Dropped kerbs

A dropped kerb is the sloped area where the vehicle crosses from the road to the front of the property.

Often it is a driveway with a dropped kerb. If you'd like to build a dropped kerb, you must contact us to get permission.

If you don’t get permission to build a dropped kerb, you may be fined up to £1,000.

For further information please see our Vehicle crossover policy (PDF), Vehicle crossover application guidance (PDF)  and frequently asked questions (PDF).

As the Highways Authority, we deal with requests to have a vehicle crossover (dropped kerb) installed on the road by your property.

The application fee for dropped kerbs/ vehicle crossings is £390. This is non-refundable.

The application fee is paid through a payment link during the application process and should not be paid through any other method.

To apply for a dropped kerb/ vehicle crossing you must own the property.

If you are a:

• council tenant or leaseholder
• Housing Association tenant
• in private rented accommodation

You must get consent from the appropriate Housing Section, Estate Management or landlord. 

Ask them to send a letter of consent to Highways.Admin@walthamforest.gov.uk with details of the property the request relates to.

You’ll have to pay a processing fee and the costs of installing the dropped kerb.

Fee for processing applications

• £390 which is non-refundable

This covers costs of processing the application and of providing the price for the work required.

You may have to pay additional fees if planning permission is required. See the Planning Portal for details.

If approved, we'll give you a quotation for the works. These are charged at £490 per square metre. You'll also be charged for adjusting parking bays, and changes to the associated Traffic Management Order if in a CPZ. This includes moving any lamp columns or replacing street trees etc.

You must pay costs in one full payment before work starts, this includes if you've been given a written quotation for the works. Remember, quotations are only valid for 3 months.

We will ensure that all works in connection with the dropped kerb are properly carried out.

Payment for a crossing doesn’t mean that you’ve bought the land that the dropped kerb goes over, this remains our responsibility.

Costs for any works required on the property frontage, to ensure compliance with the Vehicle Crossover Policy, are the responsibility of the applicant and will not be subsidised or paid for by the council.

If you want to drive a car onto your property, the depth of the front garden needs to be 4.8m.

All applicants will have to enter into a conditional legal agreement with us before any agreed dropped kerb can be constructed.

See the Vehicle crossover legal agreement (PDF)

Planning permission isn’t usually required for this type of work, but will be if:

• the property has the frontage directly onto a classified road. See a list of classified roads (PDF)
• the property is a listed building
• the property is other than a house for a single-family, for example, a flat or maisonette 
• the property is in a conservation area
• the proposed hard standing has more than 5m2 of non-permeable surface

More information on planning permission is on our planning pages.

In most cases, we’ll advise you whether planning permission is needed when you apply and send you the appropriate forms.

If you think a dropped kerb or vehicle crossover has been built without our permission.

Report it to the Neighbourhoods Teams

If you drive your vehicle over the kerbed paving or grass verge without a properly constructed crossover, you can damage the footway or verge. If you continue to do so you’ll be served with a formal notice.

If you don’t comply with a formal notice you may be fined up to £1,000. We will also charge you for any works we need to carry out. 

Blocking or obstructing any dropped kerb is against the law, and our civil enforcement officers can issue a penalty. Once a penalty's been issued, the vehicle may be towed away.

A vehicle doesn’t have to be fully blocked to be committing a parking violation.

If any part of a vehicle is parked adjacent to the fully flat section of a dropped kerb, then a PCN can be issued. This includes overhang from a bonnet or boot.  We cannot act if the vehicle is only parked next to the sloping or tapered part of a dropped kerb.

To report a vehicle blocking a dropped kerb, call our parking enforcement contractors NSL. Please leave your name, contact number, and the details of the location and vehicle.

NSL can be contacted on:

• 0203 092 0112 (option 4) Monday to Saturday 6.30am to 10pm and Sunday 9am to 5pm

Outside these hours, you can call the police to deal with the issue as an obstruction.