Glossary – Page 18
Substantive definitions of planning terms with their policy source and a worked example.
Glossary articles – page 18
481 articlesThe retail impact test and the 2,500 square metre hurdle
Above the floorspace threshold, an out-of-centre proposal has to show it will not harm a defined centre. Here is what the test asks and how the arithmetic works.
Employment land safeguarding and what it stops you doing
Safeguarding policies resist the loss of employment floorspace and run on marketing evidence. Here are the tests, the Class MA gap, and the assessment that answers them.
Hot food takeaway: why it sits outside the use classes
Hot food for consumption off the premises is a use class of its own. Here is what that means for changing use, and the extraction, odour and health policy that decide the application.
Class E: what one use class now covers
Movements inside Class E are not development, so a shop can become a gym without permission. Here are the sub-classes, the uses that dropped out, and the conditions that still bite.
Change of use to C4: the HMO threshold explained
Three to six unrelated sharers is Class C4, seven or more is sui generis. Here is where the line comes from, how Class L works, and what councils ask for where an application is needed.
Article 4 direction: how permitted development is removed
Article 4 directions do not ban development, they remove the right to do it without permission. Here is how immediate and non-immediate directions work, and how to check whether one covers your property.
Curtilage listing: when your outbuilding is listed too
A barn, wall or coach house that has never been listed in its own right can still be protected. Here is how section 1(5) of the 1990 Act works, what the 1 July 1948 date fixes, and how to get a binding answer.
Established use and the certificate of lawfulness evidence
An established use is one the council can no longer act against. Proving it is a documentary exercise, and the burden of proof sits entirely with the applicant.
Agricultural units and the five hectare permitted line
Part 6 gives farmers permitted development rights, but only on an agricultural unit of the right size, and only for what is reasonably necessary for agriculture.
Agricultural occupancy condition and how to remove it
An agricultural occupancy condition limits who may live in a countryside dwelling. Removing it takes either a marketing exercise the council accepts or ten years of unchallenged breach.
Rural exception sites: affordable homes outside the boundary
A rural exception site allows affordable housing on land that would never be released for open market development, provided the local need is evidenced and the occupancy is tied for good.
Housing mix: how councils set unit size policy
Housing mix policy sets the bedroom split a council expects on your site. It comes from a housing needs assessment, and departing from it takes site-specific evidence rather than a preference.
Vacant building credit: the affordable housing offset
The vacant building credit deducts the floorspace of an existing vacant building from the affordable housing calculation. The fight is almost always about whether the building counts as vacant.
Residual land value: the arithmetic behind viability
Value of the finished scheme, less costs, less the developer's return, equals what the land can bear. The dispute is never about the formula, always about the inputs.
Fallback position in planning and the real prospect test
The fallback argument shifts the comparison from the existing situation to a lawful alternative. Its weight turns on whether that alternative has a real prospect of being implemented.
Enabling development: funding heritage repair with new build
Enabling development is an open departure from policy, granted to fund the repair of a heritage asset. It stands or falls on an evidenced conservation deficit and a quantum sized to it.
Non-designated heritage assets and the local list
Local listing creates no new consent requirement. It creates a balanced judgement on the scale of harm against the asset's significance, and that judgement turns on the evidence you supply.
Conservation area character appraisals and how officers use them
Heritage refusals in conservation areas almost always quote the council's character appraisal. Find your building on its map, read what the document says about character, and build the design case from its own words.
Design codes in planning: what they are and how binding
Design codes turn design policy into measurable parameters. Whether a code binds your application depends on how it was adopted, and on where your site sits on the coding plan.
Backland and tandem development explained
Backland and tandem schemes stand or fall on the drive past an existing house. Here is how officers assess disturbance, privacy and servicing.
Infill development: what counts as a genuine gap site
Whether your gap counts as infill is decided by the local plan and the settlement boundary. Here is how officers test plot width, spacing and access.
Amenity: the word councils use to refuse extensions
Amenity bundles privacy, outlook, daylight and disturbance into one refusal reason. Here is how councils test each strand and what evidence answers them.
Weight: how officers decide how much a policy carries
Weight is a planning judgement, not a rule. Here is how officers weigh adopted, emerging and supplementary policy, and what makes an objection count.
Gross value added: what GVA means in planning evidence
GVA is the headline number in most economic cases and the one officers trust least. Here is how to build it from sourced inputs and present it so it carries weight.
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