PlanScope Blog – Page 269
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 269
9125 articlesNon-determination appeals and when they actually help
Appealing against non determination ends the negotiation and hands the scheme to an inspector. When that is the right move, and when it costs you months.
The planning history section of a planning statement
The planning history section tells the case officer what has already been decided about the land. Here is how to build it from the register and present it.
Subservience in a two storey side extension
A first floor takes a side extension outside Class A permitted development, so the rules that decide it are design tests. Here is how subservience is judged.
The free go: resubmitting a refused application free
One further application of the same character on the same site by the same applicant within 12 months avoids the planning fee. The conditions are applied strictly.
Writing the sequential test section inside an FRA
The sequential test decides whether the rest of an FRA matters. Agree the area of search first, then record every site considered and why it was discounted.
The 45 degree rule and a rear extension
The 45 degree rule is council guidance, not national policy. It screens for amenity harm, and it is a different test from the BRE 209 daylight checks.
Community consultation on a neighbourhood plan
Regulation 14 is the stage where a neighbourhood plan can still change. By regulation 16 the text is largely fixed and heading for examination.
Underpinning a party wall under the 1996 Act
Section 2 covers underpinning a party structure and section 6 covers nearby excavation. The notice periods differ, and the sequence decides the programme.
Rear extensions and overshadowing in dense terraces
In a narrow terraced plot, depth, flank wall height and the distance to a neighbour's window decide the case. Orientation decides how much any of it matters.
The Infrastructure Levy: what is enacted and what is not
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 contains Infrastructure Levy powers that have not been brought into force. Budget on the current regime.
Walkthrough: shop to hot food takeaway change of use
A hot food takeaway is sui generis, so no permitted development route exists. This illustrative case follows the extraction, noise and parking evidence.
Flood risk under NPF4 in Scotland and the avoidance principle
Scotland applies avoidance rather than sequential and exception tests. NPF4 asks whether development should be in a flood risk area at all.
Basement extensions under an existing house
Digging out under a house usually needs permission once a lightwell or serious engineering is involved. Local basement policies then decide the rest.
What happens to your objection after the decision
Every representation is read, summarised and published. None of them votes. Here is how comments are actually used and what to do after the decision.
Fire strategy for a residential block above commercial units
Flats above shops means two fire strategies in one structure. Separate escape, a hard compartment boundary and coordinated risers decide the ground floor plan.
The mirror image baseline and existing obstructions
Daylight results are ratios, so the baseline decides the answer. Here is when a cleared site, a consented scheme or a mirror image is the right comparator.
Overage clauses and review mechanisms in a section 106
Review mechanisms let a council recapture surplus above the appraised position. Nothing in statute creates one, so the definitions in the agreement decide everything.
Walkthrough: nine dwellings on an edge of settlement paddock
Nine dwellings sits below the major thresholds but still needs biodiversity net gain, seasonal ecology surveys and a drainage strategy. An illustrative sequence.
Certificates of lawfulness in Scotland
Scotland keeps a four year and ten year structure for immunity. Here is what each certificate covers, what evidence proves a case, and how appeals work.
Rear extension depth limits and the larger home right
Class A allows 3 m for a semi or terrace and 4 m for a detached house, with deeper extensions possible through prior approval and neighbour consultation.
Reporting a breach of condition on a building site
Quote the application reference, name the condition and show dated evidence of harm. Enforcement is discretionary, so a complaint that describes harm gets further than one that describes annoyance.
Balconies, external walls and fire spread
A balcony attached to an external wall is a specified attachment under the Building Regulations. On relevant buildings that decides the decking, the soffit and the elevation.
Room use assumptions and how they change results
Before any daylight figure is calculated, the assessor has decided which rooms count and what they are used for. Those assumptions often decide the result.
The vacant building credit and why councils resist it
National guidance offers a credit for existing vacant floorspace against affordable housing. Whether it applies turns on vacancy, abandonment and how the vacancy arose.
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