Relevant demolition or ordinary planning permission

Relevant demolition in a conservation area needs planning permission, and carrying it out without permission is a criminal offence rather than an ordinary breach of planning control. That is the practical difference between the two routes in this comparison. Conservation area consent was abolished in 2013, and the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 now defines relevant demolition and attaches an offence to doing it unauthorised. Outside a conservation area, demolition is generally dealt with under the permitted development route in Part 11 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015, with prior approval of the method and the restoration of the site.

Getting this wrong carries personal liability, so it is worth being precise about which regime applies.

What relevant demolition means

Relevant demolition is the demolition of a building in a conservation area, other than a building of a description excluded by direction of the Secretary of State. The excluded descriptions cover small structures below a stated cubic capacity, boundary walls, gates, fences and railings below stated heights, certain agricultural buildings and a handful of other categories. Read the current direction for the figures rather than relying on a note from an older project, because the descriptions have been reissued.

Two points follow immediately. The requirement attaches to the building, not to the redevelopment, so an application for relevant demolition can be made and refused independently of any replacement scheme. And listed buildings are governed by the separate listed building consent regime, so relevant demolition is about unlisted buildings in conservation areas.

Scheduled monuments and buildings in the curtilage of a listed building sit under their own controls again. Check the designation before deciding which application to make.

Why conservation area consent disappeared

Until 2013 demolition in a conservation area needed conservation area consent, a separate consent with its own application form and its own appeal route. The Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 removed that consent and folded the control into planning permission, while keeping a criminal offence for carrying out relevant demolition without it.

The effect on practice is mostly procedural. One application rather than two, assessed on planning grounds and against the conservation area duty, with the ordinary planning appeal route. What survived is the criminal consequence, which is unusual in the planning system and is the reason demolition contractors ask for written confirmation before starting.

Older precedents still refer to conservation area consent, and some local plan policies and supplementary documents have not been updated. Read them as referring to planning permission for relevant demolition.

The substantial part question

This is where most arguments happen. Demolition in this context means demolition of the building, and following the House of Lords decision in Shimizu the removal of part of a building is treated as alteration rather than demolition.

So partial demolition of an unlisted building in a conservation area is often not relevant demolition at all. Taking down a rear outrigger, removing a chimney stack or stripping a later extension are alterations. Whether they need planning permission then depends on section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and on whether the work materially affects the external appearance of the building.

The line is not comfortable. Removing everything but the front facade is demolition in substance even if a wall is left standing, and authorities take the point. Where a scheme involves retaining a facade and rebuilding behind it, treat it as relevant demolition and apply, because the alternative is arguing about the point after the scaffold is up.

Facade retention also brings a structural question. A Structural Survey and then a structural appraisal of the retained element is what makes a facade retention scheme credible, and councils ask for it.

Demolition outside a conservation area

Outside a conservation area the route is different. Demolition of a building is generally permitted development under Part 11 of Schedule 2 to the Order, subject to a condition requiring the developer to apply to the authority for a determination as to whether prior approval of the method of demolition and any proposed restoration of the site is required.

Several cases are excluded from that route, including relevant demolition itself and demolition required by other statutory provisions, and the Class is specific about which structures it covers. Read the Class text rather than assuming it applies.

What the prior approval covers is narrow. It is the method and the restoration, not the principle. An authority cannot refuse prior approval because it would prefer the building kept, and it cannot use the process to secure a replacement scheme. Where the authority wants control over the principle, the tools are an Article 4 direction or the conservation area designation itself.

Publicity and the section 72 duty

Applications for relevant demolition attract the publicity requirements for planning applications in the Development Management Procedure Order, and authorities routinely consult their conservation officer and the national amenity societies as a matter of local practice. Check the authority's own validation list and consultation protocol.

The decision is then taken subject to the duty in section 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, which requires special attention to be paid to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the conservation area. That is a positive duty and it carries considerable weight.

In practice the duty means an applicant has to show one of two things. Either the building makes no positive contribution to the character or appearance of the area, which needs an assessment rather than an assertion. Or that the harm from losing it is outweighed, usually by the quality of the replacement and by the public benefits it delivers.

Evidence a council expects

Five documents recur, and the first two do most of the work.

1. A Heritage Statement assessing the building's contribution to the character and appearance of the conservation area, drawing on the conservation area appraisal where one exists.
2. A detailed replacement scheme, because most authorities will not accept demolition without knowing what follows. Where the replacement is a separate application, expect a condition or an obligation preventing demolition until a contract for the redevelopment is in place.
3. A structural assessment where disrepair or structural failure is relied on. A claim that a building is beyond repair needs costed evidence, and deliberate neglect is a matter the authority can take into account.
4. A recording scheme where the building has historic interest, prepared to the appropriate level. Historic Building Recording is a report councils expect from a suitably qualified author, and professional review is strongly advised.
5. A demolition method statement and construction management information, with a Pre-redevelopment Audit where materials recovery and reuse are expected by policy.

Enforcement consequences

Carrying out relevant demolition without the required planning permission is an offence under the 1990 Act, prosecutable in the magistrates' or Crown Court, with penalties including a fine and imprisonment. That liability falls on those who carry out or cause the demolition, which is why contractors ask for the decision notice before mobilising.

The planning consequences run alongside. The authority can take enforcement action, and the site is left with a cleared plot and no permission for anything, which is a weak negotiating position for the owner. Unlike an unauthorised extension, a demolished building cannot be made lawful by the passage of time in any useful sense, because there is nothing left to be immune.

Where demolition is urgently necessary in the interests of safety or health, the Order and the legislation provide for that situation, but the requirements are specific and include notifying the authority as soon as reasonably practicable with evidence. Do not rely on it retrospectively.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. To see the document pack a demolition and redevelopment scheme needs, browse the PlanScope report types by category.

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