Planning contravention notice or requisition for information

A planning contravention notice and a requisition for information look similar on the doormat and do entirely different jobs. A notice under section 171C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 investigates a suspected breach of planning control and asks what is happening on the land. A notice under section 330 of the same Act asks only who has an interest in the land, so the council knows whom to serve with whatever comes next. Working out which one you have received tells you how much trouble you are in.

Both carry criminal penalties for ignoring them. Neither should be answered in a hurry.

What each notice requires of you

A planning contravention notice can require information about the operations being carried out on the land, the use being made of it, any activities taking place, when each of those began, the name and address of anyone involved, and the nature of the recipient's own interest in the land. It can ask what planning permission is claimed and on what basis a use is said to be lawful. The notice must explain the likely consequences of a breach and may offer a meeting to discuss the position.

A requisition for information under section 330 is narrower. It requires the recipient to state the nature of their interest in the land and to name anyone else they know to have an interest in it. That is the whole of it. Nothing about use, nothing about operations, nothing about dates.

So a contravention notice signals an active investigation into what you are doing. A requisition for information often means the council is assembling the ownership picture before serving an enforcement notice on the right people, which may be about your land or about someone else's.

Who may be served

The contravention notice reaches further. It can be served on the owner or occupier of the land, on any person with an interest in it, and on any person carrying out operations on it or using it for any purpose. A contractor or a tenant can therefore receive one even though they do not own anything.

A requisition for information is served on the occupier and on any person receiving rent from the land, whether on their own account or as an agent. Managing agents and letting agents receive these routinely and sometimes assume they can ignore them. They cannot.

Receiving either notice does not mean the council has decided anything. Both are investigative powers, and an authority is expected to gather facts before deciding whether enforcement is expedient.

Time limits for a reply

The contravention notice period is 21 days beginning with the day the notice was served. Section 171D makes it an offence to fail to comply at any time after that period ends, so the deadline is hard and it is short.

For a requisition for information, read the period stated on the notice itself, which is set by the section rather than by the officer. Either way, diarise the date on the day the notice arrives and work back from it, because getting advice and assembling documents takes longer than people expect.

If you need more time, ask in writing before the deadline and explain why. Authorities often agree an extension for a reasonable request and a written agreement is evidence that you engaged. Silence is not.

Consequences of not replying

Failure to comply with a planning contravention notice within the period is a summary offence punishable by a fine. Failure to comply with a requisition for information is likewise an offence, and knowingly making a false statement in response carries a heavier penalty than simply not replying.

There is a second consequence that matters more in practice. An authority that receives no reply has no reason to hold off from serving an enforcement notice, and it will form its view of the facts from whatever it has. A recipient who answers accurately, explains the position and provides evidence of when a use began may persuade the council that no enforcement action is expedient, or that the breach is already immune from enforcement.

Non-compliance can also follow you to an appeal. Where a party has behaved unreasonably in the process, costs can be awarded against them, and failing to respond to a lawful notice is the kind of conduct that gets mentioned.

Self incrimination and taking advice

Answers to a planning contravention notice can be used in evidence in later proceedings, including proceedings for the breach itself. There is no general excuse for not replying on the ground that the answers might be incriminating, because the failure to reply is itself the offence.

That is precisely why advice matters. The duty is to answer the questions asked, accurately and completely. It is not a duty to speculate, to volunteer material that was not requested, or to offer a legal characterisation of your own activity. "The building has been used as two flats since March 2015" is an answer. "I suppose it might be a change of use" is not an answer and may be wrong.

Where the facts are complicated, or where the use may already be immune from enforcement, take advice from a planning solicitor or an experienced agent before replying. The enforcement time limits in England were changed by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, and how the revised periods apply to a breach that began before the change is a question worth getting right rather than guessing. The planning law timeline is a place to follow reform news, and the current position should be confirmed against legislation.gov.uk.

How the answers are used later

The council uses the replies to decide three things: whether a breach has occurred, whether it is expedient to take enforcement action, and on whom any notice should be served.

The answers also frame any later appeal. An enforcement notice appeal under section 174 proceeds on stated grounds, and the factual account you gave in response to a contravention notice will be compared with the case you run on appeal. Inconsistency between the two is difficult to repair.

Where the use or operation is in fact lawful, the constructive next step is usually an application for a certificate of lawfulness of existing use or development under section 191, supported by evidence such as utility bills, tenancy agreements, council tax records, dated photographs and sworn statements. That converts an argument into a determination.

Practical steps on receipt

1. Record the date of service and diarise the reply deadline the same day.
2. Identify which section the notice is made under, from the notice itself rather than the covering letter.
3. Do not stop or change what you are doing on the basis of the notice alone, and do not accelerate works either, because both can be relevant later.
4. Gather the documents that evidence when the use or operation began, before memory and paperwork degrade.
5. Take advice on the answers, particularly where immunity from enforcement may apply.
6. Reply in writing within the period, answering each question in the order asked and attaching evidence where it helps.
7. Where a lawful use exists, consider applying for a certificate of lawfulness alongside the reply.

If the answer turns out to be that permission is needed, a retrospective application is usually better than waiting for an enforcement notice, and it needs the same supporting documents as any other application. Browse all 66 PlanScope report types and start a draft at the report index, beginning with a Planning Statement that sets out the planning history honestly.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.