A clear way of seeing whether you need planning permission or not for work on your home is provided in the form of an ‘interactive house’ on the Planning Portal website. For major applications, the Advisory Team on Major Applications (ATLAS) produces an interactive guide setting out all the stages in the process.
- Development management
- Householders
- Your involvement
- Resources
Development management
Permission
Any significant development needs to obtain permission from the local planning authority. This system of development control is increasingly known as ‘development management’. This change, which is discussed in a guidance and discussion document on the Planning Advisory Service website, means that local councils are focussing less on regulation and more on using development management to implement the formal plans for the area.
If you are thinking of developing in an area, it is important to talk to the local authority as soon as possible so that you can understand their policies and they can advise you on what may be acceptable.
Process
Local planning authorities are currently subject to targets with a requirement to decide on 60 per cent of major applications (10 or more units of housing) within 13 weeks and 65 per cent per cent of minor applications within six weeks. An increasing number of authorities are entering into Planning Performance Agreements, a process introduced in April 2008, in which local authorities work together with developers on major applications – working to agreed timescales. A guide to these has been produced by the Advisory Team on Large Applications.
Appeals
If an application is refused – or has conditions attached to it that are unacceptable to the applicant, the applicant can appeal against the decision and this will be heard by an independent Planning Inspector who, in the great majority of cases, will have the final decision (except for any further appeal on legal process grounds). The Planning Inspectorate website gives advice on how to appeal.
Change
The system of development management is changing. The Department for Communities and Local Government has already removed the requirement to apply for permission for a very significant number of alterations to people’s homes. This is covered in the housing policy section. Further changes, designed to make the system more proportionate, less complex and more inclusive are contained in a Government commissioned report published in 2008:
Householder developments
Currently, over 50 per cent of applications are termed ‘householder development’ (dormer windows, porches, boundary walls, etc.) but changes brought in by the Government in October 2008 are designed to remove the need to get permission for many minor alterations and make it easier to fit energy generating and energy saving devices.
A clear way of seeing whether you need planning permission or not for work on your home is provided in the form of an ‘interactive house’ on the Planning Portal website.
Back to Planning - introductionYour Involvement
Your rights
Anyone has the right to support, object to or comment on an individual planning application. Every local authority now provides lists of new planning applications on their websites and you may be able to get direct e-mail alerts of applications in your area. Local authority websites will provide copies of the planning application itself and of the plans that accompany it. You can view the plans at local authority offices.
If you are directly affected by an application, for example if you will overlook the proposed development, the local authority should inform you of it by letter and must post notices on the site of an application.
‘Planning Matters’
It is worth checking what is and is not a ‘planning matter’ when it comes to commenting on an application. Your local authority website will contain this information.
Speaking at Committee
Many local authorities allow objectors who are particularly affected to speak at the planning committee, made up of local councillors, at which the application is decided.
Appeals
If the application is turned down, or has conditions imposed on it that the developer finds unacceptable, the developer can appeal to national government. The appeal is heard by one of a panel of independent inspectors and, if you formally commented on the original application, you will have the right to send in evidence to be considered at any appeal.
Resources
There are a number of handy guides to the planning system and, in particular to the process of making a planning application. These are equally useful to those who might want to support or oppose an application as they help you understand the processes that have to be gone through. The Department for Communities and Local Government produces two guides – one on the planning system as a whole and one for business:
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