PlanScope Blog – Page 341
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 341
8429 articlesWindow and door replacement in a conservation area
Replacing windows in a conservation area may be permitted development, may need permission under an Article 4 direction, or may need listed building consent. Check which before ordering.
Which reports for a petrol station redevelopment to homes
On a former forecourt the contamination work sets the programme and the cost. Everything else in the application waits on what the intrusive investigation finds.
Agricultural units and the five hectare permitted line
Part 6 gives farmers permitted development rights, but only on an agricultural unit of the right size, and only for what is reasonably necessary for agriculture.
Council design policy for a new house in a garden plot
A new house in a garden plot is judged against design policy written specifically for backland and infill sites. Most refusals come down to plot width, separation or access.
Which reports for an 18 m residential block
At 18 metres or seven storeys a residential block becomes a relevant building for Planning Gateway One, and the Health and Safety Executive becomes a statutory consultee.
Demolishing a building: when you need permission first
Demolition is development. Most of it is permitted subject to a prior approval on method, but conservation areas, listed buildings and dwellings each work differently.
Agricultural occupancy condition and how to remove it
An agricultural occupancy condition limits who may live in a countryside dwelling. Removing it takes either a marketing exercise the council accepts or ten years of unchallenged breach.
Council pre-app for a nine-unit site: what to send
Pre-application advice on a nine-unit site is worth having, provided you send enough for the officer to give a real answer and ask questions they can actually answer.
Which reports for a basement under a Victorian terrace
Basements have their own local policy and their own report. The Basement Impact Assessment covers hydrology, hydrogeology and stability, and it is where the application is won or lost.
Small block of flats on a corner plot: permission route
Corner plots attract developers and objectors in equal measure. A five to nine unit scheme sits below the major threshold, which changes what the council can ask for.
Rural exception sites: affordable homes outside the boundary
A rural exception site allows affordable housing on land that would never be released for open market development, provided the local need is evidenced and the occupancy is tied for good.
Environmental health objections on noise from plant
A holding objection from environmental health stops an application dead. Understanding how the rating level is built, and what the officer is comparing it against, is how you answer it.
Which reports for a barn conversion under Class Q
Class Q prior approval is decided on a fixed list of matters. The application usually turns on whether the building can be converted rather than rebuilt.
Adding a second dwelling by subdividing a large house
Section 55(3) makes subdivision a material change of use even where nothing changes outside. The application stands or falls on layout, amenity space and parking.
Air Quality Management Areas: what councils ask for
If your site sits in an Air Quality Management Area, the council will ask for more than a paragraph. Here is how the designation works and what evidence answers it.
Which reports for a house to six-bed HMO application
A six-bedroom HMO sits right on the line between C4 and sui generis. Which side you land on decides whether you need permission at all, and what evidence comes with it.
Data centre planning permission: site, power and cooling
A data centre application is decided on power, noise and water long before it is decided on architecture. Here is how each of those arguments is evidenced.
Housing mix: how councils set unit size policy
Housing mix policy sets the bedroom split a council expects on your site. It comes from a housing needs assessment, and departing from it takes site-specific evidence rather than a preference.
Telecoms mast or rooftop antenna: the Part 16 route
Most mobile network development in England is permitted by Part 16 of the GPDO, subject to a 56 day prior approval on siting and appearance. Health objections carry no weight once an ICNIRP declaration is supplied.
Bin storage requirements for flat conversions
Refuse storage is one of the most common reasons a flat conversion is refused or held up at validation. The standards sit in the council's waste guidance, not the local plan.
Which reports for a shop to restaurant change of use
A shop and a restaurant both sit in Class E, so the use change alone is not development. The application, when there is one, is about the extraction flue and what comes out of it.
Vacant building credit: the affordable housing offset
The vacant building credit deducts the floorspace of an existing vacant building from the affordable housing calculation. The fight is almost always about whether the building counts as vacant.
Parking stress surveys: the Lambeth methodology explained
Councils asking for parking stress evidence usually mean an overnight beat survey run to the Lambeth methodology. Here is how the survey is set up, counted and presented.
Council highway standards: access widths and visibility splays
A new access stands or falls on visibility. The X and Y dimensions come from measured speeds and local design guidance, and the splay land has to be within your control.
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