TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING Flashcards
what is planning restriction
- Planning restricts development of land to ensure that uncon-trolled building does not take place. Planning law is imposed by local authorities. Planning afects conveyancing because
it imposes requirements on building on, and alteration of, property. - Apart from statutory controls over the development of land, a buyer also needs to be aware that land may be subject to private planning restrictions. These may take the form of
restrictive covenants which might prohibit or limit develop-ment (for example, a covenant not to build a further dwelling on land or not to build on the land at all). - On the exam, do not confuse planning issues and title
issues. The appropriate planning permission may be
obtained for building work to a property, but if there is a
TOWN AND COUNTRYPLANNING ACT 1990
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (‘T&CPA 1990’) gov-erns the development of land in England and Wales. Under
T&CPA 1990, planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land. Development is defned in
T&CPA 1990 as:
(i) Carrying out** building, engineering, mining,** or other oper-ations in, on, over, or under land; or
(ii) Making any** material change of use **of any buildings or other land.
Building operations include** structural changes or additions** to a building or building something on a piece of land. Material change of use is interpreted broadly and covers the conver-
sion of one house to two fats or a house to a shop and a fat.
Planning Permission Can Be Deemed or
Express
T&CPA 1990
If a property owner wants to carry out ‘development’ as de-
fned in the Act, they must obtain planning permission either by deemed permission or by express permission as the result of a formal application to the local authority.
Deemed Permission
Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995
1.The Town & Country Planning (General Permitted Devel-opment) Order 1995 allows certain types of development (‘permitted development’) without the need for express
consent because permission is deemed to be granted for the specifed works. Examples of the types of de-velopment covered by permitted development include small home extensions within certain size limits, porches, fences, or conservatories.
- The local authority can exclude locations, such
as a conservation area, from the permitted development rights by passing an Article 4 Direction. This enables the local authority to maintain stricter control over de-velopment in its area. An Article 4 Direction means that
if a property owner wants to make even minor changes to the property (for example, erecting a porch, installing new windows), they will need to make an application for express planning permission.
Express Permission
T&CPA 1990
There are two types of express planning permission:
1. Outline Permission
2. Detailed Permission
Outline Permission
Outline permission gives broad permission as to the prin-ciple of development on the land in question subject to‘reserved matters’ (these are issues such as the detail of
the materials to be used, which must be approved by thelocal authority). If there are reserved matters, there will haveto be a full application within three years of the outline
permission to obtain approval on those matters. Work muststart within two years from approval of the reserved matters.
Detailed Permission
- Detailed permission is a more complex and costly ap-plication, involving the submission of full plans to the local authority. If approved, detailed permission will allow the development to commence.
- After detailed permission is issued, the development must commence within three years of the date of the permission. Otherwise, the permission lapses.
Enforcement Action
If any development lacks planning permission or fails to
comply with a planning condition, the local authority can take enforcement action against the owner or occupier of the
property/afected land, or against any other interested party
Current Owner Liable for Breach
Planning problems run with the property, so it is no defence
if a buyer buys a property on which planning controls have been breached. The new buyer cannot rely on the fact that it was a previous owner who carried out the work without the
required permission. Therefore, the buyer’s solicitor must fnd out** before exchange of contracts** whether all relevant
planning requirements have been complied with
Enforcement Notices
If the local authority decides to take enforcement action for a planning breach, it must serve an enforcement notice. The enforcement notice must state the **nature of breach, the steps required to remedy the breach, and the time limit **to complete the required work. The local authority could also apply for an injunction to prevent work from taking place or issue a ‘stop notice’. This requires the party carrying out the work to cease the work immediately.
Enforcement Time Limits
- An enforcement notice regarding unauthorised building works must be served within** four years **of the breach.
- En-forcement notices for all** other breaches**, such as a material change of use, must be served within 10 years of the breach. If, for example, there is a breach of conditions attached to a planning permission, the enforcement notice must be served within 10 years of the date of the frst breach.
LISTED BUILDINGS
- The local search (and PIF) may reveal that the property is a listed building. This means that the building is one which has been placed on a statutory list and is likely to be an old
building of special architectural interest. - A listed building cannot be demolished, extended, or altered without a listed
building consent form from the local authority. 3.This consent is required in addition to planning permission and changes to the property are much more restricted.
Determination of Listed Status
1.If listed, the building will appear on a list maintained by an organisation called Historic England. The listing will cover the building and everything within its** ‘curtilage’ **(usually mean-ing the garden and immediate area around the buildings).
2. Buildings are listed according to their importance: Grade I includes buildings of exceptional interest; Grade II are import-ant buildings of more than special interest. The bulk of listed buildings are Grade II.
3. In an exam question, watch for any suggestion that a ga-rage or outbuilding in the garden of a listed building has been altered or developed. Listing status does not apply
just to the building in question but also to any structures or land around it. Any change to curtilage structures will thus be covered by the listing, and listed building con-
sent is likely to be required for this work as well.
No Time Limit for Enforcement of listed building
- There is no time limit for enforcement action by a local authori-ty regarding breaches of listed building status.
- It can be served on the current owner of a building irrespective of whether
they, or a previous owner, carried out the unauthorised work. - Failure to comply with an enforcement notice is also a criminal ofence. Thus, dealing with a listed building is risky.
BUILDING REGULATIONS
- Building regulations are a series of **statutory standards **in place to ensure that new buildings and constructions are built according to certain standards. Note that building
regulations are linked to building work but are separate from planning permissions. 2. Building regulations are governed by
Building Control, a department within the local authority that is concerned with ensuring health and safety standards are
met when construction takes place.