Permitted Development - October 1st 2008

LATEST NEWS...

The Government have now released the formal ‘technical’ guide to implementing your Permitted Development rights.

Download it now by clicking here.

I never thought they would given the recent change in government but pressure was mounting on the DCLG for the formal release of this document to help us all understand the many ambiguities that have arisen over the last 22 months.

We have had it in draft since Easter 2010 as an ‘unofficial leaked version’ & all feed back indicated that it brought some much needed clarity to the situation of Permitted development since the changes in 2008.

Well now we have it & at first read all seems pretty much in tact as per the draft version but for one major change.

The combined side / rear 'wrap around' extension is dead - it is no more!

The draft version clearly stated that this was allowable. The new official version goes to great lengths with examples & explanations as to why it is not allowable.

Of all the PD questions I have received, the wrap around extension was the most requested explanation or discussion topic of all. Therefore, I know it will now cause considerable upset & amazement from many home owners at this ‘U turn’ in thinking.

The questions are:-

1 - What happens to all the current Lawful Development Certificates issued that have agreed to the wrap around extension that have not yet been implemented?

2 - Are the DCLG correct in their current guidance on the interrelationship between side & rear extensions?

3 - What happens to the current appeal decisions that offer a contrary opinion & have been allowed.

My own question to the DCLG is why the change in mind from the draft version? Were they ‘got at’ by certain powerful & influential Local Planning Authorities who were trying to prevent & restrict your building rights? Remember, only around 8 consultees were offered an opportunity to comment on the draft version most of which were LPA’s so I think the evidence speaks for itself (I.M.H.O.)

All that said, it is a very useful document that you can now officially present to each Local Planning Authority to support your Certificate of Lawful development application knowing that it now carries much more weight than the draft version did.

Let me know how you get on.

Good luck.

The promised commercial Permitted Development Rights has arrived.

We are just getting to grips with its implications - we didn't want to but we have already received numerous calls on the subject & how its is beginning to affect commercial business owners.

You can read our initial thoughts & opinions on the new regime & download the actual document as a pdf.  This could be a big growth area for some business owners who have been previously refused Planning Permission to extend or alter their existing premises especially in rural areas.

Click here to be taken to our new Commercial PD section.

WELCOME!

Welcome to the Permitted Development web site. Since October 1st 2008 new Planning Legislation is in place that allows the home owner certain rights and development benefits that they can implement WITHOUT the need to obtain formal Planning Permission. This site seeks to explore and discuss these 'PD' rights to determine what the benefits, issues and pitfalls may be.

There is a lot of confusion at the moment with regard to the new Permitted Development rights legislation of the latest revision to the 'Town and Country Planning (general permitted development Order) (Amendment) (No. 2) (England) Order 2008' being its full title.

Not only was the legislation rushed at the last moment, it is very poorly phrased and worded that will set the path for the English Lawyers and Legal System to make huge fees over the coming months possibly years until the Law courts have set various precedents for Case Law.

Download documents and diagrams of useful

Permitted Development information

Why were the Permitted Development Rights revised?

Central Government for a long time has tried to unlock the Local Planning System which is predominantly made up of 'Householder' Planning applications for domestic extensions, conversions or ancillary garden buildings. Many of these planning applications find there way to the Planning Inspectorate for the Appeal when an Application has been refused by the Local Council. This causes delays, costs. Certain academics at their 'White Hall Towers' have decided that many of these 'low level' planning applications cause unnecessary delays to the Planning System which subsequently holds up a lot of the more 'grander' high profile planning schemes. So something had to be done.

So how does this affect me?

Planning Permission is perhaps one of the most subjective and wide ranging set of issues there is for a Local Authority to consider. This leads to a variety of opinions, inconsistent assessment of relevant Planning Policy and third party interventions all seeking to have their say on what you (the home owner) want to build.

Many of you may have already been 'through the mill' experiencing these issues only to be denied formal Planning Consent - perhaps even at appeal.

Therefore, assessing what you are legally able to build on your property without formal Planning Approval is perhaps an option you are now having to consider.

However, this process is not without its hurdles and obstacles and the new PD legislation has certainly 'upset the apple cart' for a certain number of people which are mainly the Planners and disgruntled neighbours. Summary of changes to the Permitted Development

QUOTE: "Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status".

The previous Permitted Development legislation had remained pretty much in tact for the last 20 years with only minor wording revisions - The main context and assessment criteria remaining pretty much the same.

This new phrasing of the Permitted development rights that began on October 1st 2008 really is a fresh approach in most instances with a whole new assessment criteria of what you can build without Planning Permission that is generally better for the home owner wishing to develop or extend than the previous set of criteria and limitations that had a lot of Case Law as back up for clarification of certain dubious elements of the wording.

This new set of wording for the Permitted Development criteria wipes away an awful lot of previous Case Law precedents that will now be re-challenged in the Courts all over again over the next few months if not years.

Having dealt with such Planning matters for over 25 years now I can guarantee that the current wording will be revised very shortly to cater for the 'White Hall cock ups' when the Courts and Appeal systems have once again been overloaded or some 'obtuse' MP in the Shires or Home Counties has his aspect interfered with or garden overshadowed by a neighbour erecting an extension or garden building in a totally unneighbourly way without the need for obtaining Planning Permission first.

OBSERVATION: Looking at what you can build without formal Planning Permission is not just for the 'disillusioned home owner' who has just been refused Planning Permission now seeking to locate a 'second best' position for their building requirements.

It is more usual that those people wanting to maximise their development potential for a site should perhaps first consider what they can erect without formal Planning Permission and to then develop a 'two prong' design solution that seeks to obtain planning consent for one scheme but then implements the PD scheme after successfully obtaining Planning Permission for the other scheme. If you do this in the opposite manner the Planners will likely 'means test' you for what you have already achieved on the site and then consider the 'accumulative effect' of the total scheme with what you are applying for at Planning and a refusal will likely be the result.