Temporary stop notices and the compensation question

A temporary stop notice requires an activity that breaches planning control to stop immediately, and there is no right of appeal against it. That combination makes it the sharpest tool a local planning authority has. The notice takes effect when it is served and displayed, it can run for up to 56 days following the extension made by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, and contravening it is a criminal offence from the moment it bites.

Compensation is the counterweight. Section 171H of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 entitles a person with an interest in the land to be compensated for loss or damage directly attributable to the prohibition, but only in defined circumstances. Understanding which circumstances those are tells you what to do in the first 48 hours, because the actions that protect a compensation claim are the same actions that get the notice lifted.

What a temporary stop notice does

The notice is served under section 171E. It must be in writing, specify the activity to stop, state the reasons the authority considers it expedient that the activity should cease, and be displayed on the land with a copy of the notice.

It prohibits the activity, not the development. That distinction matters on a construction site, where a notice aimed at unauthorised engineering operations may leave other work lawful. Read the specified activity narrowly and take advice before assuming the whole site has to shut down.

Two restrictions sit in the legislation. A temporary stop notice cannot prohibit the use of a building as a dwellinghouse, and regulations restrict its use against caravans occupied as a main residence. There are further limits tied to how long the activity has been carried on, and the enforcement time limits themselves changed under the 2023 Act, so check the current wording and whether the change is in force rather than relying on an older note.

The maximum period it can run

Fifty-six days from the date the notice is displayed, under the extended period introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The notice may specify a shorter period, and it ceases to have effect earlier if the authority withdraws it or grants permission for the activity.

The period is a window for the authority, not a solution. Within it the council has to decide whether to issue an enforcement notice, a full stop notice under section 183, or nothing at all. An authority that serves a temporary stop notice and then does nothing has achieved 56 days of delay and exposed itself to a compensation claim.

A second temporary stop notice in respect of the same activity is restricted, so the council cannot simply roll one notice into the next. Where a second notice appears, ask what other enforcement action has been taken in the meantime.

Absence of any appeal right

There is no section 174 appeal and no route to the Planning Inspectorate. That is the structural feature of the regime, and it is deliberate: the notice is temporary, so Parliament provided no appellate mechanism.

What you can do instead:

• Make written representations to the authority, with evidence, asking for withdrawal
• Apply for planning permission or for a certificate of lawful existing use under section 191
• Negotiate a variation of the specified activity, which authorities will sometimes agree
• Apply for judicial review where the notice is unlawful

The representations route is the one that usually works. Councils serve these notices quickly, sometimes on limited information, and a well-evidenced letter showing the activity is authorised or immune changes the picture.

Compensation where the notice was not justified

Compensation under section 171H is not available simply because the notice was inconvenient. It arises in defined cases, and the structure is worth setting out plainly.

That final exclusion is the one that costs claimants money. Where the authority asks for information about the activity and the recipient does not supply it, loss attributable to that failure is not recoverable. So answer the council's questions, in writing, promptly, even while you dispute the notice.

Heads of claim normally include contractor standing time, plant hire during the prohibition, site security and welfare costs, professional fees directly caused by the notice, and finance costs on delayed completion. Loss of profit on a delayed sale is harder and needs real evidence.

Claims are made to the local planning authority, and disputes about the amount are determined by the Upper Tribunal, Lands Chamber. Time limits apply, so take advice on the deadline as soon as the ground for a claim arises. The parallel compensation regime for Article 4 directions works on a similar logic, and the note on Article 4 directions and claiming compensation sets out how that one operates.

Judicial review as the only challenge

Judicial review is the sole route to quash the notice itself. The grounds are the usual public law ones: no power to serve the notice, failure to specify the activity adequately, failure to display the notice, irrationality, or a decision taken without regard to a relevant consideration.

Two practical realities. The claim must be brought promptly and in any event within three months of the decision, which on a 56-day notice means the notice may expire before a hearing. And the costs of a claim often exceed the loss caused by the prohibition, which is why most disputes settle through representations instead.

Judicial review remains worth considering where the notice is one of a series, where it blocks a business rather than a construction programme, or where the authority's reasoning is plainly defective.

Interaction with an enforcement notice

The temporary stop notice buys the authority time to prepare an enforcement notice, and the enforcement notice is where your appeal rights live. Section 174 gives seven grounds, including that planning permission ought to be granted and that the matters alleged do not constitute a breach of planning control.

So the strategy in most cases is to position for that appeal while the temporary notice runs. Preserve the evidence, record the site as it stands, and keep the correspondence tidy. An inspector reading a well-documented history is better placed to accept a ground (a) case than one reading a file of angry letters. The guide to how to read a planning appeal decision letter is useful background for how that reasoning is expressed.

Note that a full stop notice under section 183 is a different instrument with its own compensation provisions under section 186, and the two should not be conflated.

Practical response in the first week

1. Photograph the notice where it is displayed, with the date, and keep the served copy
2. Read the specified activity precisely and stop exactly that, no less
3. Diarise the expiry date and the date the authority must act by
4. Write to the case officer requesting the evidence and reasons, and offering the information they need
5. Assemble the lawfulness evidence: permissions, prior approvals, dated photographs, invoices, tenancy records
6. Start a contemporaneous loss schedule, with daily entries and supporting invoices
7. Take advice on a certificate application or a retrospective application, and on the judicial review clock

The loss schedule is the step people skip and regret. Compensation claims are won on records kept at the time, not reconstructed afterwards. Where a retrospective application follows, the Planning Statement needs to deal with the enforcement history directly rather than hoping the officer has forgotten it.

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.