PlanScope Blog – Page 312
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 312
8882 articlesHow a council grants planning permission to itself
When a council wants to build on its own land it applies to itself. The 1992 General Regulations set out how that works, what the resulting permission can and cannot do, and where the safeguards sit.
Integral garage conversion: the parking question councils ask
Most integral garage conversions are permitted development. The objection, when it comes, is almost always about the parking space you have just removed and what replaces it.
Deemed planning application on a ground (a) appeal
Appealing an enforcement notice on ground (a) automatically puts a planning application in front of an inspector. This explains how the deemed application works, what it costs and what happens when it fails.
Class MA prior approval after the qualifying conditions changed
The two year Class E use requirement survived the 2024 changes and it is now the qualifying condition landlords most often fail to evidence properly.
Writing daylight evidence a committee report can use
Daylight reports fail at the last step, when an officer has to compress them into a committee report. Structure the evidence for that reader and the conclusion survives.
Farm tracks and hardstanding under Part 6 of the GPDO
A new farm track is an engineering operation, and on holdings of 5 hectares or more it can be permitted development subject to prior notification and several limits.
Source protection zones and what they mean for drainage
A site in an inner source protection zone cannot rely on soakaways for anything but clean roof water. Check the zone before the drainage strategy is drawn.
How neighbours take part in a planning appeal
There is no third party right of appeal in England, but neighbours can make representations, attend the site visit and, at inquiries, apply to become a full party.
Does planning permission transfer when you sell the land?
No transfer deed is needed: permission enures for the benefit of the land. What does need attention is CIL liability, personal permissions and the compliance record.
Driveway gates, visibility splays and the highway
The one metre height limit, the five metre setback and the visibility splay decide most driveway gate schemes. Two separate consents are usually involved.
Employment density: turning floorspace into job numbers
Every job figure in a planning application comes from a density assumption. Get the area basis and the use category right, or the whole economic case is overstated.
The biodiversity gain sites register and unit allocation
Buying off-site biodiversity units is not the same as having them allocated. The register, the spatial multiplier and the thirty year securing mechanism all bite.
Sunlight to a north facing window: what to expect
A north facing window is not assessed for sunlight under BRE guidance at all. The test that does apply measures skylight, and it is the one a neighbour objection should cite.
Anaerobic digestion on a farm: planning and permitting
Feedstock decides almost everything about a farm digester application: whether it is agricultural development, how much traffic it generates and which permit applies.
Checking coalfield referral areas before you fix a layout
A shaft under a plot moves buildings, not foundations. Check the coalfield referral status at appraisal, before the layout hardens around something that cannot be built on.
Refused on parking: building the evidence for an appeal
Councils refuse conversions on parking more often than on anything else. Overnight kerbside survey data and local car ownership figures are what shift an inspector.
Phasing a permission and drafting conditions that survive it
A phasing condition turns one permission into a sequence of deliverable parcels. Get the phase definition and the condition triggers wrong and every later phase pays for it.
Fitting a shower room into a loft conversion: the rules
A shower room inside a loft rarely needs planning permission. The soil vent pipe, the extract terminal and the new window are what the council can control.
Section 278 agreements: highway works a developer pays for
Section 278 of the Highways Act 1980 is the contract behind every new junction, crossing and footway a development builds. What it covers and how long it takes.
The biodiversity gain condition and who is exempt from it
Schedule 7A of the 1990 Act attaches a biodiversity gain condition to most permissions. Householder work, self-build and the 25 square metre de minimis test are the usual ways out.
Amenity space standards for flats: private, communal and play
Balcony sizes, communal gardens and child play space are set locally, not nationally. Where the numbers come from and how to evidence a scheme that falls short.
Slurry stores and lagoons: planning and permits compared
A new slurry store can need a prior notification, a full application, a notice to the Environment Agency and sometimes an environmental permit. The four regimes do not overlap neatly.
Using the BGS GeoIndex for borehole and ground data
The British Geological Survey publishes free onshore mapping and scanned borehole records. Used properly they shape a desk study, a soakaway design and a foundation budget.
Withdrawing a planning appeal and what it can cost you
Withdrawing an appeal is a one line notice to the Planning Inspectorate. The timing decides whether it is free or whether the council applies for its costs.
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