A small boundary with detailed controls
At about 12.8 hectares the study area is small: the Winchmore Hill Green conservation area, designated in 1968, and the far smaller Vicars Moor Lane conservation area, designated in 1970. Every list entry inside the line is Grade II, Grovelands Park adjoins it, and the statistical areas used for the housing figures reach well past both designations because none lies mainly within them.
With a boundary this tight, the first question about any address is whether it falls inside at all; the second is whether Enfield's Article 4 schedule names it. Borough-wide records sit in the Enfield guide, and the sections below take each local record in turn, ending with what it means for an inspection.
The records, one by one
Every statement below links to the public record it comes from; sources were re-checked on .
Two designations and their 2015 documents
Enfield's two designations appear on planning.data.gov.uk as Winchmore Hill Green, reference CA09, about 11.6 hectares and designated in 1968, and Vicars Moor Lane, reference CA10, about 1.2 hectares and designated in 1970.
A joint character appraisal for the two areas, approved in February 2015, treats Vicars Moor Lane as character area D and illustrates individual houses there, among them a doorcase detail at number 106.
Companion management proposals, approved the same month, describe their purpose as a framework for handling change in Enfield's conservation areas and for their conservation and enhancement, so that the qualities behind each designation are kept.
For an owner the appraisal is chiefly a description of what the council treats as characteristic, which is what a proposed change to a door, window or boundary would be weighed against.
Article 4: a schedule of addresses
Enfield's conservation area page for the green links Article 4 Directions 2006, which it says cover eleven conservation areas, Vicar's Moor Lane and Winchmore Hill among them.
The 2006 direction lists the addresses affected in the Winchmore Hill Green conservation area and withdraws specified classes of permitted development for elevations facing or visible from a highway or open space.
Its schedule names properties one by one, such as 17 and 18 Barber Close and 86 and 88 Broad Walk, so whether a house is covered is read from the direction rather than assumed from the boundary.
On planning.data.gov.uk the polygon named Winchmore Hill covers 25.3% of the study area and the one named Vicars Moor Lane 4.9%, consistent with a direction that applies to named addresses rather than every plot.
At a scheduled address, any alteration to an elevation facing a road or open space that went ahead without planning permission is something to put to the seller and test against the schedule.
Grade II entries and the registered park
The NHLE dataset returns fifteen list entries within the two boundaries, every one of them Grade II.
That grade still brings listed building consent for works affecting a building's character, and an entry can take in outbuildings, walls or railings as well as the main house.
Grovelands Park, registered at Grade II* as a park and garden, adjoins the study area along its edge rather than overlapping it.
Registration adds weight to the park's setting when planning applications are decided without creating a consent of its own, so a proposal visible from the park is drawn up with the register entry in mind.
Clay, gravel and flood zones
London Clay Formation is the bedrock at each of five sample points in British Geological Survey 1:50,000 bedrock and superficial mapping, with sand and gravel of the Dollis Hill Gravel Member above it at three points and no superficial deposit recorded at the other two.
Those two points matter most: where the BGS map shows clay close to the surface, its seasonal shrinkage and swelling, and the pull of tree roots, are the first explanation tested when a house has cracked.
Where gravel is mapped, it drains freely but can lose fine material to a leaking drain, so drainage records are asked for alongside the geology viewer's reading.
Flood Zone 2 takes in under 0.1% of the boundary's area, as does Flood Zone 3, in Environment Agency flood mapping for planning use, and both shares come from rivers.
Because those planning zones leave defences out of account and do not rate individual homes, the address is also put through GOV.UK's long-term flood risk check, which maps surface water too.
Three overlapping statistical areas
No LSOA has half its area inside so small a boundary, so the three that overlap it most, E01001567, E01001568 and E01001569, are used; across them the VOA's 2025 stock-of-properties tables count about 2,020 dwellings, each figure rounded to the nearest 10.
