Planning Process – Page 5
The application procedure end to end: types, validation, consultation, conditions and decisions.
Planning Process articles – page 5
156 articlesPhasing a permission and drafting conditions that survive it
A phasing condition turns one permission into a sequence of deliverable parcels. Get the phase definition and the condition triggers wrong and every later phase pays for it.
Occupancy conditions and how councils actually police them
Agricultural ties, holiday occupancy limits, age restrictions and annexe conditions all restrict who may occupy a building. What makes them enforceable and how councils check.
Requesting documents a council holds on an application
Officer emails, pre-application notes and viability appraisals can all be requested. Here is how to draft a request a council cannot brush off.
Challenging a planning permission and the six week limit
A claim against a planning permission has to be filed within six weeks of the decision, and the pre-action letter does not stop the clock. What the court will and will not consider.
Call-in by the Secretary of State and what triggers it
Call-in takes the decision away from the council and gives it to a minister after an inquiry. The first sign is usually a holding direction, not the call-in itself.
Departure applications and referral to the Secretary of State
Departures are lawful under section 38(6) but the procedure changes: newspaper advertising, committee determination, and referral to the Secretary of State in defined Green Belt and playing field categories.
Revocation and modification orders and the compensation
A council can revoke or modify a permission it has granted under section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Confirmation by the Secretary of State and the compensation liability under section 107 are why it rarely happens.
Correcting an error in an appeal decision letter
A wrong address or a broken condition cross-reference in an appeal decision can be corrected under sections 56 to 58 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, but only within the same six weeks as a statutory challenge.
The case officer site visit and what is looked at
The site visit is where the officer checks the drawings against the place. Most of what they record has nothing to do with whether you are standing there.
Prior approval determination periods and the 56 day rule
Miss the 56 day deadline and the council loses its say. The argument that follows is almost always about whether the application was validly made in the first place.
Duplicate and overlapping applications on the same site
Several extant permissions can sit on the same land at once. The hard part is proving which one was implemented, and closing off the conditions on the others.
Withdrawing a planning application and what it costs you
Withdrawal is a one line letter, but it ends the appeal right and the fee is normally spent. Here is how to weigh it against taking the refusal.
The planning register and how to read an application file
The register is a statutory record under article 40 of the 2015 Order. Here is how to search it, what councils redact and why, and how to read a live case file.
Agricultural holdings notices on a planning application
The council cannot entertain a farm application until the agricultural holdings certificate is provided. Who counts as a tenant, how to serve notice, and what a tenant can actually do.
Outline permission and reserved matters: the sequence
Outline permission fixes the principle and defers five matters. The time limits in section 92, the way parameter plans bind, and why reserved matters applications get refused.
Delegated decisions versus planning committee
Most applications are decided by officers under a scheme of delegation. What sends one to committee instead, how councillor call-in works, and how to prepare for a members' decision.
The 21 day consultation period and who is notified
Publicity on a planning application runs for at least 21 days. Which method applies to which application, who gets a letter, what happens to late comments and how to hear about the next one.
What happens in the eight weeks after validation
The eight week clock starts at validation, not submission. What the case officer is doing each week, when your input still helps, and why applications slip past the target date.
Building a compliance file after permission is granted
Every document a buyer's solicitor will want exists at some point during the build. The problem is that nobody keeps them together, and reconstructing the file later is expensive.
Publicity for major development: notices and the rules
Publicity is the council's duty, not the applicant's, but a defective site notice is the applicant's problem. What Article 15 requires and how to check it was done.
Twin-tracking: when a duplicate application helps
Submitting the same scheme twice buys you an appeal route without giving up the negotiation. It also means two fees, two consultations and a power for the council to decline to determine.
Appealing non-determination instead of waiting
When a council misses the statutory period you can appeal against non-determination. Doing so hands the decision to an inspector and takes negotiation off the table.
Habitats regulations assessment: what an applicant supplies
Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 the local planning authority is the competent authority. Your job is to give it enough evidence to reach a lawful conclusion.
CIL liability notices, assumption and the surcharges
The Community Infrastructure Levy catches self-builders on procedure rather than price. Here is the order the notices have to follow, what each failure costs, and how to challenge a determination.
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