the reveal. In a bay, each face is planned on its own, and at the visit we check that the folded panels clear the sill, any radiator and the sash.

Q: Are plantation shutters worth it for a Forest Gate terrace?

If you plan to stay in the house, shutters are a long-term fit for a bay or sash window, and they leave the outside alone. If you want something quick and short-term, blinds may suit better. Our plantation shutters and blinds comparison, linked above, sets cost and lifespan side by side.