Comparisons – Page 7
Side-by-side explanations of reports, consents and application types that people confuse.
Comparisons articles – page 7
266 articlesSelf-build levy exemption or the annexe exemption
Two Community Infrastructure Levy exemptions, two sets of conditions, and one shared trap. Here is how the self-build and residential annexe exemptions differ and where each one is lost.
Ordinary watercourse consent or an environmental permit
One fact decides which regime applies: whether the channel is a designated main river. Planning permission authorises neither consent, and the sequence can trap you.
Planning contravention notice or requisition for information
One notice asks what you are doing on the land. The other asks only who owns it. Both carry criminal penalties for ignoring them, and neither should be answered in a hurry.
Section 96A amendment or a section 73 application
A non-material amendment adjusts an existing permission. A variation of conditions creates a fresh permission that may fall outside the original section 106 agreement.
Reserved matters or discharge of conditions: which applies
Reserved matters and condition discharge use the same portal and carry different statutory clocks. One lapses an outline permission if you miss it; the other does not.
Circular Economy Statement or a waste management document
Circular economy reporting tracks material flows across decades; waste documents manage the skips and the bin store. Here is which one your condition will name.
Planning appeal or statutory challenge in the High Court
An appeal to the Planning Inspectorate reconsiders the merits of a proposal. A statutory challenge under section 288 tests whether the decision was lawful, within six weeks. The two routes solve different problems.
TPO consent or a conservation area tree notice
Two different procedures protect trees, and householders regularly use the wrong one. This compares an application for consent under a tree preservation order with the six week notice for conservation area trees.
Householder or full application: which to submit
Choosing the wrong application type costs weeks. This sets out what the householder route covers, what falls outside it, and why the appeal deadlines differ so sharply.
Whole Life Carbon Assessment or BREEAM Pre-Assessment
A carbon assessment and a BREEAM pre-assessment answer different policy questions. This compares what each measures, who is qualified to prepare it, and how councils secure them by condition.
LVIA or TVIA: landscape and townscape compared
Both follow the same guidelines and assess visual effects the same way. The difference is the character baseline, and edge of settlement sites usually need both.
Building recording or archaeological field evaluation
One records what you are about to lose, the other tells you what is buried before the council decides. The triggers, the timing and who is competent to do each.
Part O compliance or a CIBSE TM59 assessment
Part O offers a simplified method or dynamic modelling to TM59. The choice belongs at concept stage, because the simplified route limits how much glass you can draw.
Green Infrastructure Plan or Landscape Strategy
A green infrastructure plan answers a policy question about the network. A landscape strategy tells the contractor what to plant and the council what to enforce.
Nutrient neutrality or water neutrality: different problems
Two constraints that sound alike and behave nothing alike. One counts kilograms of nitrogen reaching a protected site, the other counts litres taken out of a supply zone.
Local Development Order or a permitted development right
Both grant planning permission without an application. One is written by the Secretary of State for the whole of England, the other by your council for a named site.
Part 16 prior approval or full permission for a mast
Most mobile masts are built under Part 16 of the GPDO 2015, where the council can only consider siting and appearance. Step outside the class and the whole scheme is up for assessment.
Neighbourhood plan or supplementary document: which wins
Section 38(6) treats a made neighbourhood plan as development plan policy and a supplementary document as one consideration among many. Here is how that plays out.
Judicial review or a statutory challenge to a decision
Who made the decision determines which challenge you bring. Both run to a six week limit, both test legality rather than planning merits, and both carry costs risk.
Appealing a refusal or submitting a fresh application
An appeal argues the council was wrong. A revised application accepts the scheme was. Here is how to read a refusal, apply the deadlines and choose between them.
Securing something by condition or by planning obligation
Conditions and section 106 obligations do different work. Payments cannot be conditioned, off-site works often can through a negative condition, and the tests differ.
Statement of community involvement: the council's or yours
One document sets the council's own policy on consultation under the 2004 Act. The other reports what an applicant did and what changed. Mixing them up wastes weeks.
Advertisement consent or planning permission for a sign
Most shop signs need advertisement consent rather than planning permission, and the council can only consider amenity and public safety. Listed buildings bring a third consent.
Tree Preservation Order consent or a section 211 notice
An Order means an application and a decision you can appeal. A conservation area tree means six weeks notice and, if the council does nothing, you may proceed.
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