Council Guides – Page 6
Sourced local facts for individual councils: local plans, validation lists, CIL, Article 4 and SPDs.
Council Guides articles – page 6
140 articlesClass Q barn conversion: the tests councils apply
Class Q gives a barn a route to homes through prior approval, but the agricultural use test and the structural capability test decide most applications. Here is what councils actually look for.
Class MA office to residential: the prior approval evidence
Class MA turns Class E buildings into homes without a full application, but only if the prior approval submission answers the Order's fixed list of matters. Here is the evidence councils expect and the traps that cause refusals.
Section 106 heads of terms on a nine-unit scheme
Nine homes sits one unit below the major threshold, which narrows what a council can ask for. Here is the realistic shape of the heads of terms, the monitoring fee, and how to stop the deed delaying your decision notice.
Tree Preservation Orders: how to check and apply for works
Felling a protected tree without consent is a criminal offence carrying an unlimited fine. Here is how to check for an Order, apply for works, use the exemptions safely and evidence the application.
Local plan policy references to quote for a rear extension
Section 38(6) makes the development plan the legal test. Quoting the right three policies and answering them with dimensions does most of the officer's work.
Your council's SFRA: what it means for your site
The flood map gives you a zone. Your council's strategic flood risk assessment gives you the local modelling, the functional floodplain, the critical drainage areas and the sequential test evidence.
Conservation area appraisals: using them to justify your design
The council wrote the appraisal and will read your application against it. The useful material sits past the historical section, in the townscape analysis and the negative features.
Planning fees: working out what you owe before you submit
Councils cannot vary the national fee schedule, but the category, the measurement basis and the date of the schedule all change what you pay. Here is how to work it out before you submit.
Basement planning policy: what London boroughs require
There is no basement policy in the London Plan. The controls come from borough local plans and basement SPDs, and they shape the excavation before they shape the design.
How to object to a neighbour's planning application
An objection counts when it raises a material consideration, ties it to an adopted policy and gives the officer evidence. Here is what is material, what is not, and how to write the letter.
SANG checks to make before you buy land
Zone of influence boundaries live in council strategy documents, not national datasets. Three questions answered before exchange will tell you whether a plot is buildable.
Planning committee or delegated decision: how yours is decided
Most applications are decided by officers under delegated powers. Here is where the scheme of delegation lives, what pushes a case to committee, and how call-in and public speaking actually work.
Nutrient neutrality catchments: what your council will ask for
In affected catchments a council cannot grant permission for new overnight accommodation until a nutrient budget shows neutrality. Here is what that means for a small site.
Green Belt councils: how to plan an extension that will pass
In the Green Belt an extension is acceptable in principle only if it is not a disproportionate addition to the original building. This explains how councils measure that, what happens to outbuildings, and what a Planning Statement must show.
Householder design guide SPDs: what officers check line by line
A householder design guide SPD is the checklist a case officer runs against your extension drawings. This is what each check means, how to draw it, and how to turn the guide into a design justification the officer can accept.
Parking standards SPDs: how to evidence parking provision
Parking provision is judged against the adopted local plan policy and the parking standards SPD sitting under it. Here is how to find the right document, apply the correct zone, and build the survey evidence that answers a highway objection.
How to read a council validation checklist before you apply
Validation is an administrative test, not a planning judgement. Here is how to read a local validation checklist, work out which items are lawfully required, and stop an application being held at registration.
HMO Article 4 directions: how to check if your street is covered
Class L of the GPDO lets a C3 dwellinghouse become a small HMO without planning permission, unless an Article 4 direction has removed it. Here is how to find the direction, read its boundary and work out what you must apply for.
Householder Article 4 directions in conservation areas explained
An Article 4 direction takes away permitted development rights in a defined area, so work that would be permitted elsewhere needs a planning application. Here is how to read one, what it usually covers, and why the application is often fee-free.
Pre-application advice: what council fee bands buy you
Pre-application advice is a discretionary service councils charge for under their own fee schedules. Here is how the bands are usually structured, what the written response will and will not commit to, and how to brief an enquiry so the answer is worth having.
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