PlanScope Blog – Page 353
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 353
8732 articlesHot food takeaway: why it sits outside the use classes
Hot food for consumption off the premises is a use class of its own. Here is what that means for changing use, and the extraction, odour and health policy that decide the application.
Garden room and outbuilding rules beyond the GPDO
A garden office is incidental. A garden room with a bed and a kitchen is not. Here are the Class E limits, the local policies that decide applications, and how to get certainty.
Which reports a telecoms mast prior approval needs
A Part 16 submission is not a planning application. Here is what the council may consider, what the ICNIRP declaration does, and the visual evidence that decides the 56 days.
Class E: what one use class now covers
Movements inside Class E are not development, so a shop can become a gym without permission. Here are the sub-classes, the uses that dropped out, and the conditions that still bite.
Annexe planning policy: ancillary use and the condition
An annexe is either part of your house or a new dwelling. Here is the test councils apply, the condition they attach, and the design decisions that settle the answer.
Which reports a place of worship in a Class E unit needs
A worship use in a shop, office or industrial unit is a change between use classes. Here is the peak-hour parking evidence, the noise work and the employment land argument that decide it.
Change of use to C4: the HMO threshold explained
Three to six unrelated sharers is Class C4, seven or more is sui generis. Here is where the line comes from, how Class L works, and what councils ask for where an application is needed.
Dormer and rooflight policy for loft conversions
Loft conversions that need permission are judged against the council's householder design guide, not the GPDO. Here is what those guides ask for and how to draw it.
Which reports a day nursery in a former house needs
There is no permitted development route from a dwelling to a day nursery. Here is the noise assessment that actually works, the parking evidence highway officers look for, and the conditions to expect.
Article 4 direction: how permitted development is removed
Article 4 directions do not ban development, they remove the right to do it without permission. Here is how immediate and non-immediate directions work, and how to check whether one covers your property.
Ownership certificates A to D on a planning application
Certificate A, B, C or D is a statutory declaration about who owned the site 21 days before submission. Here is how to choose, how to serve notice, and what evidence to keep.
Which reports a farm shop and cafe application needs
A farm shop with a cafe usually needs full permission, and the sequential test, highway evidence and extraction case decide it. Here is the document pack a rural diversification application is built on.
Curtilage listing: when your outbuilding is listed too
A barn, wall or coach house that has never been listed in its own right can still be protected. Here is how section 1(5) of the 1990 Act works, what the 1 July 1948 date fixes, and how to get a binding answer.
Invalid planning application: how to fix it and resubmit
An invalid application has not been refused, it has not been registered. Here is what the validation notice means, which local list requests are enforceable, and how to get the scheme registered without losing weeks.
Established use and the certificate of lawfulness evidence
An established use is one the council can no longer act against. Proving it is a documentary exercise, and the burden of proof sits entirely with the applicant.
Window 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.
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