PlanScope Blog – Page 295
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 295
9024 articlesSubdividing a house into two self-contained flats
Section 55(3)(a) makes subdivision a material change of use, so there is no permitted development route. What decides the application is unit size, amenity provision and parking evidence.
Which reports change at 150 units
Two things change at 150 dwellings: Active Travel England is consulted, and the scheme enters Schedule 2 of the EIA Regulations. Everything else follows from those.
Enforcement warning notices under the 2023 Act
A warning notice under section 173ZA is an invitation to apply, not an enforcement notice. There is no appeal against it, and applying before an enforcement notice keeps section 70C from closing the door.
Who carries the risk when a planning draft is wrong
Whoever signs the document carries the risk, whatever produced the first draft. The institute codes already cover it through competence, honesty and independence.
Early-stage viability reviews and the implementation deadline
An early stage review is a penalty for sitting on a consent, not a check on whether the scheme worked. The definition of substantial implementation in the deed is far harder to meet than section 56.
Mining legacy and the coalfield referral areas
Sites inside a Development High Risk Area need a coal mining risk assessment with the application. The check is free and takes minutes, and the permit to disturb coal is a separate consent.
Transient overshadowing and permanent loss of sunlight
A shadow at 9am is not the shadow at noon, and the sunlight test integrates across the whole day. That is why a moving shadow and a sustained loss are treated so differently.
Renewable energy on a farm: scale, grid and landscape
Soil quality, a workable grid connection and landscape effect decide farm renewables applications. A site specific agricultural land classification survey is usually the single most useful document.
The planning unit: how councils decide what they assess
The correct planning unit is normally the unit of occupation, unless a smaller area is separate both physically and functionally. Both limbs matter, and applicants routinely argue only the first.
Biodiversity in Wales: the section 6 duty in practice
Wales applies the section 6 duty in the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and a policy requirement for net benefit, not the English biodiversity gain condition. The duty binds the authority, which changes what your ecology evidence is for.
Working out the planning fee for an application
The fee follows from the application category, so the category is what to settle first. Householder is narrower than it sounds, and an underpaid fee moves the valid date rather than just the paperwork.
Highway adoption and section 38 at estate scale
A section 38 agreement turns estate roads into highway maintainable at public expense. The adoptable geometry changes your plot count, so the decision belongs at layout stage rather than after permission.
Two-storey side and rear extension on a semi-detached house
Class A never allows a two storey side extension, so a householder application is unavoidable. What decides it is the gap to the boundary, the roof form and what the first floor does to the neighbour.
Which reports a nine unit scheme needs
Nine units is a minor application, so the eight week clock and the transport statement apply rather than the major development machinery. Biodiversity net gain still applies in full.
Getting permission for a rear dormer loft conversion
Most rear dormers need no permission, within a 40 or 50 cubic metre allowance and a set of conditions that are easy to breach. Check Article 4 and the original permission first.
Which reports a barn conversion needs under full planning
Full planning reopens the policy question that Class Q avoids. The structural conclusion, the bat survey season and the rural access geometry set the programme.
Windfall sites: what they are and why the figure matters
A windfall site is one the development plan never identified. The allowance built on top of them is where the arguments happen, and it is usually the softest number in a supply calculation.
Planning Policy Wales and the placemaking outcomes
Welsh national policy starts from sustainable placemaking outcomes rather than topic tests. An English style design statement with a Welsh section added will miss the point.
Searching appeal decisions for a planning argument
Appeal decisions are material considerations, not binding precedent. Finding the right one takes a structured search; using it takes an honest view of comparability.
Outline or full: how unit numbers change the choice
The choice turns on how much design you want to fix, who will build it, and how long the land sits between permission and a start. Scale changes those answers.
Which reports two houses in a back garden need
Two houses down a long garden are decided on the drive and the overlooking. Get the access geometry and the separation distances right before anything else.
Reviewing a drafted flood risk assessment properly
Most weak flood risk assessments are not wrong about hydraulics. They are wrong about scope, sources and allowances, and those errors are visible in minutes.
Late-stage viability reviews and how they are drafted
A late stage review revisits viability once values and costs are known. Developers negotiate the percentage and ignore the machinery, and the machinery decides whether anyone pays.
Structural justification for demolition in a conservation area
A report saying the building is in poor condition does not answer the statutory duty. What has to be shown is that repair is not a reasonable option, with evidence.
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