PlanScope Blog – Page 335
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 335
8692 articlesHabitats regulations assessment: what an applicant supplies
Under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 the local planning authority is the competent authority. Your job is to give it enough evidence to reach a lawful conclusion.
Part 6 agricultural development and the prior notification
Schedule 2 Part 6 of the GPDO gives farms two different sets of rights depending on the size of the unit. Both need a prior notification before most building work starts.
Checking a technical report before it is submitted
Most defects in a technical report are found in twenty minutes by someone who reads the conclusion before the summary. Here is the order to read in and what to send back.
Discharge of conditions fees and how to reduce them
Conditions are discharged by application, and the fee is charged for each request regardless of how many conditions it covers. Which changes how you should bundle them.
Planning permission for a purpose-built shared house
Building a shared house from scratch takes you outside Class C4 and outside permitted development. Here is what the council will test and what evidence to file with the application.
CIL liability notices, assumption and the surcharges
The Community Infrastructure Levy catches self-builders on procedure rather than price. Here is the order the notices have to follow, what each failure costs, and how to challenge a determination.
The free go: when a resubmission carries no fee
The fee regulations exempt one further application from the fee where the applicant, the site and the character of development are unchanged and twelve months have not passed. Here is exactly what that covers.
Planning permission for a veterinary practice
A veterinary practice is usually a Class E use, which makes the use class the easy part. The application turns on animal noise, anaesthetic extract, clinical waste storage and out-of-hours access.
Part 20 upward extension of blocks of flats
Airspace development on a detached block of flats is permitted development subject to prior approval, but ownership, structure and fire safety decide whether a scheme is deliverable. Here are the limits and the practical gates.
Writing a scope of works that gets the report you need
A scope of works that names the deliverable, the standard, the revision rounds and the exclusions makes fee proposals comparable. Here is how to write one and how to normalise the quotations that come back.
Building regulations charges compared with planning fees
Planning permission and building regulations approval are separate consents with separate charging structures. Here is how each is priced, where the routes differ, and the costs that sit outside both.
Unilateral undertaking or section 106 agreement
A unilateral undertaking and a section 106 agreement do the same legal job, but only one needs the council's signature. Here is how to choose, who has to be a party, and how to draft so the deed completes quickly.
Planning permission for a natural burial ground
A natural burial ground is a sui generis change of use, and the Environment Agency's groundwater separation distances decide more applications than landscape or traffic ever do. Here is how to test a site and build the case.
Class ZA demolition and rebuild: the route nobody uses
Class ZA permits demolition and residential rebuild through prior approval, but the replacement is confined to the old footprint and the building must have stood empty for six months. Here is what qualifies and when a full application is better.
Who can produce a whole life carbon assessment
Whole life carbon assessment has no licensing regime, so the report itself has to demonstrate competence. Here is what the RICS methodology requires, why the quantities matter most, and how to review an assessment for scope gaps.
What a refusal costs once redesign is added in
A refused householder application costs far more than the fee once redesign, repeated surveys and months of delay are counted. Here is how the bill builds and how to decide between resubmitting and appealing.
Certificates of lawful existing use: evidence that persuades
Section 191 certificates are decided on fact and law, with the burden on the applicant. Here is how the immunity periods changed in 2024, which evidence carries weight, and how to deal with the thin years.
Planning permission for a co-living scheme
Large-scale purpose-built shared living sits outside every use class, which gives councils wide discretion over the standards applied. Here is how to frame the classification, the amenity case and the obligations.
Class R: agricultural buildings to flexible commercial use
Class R turns redundant agricultural buildings into storage, offices, shops or workshops through prior approval rather than a planning application. Here are the current limits, the four matters the council can consider, and the trap around Class Q.
CIEEM membership grades explained for ecology reports
Councils asking for a suitably qualified ecologist usually mean Full CIEEM membership. Here is what each grade covers, where Chartered Ecologist status fits, and why the survey licence matters more than the post-nominals.
Judicial review costs and the environmental cost cap
Judicial review is the only route to challenge a granted planning permission, and cost exposure decides most cases before the law does. Here is how the Aarhus cap works, what it leaves exposed and what to try first.
Refused on flood risk: the sequential test at appeal
Sequential test failures are decided before the merits of a scheme are ever weighed. Here is how to define the search area, evidence site availability, answer both limbs of the exception test and judge the appeal prospects.
Time limits on permissions and how to keep one alive
Section 91 gives most permissions three years to begin, section 92 sets a two-stage clock for outline schemes, and renewal applications no longer exist. Here is how to protect a permission before it expires.
Planning permission for a care home or extra care scheme
The C2 classification decides more about a care scheme than the design does, from affordable housing policy to CIL. Here is how to evidence the use class, the overheating criteria for vulnerable occupants and the parking case.
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