PlanScope Blog – Page 134

Heave in shrinkable clay after removing a tree

Felling a tree on shrinkable clay does not solve a foundation problem, it swaps a downward one for an upward one that lasts far longer.

Assessing daylight to a neighbour's rear extension rooflight

Rooflights serving a neighbour's single storey extension are the hardest daylight case in a terrace, because the standard vertical window tests do not transfer.

Airtightness commitments made at planning stage

An air permeability figure in an energy statement is a promise that gets measured two years later by someone else. Pick it so it survives the test.

Costs, Fees and Budgeting7 min read

Budgeting the survey pack for one new dwelling

Most of the survey cost on a single plot is triggered by constraints rather than by the house itself. Finding out which ones apply is the first thing to spend money on.

Refusals and Appeals6 min read

Amending a scheme during an appeal and the fairness test

Amended drawings at appeal are accepted only where nobody who should have been consulted loses the chance to comment. That is a narrower gate than most applicants expect.

Neighbours, Objections and Community7 min read

Material considerations and objections that count for nothing

Loss of view, property value and private covenants are not material planning considerations. Most of the concerns behind them can be rewritten so they are.

Viability, Obligations and Commercial7 min read

Nutrient mitigation contributions and how they are secured

A nutrient mitigation contribution has to be secured before the authority can conclude no adverse effect. That makes the section 106 the critical path, not the ecology.

Balcony materials on refurbishment and remediation schemes

Stripping timber decking off a block of flats is rarely a like-for-like repair in planning terms. Here is when permission is needed and what the material rules require.

Rights of light compared with planning daylight tests

A planning permission is no answer to a rights of light injunction. The two regimes measure different things and the civil one has to be dealt with before you build.

Greywater and rainwater reuse in a sustainability statement

Reuse systems earn a fixed deduction in the water efficiency calculation for new dwellings. Whether that deduction is worth the maintenance burden depends on the target you are chasing.

Costs, Fees and Budgeting7 min read

What a householder appeal actually costs to run

Appealing a refused extension costs nothing in fees. The spend that matters is an agent's time, a specialist report where the refusal demands one, and the risk of missing the 12 week deadline.

Refusals and Appeals7 min read

The fallback argument and how inspectors test it

Inspectors give a fallback weight only where the alternative development has a real prospect of being implemented. This is how to build and evidence that case.

Ground source heat pump boreholes and the consents

Closed loop systems avoid the abstraction and permitting regime, open loop systems do not. The consents, the source protection zone check and the land a horizontal array takes.

Costs, Fees and Budgeting7 min read

How the fee for new dwellings scales with unit numbers

Fees are indexed annually, so the rates move but the structure does not. Why phasing raises the total, how outline fees differ, and the thresholds that matter more than the fee.

Refusals and Appeals7 min read

Repeat applications and the power to decline to determine

A single refusal with no appeal does not engage section 70A. Two refusals, or a dismissed appeal with nothing changed, can. How to build a third attempt that gets determined.

Fire safety in conversions of commercial buildings to flats

Prior approval can be cleared in 56 days and building control can then prove the scheme undeliverable. The six diligence items to obtain before exchange on an office conversion.

Daylight in student and co-living accommodation

Daylight standards work on room function, not planning use class, so a study bedroom's classification is the applicant's choice to justify. What holds up, and when the layout has to change.

Shading losses in a rooftop solar calculation

A claimed solar output is checkable from the drawings, which is why inflated figures get found. The deductions, the shading method and the four questions reviewers always ask.

Refusals and Appeals7 min read

Appeals where there is no five year housing land supply

A shortfall engages the presumption in favour of sustainable development, but it does not switch off the plan. The deliverability challenges that work, and the limits appellants overstate.

Neighbours, Objections and Community7 min read

Getting an application called in by a ward councillor

A ward councillor can pull an application into committee under the council's scheme of delegation. The deadline is earlier than most people think, and the request is written for the chair.

Viability, Obligations and Commercial7 min read

Mortgagee exclusion clauses in a planning obligation

Lenders will not fund land burdened with obligations they cannot perform. How the exclusion works, why possession rather than ownership is the trigger, and the controlled process authorities accept.

Tall building fire design and what planning controls

Gateway One asks for design intent, but the application locks in massing, core position and material palette. The six decisions that are far dearer to revisit after permission.

Overshadowing of a communal amenity deck

Half the usable area needs two hours of sun at the equinox, and on a courtyard podium that is decided by massing rather than landscape. How to map light zones and lay out the deck to them.

Choosing between TM52 and TM59 overheating criteria

TM59 does not replace TM52, it borrows one of its criteria and adds a night-time bedroom test. How to allocate methodologies in a mixed use building and report the weather file honestly.