PlanScope Blog – Page 29
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 29
9595 articlesAwnings, canopies and signs over the footway
A branded awning over a public footway engages three separate consents with three different decision makers. The clearance rules that force a redesign, and what conservation officers refuse.
Re-running a refused scheme under changed policy
Section 38(6) requires the decision to follow the plan in force when it is made, so a refused scheme can succeed unchanged. What to evidence, and the section 70A trap.
Applications for a site in two authority areas
There is no joint application and no lead authority. Each council determines the land in its own area, so the work is keeping two mirrored applications and two sets of conditions aligned.
Grey belt and the Green Belt sequence in policy
Grey belt removes the very special circumstances test for land that does not strongly contribute to three of the five Green Belt purposes. The definition, the sequence and the conditions attached.
Waste contributions and bin provision in new schemes
Collection authorities start with where the refuse vehicle can stand and how far the crew moves containers. Store sizing, access standards and testing a waste contribution against regulation 122.
Fire separation between a shop and the flat above
A flat above a commercial unit needs a compartment floor and, in practice, its own escape route. Why the ground floor use sets the standard, and what that means for the elevations.
Using Passivhaus certification as planning evidence
Certification is strong evidence on fabric, airtightness and ventilation and no evidence at all on regulated emissions, embodied carbon or Part O overheating. How to use it in an application.
Converting a church with no structural drawings
Churches rarely have as-built structural information. The record sources worth searching, the measured survey and opening-up schedule, and the sequence that keeps consent on track.
Article 4 directions and Class E flexibility explained
Article 4 directions withdraw permitted development rights, so they cannot touch changes within Class E, which are not development at all. What they do remove, and how to read one.
Suggesting conditions to a planning inspector
An inspector allowing an appeal has to impose conditions. A schedule agreed with the authority controls the wording you will live with, and a well-drafted condition can answer a reason for refusal.
The planning guarantee and refunds for late decisions
The planning guarantee refunds the application fee where a council takes more than 26 weeks. How the period is counted, why agreeing an extension of time removes it, and how to claim.
Higher-risk buildings: height and storey definitions
The 18 metre and seven storey tests are measured in a specific way, and planning Gateway One uses a different definition from the construction and occupation regimes. How to scope a borderline building.
Spend deadlines and repayment clauses in obligations
A spend deadline gives the authority a fixed period to apply a contribution to the named project, and a repayment clause gets the unspent balance back. The drafting that makes it work.
Biomass, smoke control areas and air quality objections
An exempt appliance burning an authorised fuel satisfies smoke control law and tells a planning officer nothing about air quality. How the two regimes fit together for a biomass installation.
Serviced office suites: one planning unit or many?
Where an operator keeps the reception and shared facilities, a serviced office building is normally one planning unit. What that means for subdivision, parking standards and old conditions.
Appeals where the council refused against officer advice
A refusal contrary to the officer recommendation leaves the authority defending reasons its own adviser rejected. The procedural consequences, the costs grounds and the evidence to gather first.
Radon protective measures and your planning application
Radon protection is controlled through Approved Document C and BR 211 rather than through planning, but it changes floor levels, vent terminations and basement design. What to settle before you apply.
Kitchen extraction flues in a listed building
A commercial kitchen flue in a listed building needs listed building consent alongside planning permission. How officers rank duct routes, and what the submission has to show.
Section 192 certificates: confirm works before you build
A certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development under section 192 answers one question: would these works be lawful? Here is what the application needs and how the decision is made.
The ten year enforcement limit and what it covers
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 replaced the four year enforcement limit in England with a single ten year period. Which breaches it affects, how the transitional rule works and what evidence establishes immunity.
Pre-application fee bands and what each band buys
Pre-application charges are set under section 93 of the Local Government Act 2003 and banded by scale. What each service level includes, and how to make the fee pay for itself.
Submitting a section 106 obligation during an appeal
Where a refusal reason turns on the absence of a planning obligation, the appeal needs a completed unilateral undertaking before the Inspectorate's deadline. The vehicle, the tests and the drafting.
Is it development at all? Section 55 explained
Before asking whether you need planning permission, work out whether your project is development under section 55 at all. The two limbs, the statutory exclusions and how to get the answer confirmed.
Mine entries, shafts and the report that changes your layout
A recorded shaft rarely stops a self-build. It moves the house, and it often moves the drainage strategy with it.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope