Serving notice on a tenant under ownership certificate B
A tenant only has to be served with notice of a planning application if their lease has seven years or more left to run, or if they are an agricultural tenant. Here is how certificate B works in practice.
Certificate B is the one you sign when somebody other than you owns part of the application site, and the notice that goes with it has to reach every one of those people before you submit. For most landlords the question is narrower than it looks: a tenant only has to be served if their lease has at least seven years left to run, or if they are an agricultural tenant. An assured shorthold tenant on a twelve month term is not an owner for this purpose and gets no notice at all. Get the category wrong and you have either wasted a fortnight or signed a false certificate.
Who counts as an owner and who does not
Section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and article 13 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 set the requirement. An owner is the freeholder, or a leaseholder with a lease of which at least seven years remain unexpired on the prescribed date. An agricultural tenant is dealt with separately and must be served whatever the length of the tenancy.
So in a block of flats held on 125 year leases, every leaseholder whose demise forms part of the application site is an owner and must be served. In a shop let on a five year lease, the tenant is not. In a field let on a farm business tenancy, the tenant must be served regardless.
The prescribed date is the day 21 days before the date of the application. You identify the owners and agricultural tenants as at that date. Somebody who buys in during the week before you submit does not need to be served, though in practice telling them is wise.
The prescribed notice and what it has to say
The notice is a prescribed form, set out in Schedule 2 to the 2015 Order and reproduced on most council websites as Notice 1. Do not redraft it. It names the applicant, describes the proposed development, states where the application can be inspected, gives the address for representations and sets out the period for making them.
Three practical points on completing it. Describe the development in exactly the words you will use on the application form, because a mismatch invites an argument later. Date it. And where the site is a flat in a converted house, describe the land accurately rather than writing the whole building address, since the red line and the notice should tell the same story.
The 21 day period and what it actually controls
Two separate periods of 21 days get confused here, and that confusion produces most of the invalid certificates councils return.
| Period | What it controls |
|---|---|
| 21 days before the application date | Fixes the prescribed date on which owners and agricultural tenants are identified, and the earliest date the certificate can be signed |
| 21 days after validation | The council's own publicity and consultation period, during which neighbours and consultees respond |
The certificate must be signed no earlier than 21 days before the application is made. Several councils go further in their local validation lists and ask for evidence that notice was served at least 21 days before submission, which gives the owner a full period to respond before the application lands. That is a local requirement rather than a national one, so check the published validation list for the authority before you set your programme. Allowing the full three weeks costs you nothing and removes the argument.
Agricultural tenants and the separate trigger
Where any part of the site is agricultural land occupied under a tenancy, the tenant must be served whatever the unexpired term. The relevant notice names the tenant rather than the owner and goes alongside any owner notices.
This catches a surprising number of edge-of-settlement schemes. A paddock let on a grazing licence, a strip of headland that a neighbouring farmer has worked for years under an informal arrangement, a smallholding let to a family member: all of these need checking before the certificate is signed. If the arrangement is a licence rather than a tenancy there is no agricultural tenant to serve, but you should be able to explain why you reached that view.
Evidence of service to keep
Nobody asks for this until there is a dispute, at which point it decides the dispute.
- A dated copy of each notice as served, with the recipient named.
- A schedule listing every owner and agricultural tenant, the address used and the date of service.
- Proof of posting for each item, which is free at a post office counter, or a signed acknowledgement if you hand it over.
- The HM Land Registry title register and title plan downloads that evidence who the owners were, printed with their download dates.
- A note of any enquiries that drew a blank, with dates.
Keep the bundle with the application file for the life of the permission. If the application goes to appeal, the inspector may ask, and if a third party later challenges the permission, this is the material that answers them. The same file is where our note on getting consultee responses and the officer's case file becomes useful.
Consequences of a false certificate
Issuing a certificate that is false or misleading in a material particular, knowingly or recklessly, is a criminal offence under section 65 of the 1990 Act, prosecuted summarily and punishable by a fine. That is the headline risk and it is rarely the one that bites.
The commoner outcomes are procedural. The council may decline to entertain the application until a corrected certificate is supplied, which puts you back to the start of the determination period. A permission granted on a defective certificate is vulnerable to judicial review by the person who should have been served. And an unserved leaseholder who discovers the works through scaffolding rather than through a notice tends to become an objector for the life of the scheme.
Where you realise mid-determination that someone was missed, tell the case officer immediately, serve the notice, and submit a corrected certificate. Councils deal with this routinely and would far rather fix it before the decision than defend it afterwards.
Where ownership cannot be traced
If you cannot identify or find all the owners, certificate B is not available and you move to certificate C or certificate D, with a notice published in a local newspaper circulating in the area. Certificate C covers the case where some owners are known and served and others are not. Certificate D covers the case where none are known.
Before you take that route, show that you tried. A title register and index map search at HM Land Registry, an enquiry of the occupier, a letter to the last known address and a note of the responses is the usual minimum. Unregistered land, deceased owners and dissolved companies all turn up, and the newspaper notice exists precisely for them.
As an illustrative example, a landlord converting the upper floors of a parade of shops might hold the freehold of the whole parade, have three shop tenants on six year leases and one on a 25 year lease. Only the 25 year tenant is an owner. The certificate is B, one notice is served, and the other three tenants are told as a courtesy rather than as a legal requirement.
A short Planning Statement is the right place to record the ownership position and the notices served, particularly on a site with several titles, and our longer note on ownership certificates A to D sets out the choice between them. This is general guidance rather than legal advice, so check the position with your local planning authority or a solicitor before you sign a certificate.
To see which documents your conversion or change of use is likely to need, enter your postcode on PlanScope. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to serve notice on an assured shorthold tenant?
No. An owner for the purposes of section 65 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the freeholder or a leaseholder with at least seven years of the lease unexpired. A tenant on a twelve month assured shorthold tenancy falls outside that, so no notice is required, although telling them about building works is sensible.
What is the prescribed date for identifying owners?
The day 21 days before the date of the application. You identify every owner and agricultural tenant as at that date and serve the prescribed notice on each of them. Someone who acquires an interest after the prescribed date does not need to be served, though a courtesy letter avoids friction later.
Can I submit the application the day after serving notice?
Nationally, the certificate simply has to be signed no earlier than 21 days before the application date. Some councils go further in their local validation lists and ask for evidence that notice was served 21 days before submission. Check the published validation list for your authority before fixing the programme.
What happens if I sign certificate B and miss an owner?
Tell the case officer, serve the notice and submit a corrected certificate. A council can decline to entertain the application until the certificate is right, which restarts the determination period. A certificate that is knowingly or recklessly false in a material particular is an offence under section 65 of the 1990 Act.
When do I use certificate C or D instead?
Certificate C applies where some owners are known and served but others cannot be identified or found. Certificate D applies where none can be identified. Both require a notice published in a local newspaper circulating in the area, and both expect you to show the searches and enquiries you made first.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.