PlanScope Blog – Page 79
Practical guides to UK planning applications: which reports your council expects, permitted development, constraints, costs and how to prepare each document.
Articles – page 79
9504 articlesGrampian condition or deed of variation: which route
Control of the land decides it. A Grampian condition bites on the permission; a deed of variation can only change an obligation the owner is already party to.
Decking and raised platforms in a garden
The 300 millimetre raised platform threshold decides whether garden decking needs permission. Here is how it is measured and what an application must show.
Documents for a heat pump on a block of flats
Class G covers blocks of flats as well as houses, but not a communal array. Here is where the right stops and what a planning submission needs instead.
Conservation covenants and how habitat is secured
A conservation covenant or a section 106 obligation are the only two ways to secure a biodiversity gain site. Here is how covenants work and when to use one.
Air quality baseline monitoring and the twelve month year
Annual mean objectives need annual data. Here is how bias adjustment, annualisation and the council's published monitoring fit into a realistic programme.
The fire statement form and what each section demands
A fire statement on the prescribed form is a validation requirement for relevant buildings. Here is what each section expects and the drawings it needs.
Transient overshadowing plots and how officers use them
Transient shadow diagrams show extent at an instant, not duration. Here is how to produce them properly and keep them separate from the BRE sun on ground test.
Student accommodation: which use class applies
Purpose built student accommodation has no use class of its own. Here is how C3, C4, C2 and sui generis divide up, and which conditions follow.
Walkthrough: a dental surgery in a residential street
An illustrative walkthrough of converting a house to a dental practice, where the parking survey and the hours condition decided the outcome.
Design review panels and the weight of their advice
A design review panel advises, it does not decide. What decides the outcome is whether the panel report was tied to policy and whether you answered it.
Part 20 prior approval or a full application upwards
Part 20 prior approval is faster but the conditions are unforgiving. Here is how the age window, height caps and natural light test decide which route to use.
Replacing windows: when it is development at all
A like for like window swap is usually not development. Changing material, opening pattern or glazing bars can be, and flats and listed buildings follow different rules.
Which reports a micro-brewery in an industrial unit needs
Breweries get refused on odour and plant noise, and the taproom decides the use class. Here is the document pack a micro-brewery fit-out usually needs.
Lighting evidence for a padel court beside housing
Floodlit padel courts beside housing are decided on light intrusion at bedroom windows and the curfew offered. Here is the evidence that answers both.
Levy liability at 100 square metres or one home
The Community Infrastructure Levy minor development exemption applies below 100 m2 of new floorspace, but never where the development creates a dwelling of any size.
Permitted development or an Article 4 direction area
An Article 4 direction removes the automatic permission for named classes over named land. The schedule answers the question for your address, and no application fee is payable.
Commencement notices and completion notices explained
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 requires a developer to notify the authority of the start date, adds progress reports for prescribed schemes, and reworks the completion notice power.
Dormer windows on a front roof slope
Class B of Part 1 excludes work extending beyond a roof slope that forms the principal elevation and fronts a highway. Both limbs must apply, so a few front slopes can still take a dormer.
Which reports a mezzanine in a warehouse needs
Inserting a mezzanine inside a warehouse is usually not development. Retail buildings above 200 m2, external changes, a change of use and floorspace conditions are the four exceptions.
The annual five year housing land supply position
A published five year housing land supply is a snapshot at a base date, usually 1 April. Testing it means working site by site through the schedule rather than arguing about optimism in general.
Reading a Gateway One consultation response from HSE
The Health and Safety Executive's Gateway One response is a statutory consultee response, not a decision. Most points are drawing omissions or inconsistencies that an addendum answers without any design change.
Right to light against planning daylight: two tests
A right to light is an easement enforceable in the courts and measured by sky factor. Planning daylight is a material consideration assessed against BRE 209. Planning permission is no defence to an injunction.
Sui generis to sui generis: no permitted change
Sui generis uses sit outside the Use Classes Order, so there is no class to move within and no general permitted change. Even a move between two sui generis uses needs a full application.
The retail impact assessment threshold of 2,500 m2
The default national threshold for a retail impact assessment is 2,500 m2 of floorspace where a local plan sets no figure. The sequential test has no threshold at all and applies at any scale.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope