Planning applications are the one part of the planning system everybody has heard of, but that doesn’t make them straightforward. Plenty of good proposals have fallen by the wayside because the application hasn’t considered the impacts correctly. Making a winning submission takes time, expertise and a huge amount of patience. That’s where we come in.
Before you make your application, you will most likely need to request pre-application planning advice from the local planning authority (LPA). To obtain this advice, you will need to send a location plan and a description of the development to the LPA. The rules around pre-application requests are fairly relaxed and advice is given without prejudice to any future planning application. You can submit as much or as little information as you like: the more you submit, the more detailed a response you can expect. The LPA’s pre-planning advice should set out whether it is minded to support the proposal. Just as importantly, it will list the supporting information that must be submitted with the application.
When it comes to making your planning application, there are several types to consider:
Full Planning
This does what it says on the tin: you send the LPA the full detail of your development proposal, including all floorplans and elevations plus descriptions of outdoor finishes and surfaces. If approved, you must develop the land exactly as shown on the drawings. If you know what you want and you will be developing the site yourself, this is often the best option.
Outline Planning
If you are planning to sell the site and will not be developing it yourself, outline planning may be a better option. The application must set out the use of the land, the scale and volume of development but matters such as the exact dimensions, materials and design features can be reserved for later. If you get planning permission by this route, you will need to submit the reserved matters within a specified timeframe. It takes longer, but it does mean you can sell the land with more flexibility.
Change of Use
Planning applications don’t only cover physical work. If you want to use your land differently, you will often need to make a planning application for a change of use. If you wish to change the use of the land and put up a building at the same time, you can do this in a single application; there is no need to apply for the two separately.
Certificate of Lawfulness
This is useful if you have bought a site and you become aware that development has taken place without planning permission. If you can prove that the use or building has been in existence for at least the last ten years, the LPA can grant you a certificate stating that the development is lawful, even if it would not have approved an application for such development. Once the certificate is granted, the LPA cannot take enforcement action against the use or building at a later date.
Prior Notification
Certain types of development may be built without going through the full planning application process. This is most common when planning for farm buildings. The reason it is called ‘prior notification’ is that you are notifying the LPA of your intention to put up a building rather than asking for permission. The LPA can only request certain types of supporting information. Valid applications will be deemed approved if the LPA does not respond within a set timeframe.
It typically takes between a few weeks and a few months to prepare a planning application, depending on the scale of development and nature of the site. It will then take a few more months for the LPA to make its decision. We can pull the whole application together for you and oversee all the negotiations with the LPA that follow.
