How to get an update on a planning enforcement case

Planning enforcement is discretionary, which is the root of nearly every complaint about it going quiet. A council decides whether it is expedient to take action, and it is not obliged to keep a complainant informed while it makes up its mind. What it is obliged to do is maintain a public register of the formal notices it has served, respond to a properly made request for environmental information, and follow its own published complaints procedure.

Use those three things in that order and you will usually find out where a case has got to.

Why enforcement cases go quiet

Three reasons, and they are worth separating because the remedy differs.

The first is that the council is negotiating. Most breaches are resolved by asking the owner to stop, to apply retrospectively, or to alter what they have built. Negotiation is invisible from outside and can run for months. From the council's point of view it is also the fastest route and the one that costs least.

The second is that the case has been assessed as not expedient to pursue. A small breach causing limited harm may be logged and closed without a notice, and the council is entitled to do that. It ought to tell you, and frequently does not.

The third is capacity. Enforcement teams are small, and a case with no immediate harm sits behind cases with harm.

None of those three is improved by chasing weekly. All three respond to a specific, dated, written question.

What the authority must tell a complainant

There is no statutory duty to keep you updated on a live investigation. There is usually a published commitment, though, in the council's local enforcement plan or its customer service standards, and that commitment is what you hold it to. National policy expects authorities to publish a local enforcement plan setting out how they prioritise cases, so ask for it by name.

Two things you are entitled to. Any formal notice that has been served is a public document once entered on the register. And information the council holds about the environment, which includes most planning material, is disclosable on request subject to the exceptions in the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.

What you are not entitled to is the officer's internal assessment of whether to act, at least not while the case is live, because the regulations contain exceptions covering internal communications and the course of justice.

The enforcement register and what it shows

Section 188 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires every local planning authority to keep a register of enforcement notices, stop notices and breach of condition notices relating to land in its area, available for public inspection.

That table explains most of the frustration. A case can be very much alive and show nothing on the register, because the register records notices, not investigations. Check it anyway, because a notice you did not know about changes what you should be asking.

Many authorities publish the register through their online planning search under a separate enforcement tab. Where it is not online, ask for inspection in writing and cite section 188.

Using an information request properly

Most planning information is environmental information, so requests are handled under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 rather than the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The practical differences are that there is no fixed cost ceiling for refusal, and that every exception is subject to a public interest test. The response period is 20 working days.

A request that works is narrow and dated. Instead of asking for everything about a case, ask for:

1. The date the complaint was logged and the reference allocated to it.
2. Whether a site visit has taken place, and on what dates.
3. Whether any notice under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 has been served, and if so which and when.
4. Whether the case remains open, and the date of the most recent action recorded on it.
5. A copy of the council's local enforcement plan or equivalent published prioritisation policy.

Those five can all be answered without disclosing anything the council would want to withhold, which is why they get answered. Questions two and four in particular are factual and hard to refuse.

If the reply refuses part of the request, ask for an internal review, then take it to the Information Commissioner. Say in the original request that you are making it under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, because that sets the framework the council must respond within.

Escalating within the council

Escalate on process, not on the merits. A complaint that the council reached the wrong view on expediency will go nowhere, because that is a judgement Parliament gave to the council. A complaint that it failed to follow its own published procedure, failed to respond within its stated timescale, or failed to tell you the outcome of a case it had closed, is a different matter.

Use the formal corporate complaints procedure rather than emailing the case officer again. Most councils run it in two stages, and only after both are exhausted can you take the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which considers maladministration rather than the planning judgement itself.

Copying in the ward councillor is legitimate and often effective. Copying in the chief executive on a first enquiry is not, and it tends to slow things down.

Time limits that may be running out

This is the part that justifies urgency. For breaches in England the immunity period was changed to ten years for all breaches of planning control by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, which took effect on 25 April 2024, replacing the earlier split between four years for operational development and changes of use to a single dwellinghouse and ten years for other breaches. The earlier four year period can still be relevant to breaches that had already become immune before the change, which is a question for a lawyer rather than a rule of thumb.

Once that period has run, the development becomes lawful and no enforcement notice can be served, whatever the harm. So if a structure went up years ago and you are unsure when, say that in your enquiry. It changes the council's own risk assessment.

Deliberate concealment is treated separately, and an authority can apply for a planning enforcement order where a breach has been concealed.

When the case will simply be closed

Cases close when the breach is remedied, when a retrospective application is granted, when the council decides action is not expedient, or when immunity has been acquired. Ask which of those four applies, in writing, and ask for the date of the decision.

If the outcome is a retrospective application, that is your opportunity to comment, and the note on objecting to a retrospective planning application sets out what the authority can and cannot take into account. Where the applicant then amends the scheme, the position on amended plans after you object is worth knowing in advance.

An appeal against an enforcement notice goes to the Planning Inspectorate, and third parties can make representations on it, so watch for the notice on the register rather than waiting to be told.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

If you are on the other side of this and looking at what a retrospective application needs, the 66 report types by category show which documents usually accompany one. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.