PlanScope Blog – Page 203
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 203
9246 articlesThe national validation list, item by item
The national validation requirements are fixed by the Development Management Procedure Order 2015 and apply identically across England. Everything else a case officer asks for comes from the authority's own local list, which is subject to tests the national list is not.
Rendering or cladding a house: when permission is needed
Re-rendering or cladding the walls of a house normally sits inside Class A permitted development, unless the property is in a conservation area or another designated area, is a flat, or is covered by an article 4 direction.
The well-being duty in Welsh planning decisions
Welsh planning sits on a statutory sustainable development duty with no English equivalent. What the five ways of working require, and how to evidence them in a submission.
Removing a chimney stack from a terraced house
On a terrace the stack is usually shared, structural and part of the street rhythm. What the council controls, what the Party Wall Act requires and what a buyer will ask for.
Loft conversions where the roof pitch is too shallow
A loft with 2.2 metres to the ridge is marginal and below 2 metres will not work without altering the roof or the ceilings below. What the arithmetic is and which options remain.
What a reviewer checks before signing off a draft
A report issued under your name is your report. How to scope the review, what has to be verified independently, and the four situations where declining is correct.
Single aspect flats and how officers treat them
Single aspect units combine daylight, sunlight, overheating and ventilation into one objection. How to count them, how to reduce them and how to justify a proportion.
Evidencing a local plan renewable energy target
Whether a scheme meets an on site renewable target depends on what the policy measures and against what baseline. How to run the calculation and evidence a caveat.
Siting roof plant without a noise objection
Roof plant reaches windows that ground level plant never would. How to place it, screen it properly, mount it to stop structure borne hum, and what to submit.
Raising the ridge of a bungalow for a first floor
Class B stops at the existing ridge, so a ridge raise needs prior approval or a full application. What decides it, which roof form reads best, and why foundations matter early.
What a case officer notices in a drafted statement
Officers do not object to drafted statements. They object to twelve pages that could have accompanied any application. The four checks that take under ten minutes.
Neighbour daylight objections and how officers weigh them
A daylight objection works when it names the room, the window and the geometry. How councils assess light loss, what carries no weight, and the options after a decision.
The energy hierarchy on a small residential scheme
The same three steps apply on a minor scheme, but two of them resolve in a paragraph. What to include, how to size the array, and how to avoid a major scheme template.
When an unattended noise survey is enough
Logged data gives time history and cannot identify the source or its acoustic features. How to decide duration, screen for weather, record calibration and report both data sets.
Garden rooms and the incidental enjoyment test
Class E permits garden buildings for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of a house. Which uses fall outside that, what the height and coverage limits are, and what a certificate proves.
Why drafting tools quote superseded NPPF paragraphs
Paragraph 11(d), paragraph 80, paragraph 84: the same policy test under three numbers. Why drafted documents cite superseded paragraphs and how to check them properly.
Daylight for schools, hospitals and care homes
A daylight shortfall in a classroom or care home day room is weighed differently from one in a flat. How to assess sensitive uses, their amenity space and their occupancy patterns.
Heat pump arrays for flats: noise and roof design
An array of heat pumps serving a block behaves differently from one unit on a house. How cumulative noise, screening, maintenance access and roofscape effect are handled.
Air quality neutral requirements in London
Air quality neutral is a calculation against published benchmarks for building and transport emissions, required across Greater London. What to submit, and how air quality positive differs.
Changing consultant during a live planning application
The application survives a change of consultant. Your licence to use the drawings may not. How to handle copyright, fees, file transfer and technical continuity.
Garage conversions and the parking a council expects
Converting an integral garage rarely fails on the building work. It fails on parking standards, a condition requiring the garage to be retained, or headroom once the floor is built up.
Why an AI draft cannot replace a bat survey
A drafted ecology chapter cannot substitute for field data gathered by a licensed ecologist. What a draft is useful for, which seasons control the programme, and how councils treat unsupported statements.
Rooflights and daylight in extensions and lofts
A deep single storey extension takes daylight out of the room it joins. How much roof glazing to allow, where to put it, and why neither planning nor building regulations protect light inside your own house.
Foundations and embodied carbon on a difficult site
On poor ground the substructure can carry as much upfront carbon as the frame. How to compare piling, rafts, stone columns and foundation reuse, and what to submit.
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