Glossary – Page 9
Substantive definitions of planning terms with their policy source and a worked example.
Glossary articles – page 9
485 articlesStopping up and diversion orders under section 247
Planning permission does not touch public highway rights. Here is how section 247 and section 257 orders work, who makes them, and how long they take.
Listed building enforcement notices and unauthorised works
There is no immunity period for listed building enforcement, so historic unauthorised alterations remain live indefinitely. Here is what a notice can require and how these cases are usually resolved.
Householder appeals and the twelve week procedure
The householder appeals procedure runs on one form, a strict 12-week deadline and the evidence that was already before the council. Here is how to use it and when a resubmission is the better bet.
Award of costs in planning appeals: when they are made
Costs in a planning appeal follow unreasonable behaviour that caused another party wasted expense, not the result of the appeal. Here is how the procedure works and how to limit your own exposure.
Rule 6 party status at a planning inquiry
Rule 6 party status gives objectors the right to call witnesses and cross examine. It also brings deadlines and a costs risk. When it is worth applying for.
Grey belt: the term, the test and the uncertainty
Grey belt is a policy category, not a designation, and no map of it exists. What the definition covers, which Green Belt purposes are in the test, and what is still open.
The CIL self-build exemption and how to keep it
The self-build exemption removes CIL from a house you build to live in, and it is usually lost on paperwork. The three deadlines that decide whether you keep it.
What a CIL liability notice means for your project
A liability notice is the council's opening move on the Community Infrastructure Levy. It states the chargeable amount, and the forms that follow it decide whether you keep your instalments and exemptions.
Prematurity: what it means in planning
Prematurity argues that permission would prejudice a plan nearly finished. National guidance sets two conditions, and inspectors accept the argument on its own very rarely.
Benchmark land value: what it means in planning
Benchmark land value is the dividing line in every viability assessment. National guidance sets it as existing use value plus a landowner premium, based on policy-compliant development.
Commuted sum: what it means in planning
A commuted sum is a one-off payment made in place of providing affordable housing, open space or maintenance on site. Here is how councils calculate one and the legal tests it has to pass.
Biodiversity gain plan: what it means in planning
The biodiversity gain plan is a separate approval from planning permission. This explains what it contains, when it must be submitted, and which schemes are exempt.
Habitats Regulations Assessment: what it means in planning
Habitats Regulations Assessment is a statutory test carried out by the council, not the applicant. This explains the stages, the sites it protects, and why it derails schemes far from any designated land.
Sequential test: what it means in planning
A plain explanation of the sequential test in English planning, covering the flood risk version and the main town centre uses version, what evidence each needs and where people get them confused.
Certificate of immunity: what it means in planning
Five years of certainty that a building will not be listed, granted under section 6 of the 1990 Act. What it does not protect against, and why applying is a decision in itself.
Enforcement notice: what it means in planning
Issued under section 172 of the 1990 Act, an enforcement notice attaches to the land, carries a 28-day minimum before it takes effect and makes non-compliance a criminal offence.
Development plan: what it means in planning
Section 38(6) requires decisions to follow the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. What counts as the plan, and what does not.
Reserved matters: what it means in planning
Outline permission settles the principle. Reserved matters are the five details left for later approval, with a three-year clock attached.
Permission in principle: what it means in planning
Permission in principle fixes three things and nothing else: use, location and amount of development. Everything else waits for a technical details consent application.
Article 4 direction: what it means in planning
An Article 4 direction is how a council switches off permitted development rights street by street. The works stay possible, but they need a planning application first.
Lawful development certificate: what it means in planning
A lawful development certificate is not permission. It is the council's binding confirmation that permission was never needed, or that the time to enforce has run out.
Non-material amendment: what it means in planning
Section 96A amends the permission you already hold rather than creating a new one. Here is how councils judge materiality and what happens if they refuse.
Section 73 application: what it means in planning
Section 73 does not amend a permission. It creates a second one, which is why obligations, levy liability and discharged conditions all need checking again.
Prior approval: what it means in planning
Prior approval is not planning permission. It is a check on specified matters attached to a right the Order has already granted, with its own procedure and deadline.
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