Those VOA counts date 54.5% of dwellings to 1919-1939, 12.9% to 1900-1918, 9.9% to 1945-1972, 9.4% to before 1900, 7.9% to 1973-1999 and 3.5% to 2000 or later.
Semi-detached houses are the largest type at 41.6% in the VOA type table, followed by flats or maisonettes at 28.7%, detached houses at 16.8%, terraced houses at 10.4% and bungalows at 2.0%.
Council tax bands F to H hold 60.9% of the dwellings, with 29.2% in band G, 27.2% in band F and 4.5% in band H, according to the band counts.
These LSOAs reach well beyond the two designations, so the VOA figures describe the surrounding suburb and may not match the houses inside the conservation areas.
Published guides for N21
Every guide listed here covers a single type of instruction for homes on or near the green and Vicars Moor Lane, and the practice-wide pages describe each service in general terms.
Districts around the green
Neighbouring guides deal with Southgate, Palmers Green, Grange Park and Bush Hill Park, while the Enfield page brings the borough's districts together.
Questions owners raise about the two conservation areas
How can I tell whether the Article 4 direction names my house?
Read the schedule in Enfield's 2006 Article 4 direction, which lists affected addresses in the green's conservation area individually, such as 17 and 18 Barber Close. If the address appears, specified permitted development rights are withdrawn for elevations facing or visible from a highway or open space.
Is any building inside the line listed at Grade II* or Grade I?
None is. The NHLE data returns 15 list entries inside the two conservation areas, every one at Grade II. Listing at that grade still controls internal and external works that affect character, so the entry text is read for any listed address.
Does Grovelands Park affect what can be built nearby?
Grovelands Park is on Historic England's register of parks and gardens at Grade II*, and it adjoins the study area. Registration brings no separate consent, but the park's setting is weighed when nearby planning applications are decided, so views from the park are considered in any design.
Is the ground clay or gravel under the green?
Both appear. British Geological Survey mapping at 1:50,000 gives London Clay as bedrock everywhere it was sampled, five points in all, with Dollis Hill Gravel above it at three and no superficial deposit at two. Clay near the surface shrinks and swells, so trees and drains are checked wherever cracking is reported.
How reliable are the housing figures for the conservation areas?
They are approximate. The three LSOAs, E01001567, E01001568 and E01001569, are those overlapping most, and none lies mainly inside the boundary. The VOA 2025 counts of about 2,020 dwellings, 54.5% from 1919-1939, describe the wider suburb more than the green.
What should I send before an inspection of a house on the green?
The address, any listed building or planning consents, Enfield correspondence about the Article 4 direction, and records of window, door, roof or boundary changes. A note of large trees and any drainage repairs helps too, since the mapped clay and gravel respond differently to both.
How we work on an instruction
Hampstead Chartered Surveyors is a RICS-regulated firm (RICS Regulated Firm No. 923064) working from its registered Hampstead NW3 office. The firm does not claim premises, staff or completed instructions in an individual locality, and it does not treat a neighbourhood name as evidence about a particular building.
An instruction starts with the full address, the decision the client faces and the documents already available, such as leases, drawings, notices or earlier reports. The scope, fee and inspection date are confirmed in writing only after that review, and access to roofs, lofts, basements or common parts is agreed before the visit.
Reports include RICS Level 2 and Level 3 home surveys, building and defect investigations, party wall appointments, reinstatement cost assessments, contract administration and schedules of condition. Each report records what was inspected, what could not be seen and what further investigation the evidence supports.
Public datasets such as the conservation-area register, the National Heritage List for England, British Geological Survey mapping, the Environment Agency flood map and Valuation Office Agency housing statistics describe areas rather than individual properties. They frame questions before an inspection; they never replace it.
Reviewed by Savas Bulduk BSc (Hons) MRICS, Director & Chartered Building Surveyor at Hampstead Chartered Surveyors & Building Consultancy. Last reviewed: . Our people · RICS firm record