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Epping Forest: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Epping Forest District Council: Non-metropolitan district (lower tier), England, East of England; within the county of ESS. GOV.UK lists it as a district council, within Essex County Council. ONS code E07000072.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Epping Forest for 2026–27: £177.12 of a £2,277.21 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s table has no figures for Epping Forest for 2026–27: “RA return not received in time for publication.” The table

Epping Forest in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population
137,451 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age
42 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head
£36,421 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay
£751 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs
18.8% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count
3.0% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price
£525,719 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based)
11.3 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions
6.9 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband
88.1% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers
125.9 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses
9,080 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

54 seats in 2026. Run by: Conservatives, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Conservative and Unionist 19, Independent Loughton Residents Association 12, Reform UK 12, Liberal Democrats 6, Independent / Other 4, Labour Party 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 54 councillors, by ward
  • Barbara Cohen (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Buckhurst Hill East & Whitebridge
  • James Small (Reform UK) — Buckhurst Hill East & Whitebridge
  • Rose Brookes (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Buckhurst Hill East & Whitebridge
  • Bob Church (Conservative and Unionist) — Buckhurst Hill West
  • Ken Williamson (Conservative and Unionist) — Buckhurst Hill West
  • Smruti Patel (Conservative and Unionist) — Buckhurst Hill West
  • Craig McCann (Conservative and Unionist) — Chigwell with Lambourne
  • Darshan Sunger (Conservative and Unionist) — Chigwell with Lambourne
  • Kaz Rizvi (Conservative and Unionist) — Chigwell with Lambourne
  • Janet Whitehouse (Liberal Democrats) — Epping East
  • Jon Whitehouse (Liberal Democrats) — Epping East
  • Karen Batley (Reform UK) — Epping East
  • Holly Whitbread (Conservative and Unionist) — Epping West & Rural
  • Mandy George (Liberal Democrats) — Epping West & Rural
  • Razia Sharif (Liberal Democrats) — Epping West & Rural
  • Alan Lion (Conservative and Unionist) — Grange Hill
  • Jamie Braha (Conservative and Unionist) — Grange Hill
  • Lisa Morgan (Independent / Other) — Grange Hill
  • Louise Mead (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Fairmead
  • Natalie Wilding-Barrett (Reform UK) — Loughton Fairmead
  • Will Kauffman (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Fairmead
  • Michael Owen (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Forest
  • Richard Cohen (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Forest
  • Roger Baldwin (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Forest
  • Chidi Nweke (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Roding
  • Sheree Rackham (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton Roding
  • Stephen Murray (Independent / Other) — Loughton Roding
  • Chris Pond (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton St John's
  • Graham Wiskin (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton St John's
  • Howard Kauffman (Independent Loughton Residents Association) — Loughton St John's
  • Jay Gupta (Reform UK) — North Weald Bassett
  • Nigel Bedford (Conservative and Unionist) — North Weald Bassett
  • Tom Bromwich (Independent / Other) — North Weald Bassett
  • Annie O'Neill (Reform UK) — Ongar
  • Jaymey McIvor (Reform UK) — Ongar
  • Mary Dadd (Conservative and Unionist) — Ongar
  • Chris Whitbread (Conservative and Unionist) — Roydon & Lower Nazeing
  • Phil Dawkins (Reform UK) — Roydon & Lower Nazeing
  • Richard Bassett (Conservative and Unionist) — Roydon & Lower Nazeing
  • Karen McIvor (Reform UK) — Rural East
  • Raymond Balcombe (Conservative and Unionist) — Rural East
  • Richard Morgan (Conservative and Unionist) — Rural East
  • Clive Amos (Liberal Democrats) — Theydon Bois with Passingford
  • Geoff Shaw (Reform UK) — Theydon Bois with Passingford
  • Tippy Cornish (Liberal Democrats) — Theydon Bois with Passingford
  • Jeane Lea (Conservative and Unionist) — Waltham Abbey North
  • Martin Morris (Labour Party) — Waltham Abbey North
  • Paul Kelleher (Reform UK) — Waltham Abbey North
  • James Abbott (Reform UK) — Waltham Abbey South & Rural
  • Maria Markham (Independent / Other) — Waltham Abbey South & Rural
  • Steven Heather (Conservative and Unionist) — Waltham Abbey South & Rural
  • Jodie Lucas (Conservative and Unionist) — Waltham Abbey West
  • Joseph Parsons (Conservative and Unionist) — Waltham Abbey West
  • Josh Webb (Reform UK) — Waltham Abbey West

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.