Planning Law Updates – Page 7
Dated, sourced explainers of NPPF revisions, new legislation, permitted development changes and case law.
Planning Law Updates articles – page 7
180 articlesCIL self-build exemption: the procedure that catches people out
The Community Infrastructure Levy self-build exemption is generous and the procedure is unforgiving. The forms, the order they go in, and why the commencement notice decides the outcome.
Pre-commencement conditions and your right to refuse them
Section 100ZA gives applicants a say in pre-commencement conditions. Silence during the notice period counts as agreement, which is where most of the value is lost.
Statutory biodiversity credits and when to use them
Credits close a net gain shortfall when on-site and off-site delivery are exhausted. The evidence that they were exhausted is what authorities actually test.
Conservation covenants under the Environment Act 2021
English land law has never handled positive obligations well. Part 7 of the Environment Act 2021 solved that for conservation purposes, which is why habitat banks now use covenants.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies and their planning weight
The strategy carries no statutory plan primacy. What it does is change the number of biodiversity units a hectare of created habitat is worth, which is where it earns attention.
Article 4 directions and the national policy test
National policy narrowed the basis for Article 4 directions, and compensation liability shapes how councils make them. Both matter if a direction is heading for your street.
Citing the NPPF after the move to policy codes
Paragraph numbers changed twice in two years and are now policy codes. A citation habit that survives the next edition is worth more than memorising any single reference.
Class MA after the removal of the floorspace cap
Class MA lost its floorspace cap and vacancy requirement in 2024. The two year qualifying use survived, and natural light still fails most applications.
Gateway One: fire statements in the planning application
Gateway One is a validation issue before it is a design issue. Work out whether your building is a relevant building at the first design meeting.
Environmental Outcomes Reports: the proposed EIA replacement
Environmental outcomes reports are enabling powers, not law in force. Scope to the 2017 EIA Regulations, and build an evidence base that reports against outcomes too.
The Infrastructure Levy powers and what happens to CIL
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act created the framework for an Infrastructure Levy and left the detail to regulations. What that means for appraising a site under two regimes.
Section 73B: the new route for varying a permission
Section 73 cannot change the description of development. Section 73B was inserted to fill that gap, subject to a substantially different test and to being brought into force.
Short term lets and the proposed use class
Outside London, short term letting is judged as a question of fact and degree rather than by a night count. What the proposed use class would change, and what the registration scheme does not.
Plan making reform: what changes for local plans
The 2023 Act rewrites how local plans are produced, from gateway checks and a 30 month timetable to supplementary plans and the end of the duty to co-operate. Here is what applies, and how to tell which system an authority is in.
Schedule 3 SuDS approval and what commencement means
Schedule 3 would create SuDS Approving Bodies, make national drainage standards statutory and tie the right to connect surface water to approval. It is still not in force in England, and here is what would change if it were.
Environmental Outcomes Reports and the future of EIA
The 2023 Act creates the power to replace environmental impact assessment with outcomes based reporting. Here is what Part 6 provides for, how it differs from an Environmental Statement, and what to submit in the meantime.
The planning guarantee and getting your fee refunded
Where a council fails to decide within the benchmark period, the application fee becomes refundable. Agreeing an extension of time is the step that quietly gives that right away.
Planning fee indexation and how to budget for it
Application fees in England move every April under the indexation introduced with the 2023 uplift. Here is what the mechanism covers, what it misses, and how to budget a self-build across several applications.
Active Travel England as a statutory consultee
Active Travel England must be consulted on the largest applications in England. Its interest is whether people will actually walk, wheel and cycle, and a late objection is expensive to answer.
Design codes and the National Model Design Code
What binds an applicant is the council's own adopted code, not the national model. How weight varies by adoption route, and how to evidence a departure.
Nutrient neutrality: where the requirement comes from
The requirement sits in regulation 63 of the Habitats Regulations 2017, which sets a certainty standard no amount of housing need can outweigh.
Small sites and the April 2024 biodiversity commencement
From 2 April 2024 a small site permission carries a biodiversity gain condition, so development cannot begin until the council approves a gain plan. Survey timing is the constraint most self-builders underestimate.
What changes when the NPPF is re-issued
A Framework revision changes no local plan policy, yet it can transform a case. Here is how renumbering, transitional arrangements and the decision date rule work, and how to update a submitted statement efficiently.
Part O overheating and what it means for planning
Part O has applied to new residential buildings since June 2022, and it lands on the planning elevations through glazing limits, shading and openable windows. The conflict with night-time noise mitigation is the one to resolve first.
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