LAWFUL DEVELOPMENT CERTIFICATES
The system of Lawful Development Certificates provides the possibility of obtaining a statutory document confirming that the use, operation or activity named in it is lawful for planning control purposes on the dates specified in the document. Once it is granted, the new type of certificate remains valid for the use or development in it, on the land it describes, provided there is no subsequent material change in the circumstances.
The grant of a certificate applies only to the lawfulness of development carried out, or proposed, in accordance with the Planning legislation. It does not remove the need to comply properly with any other legal requirements, such as consents required under the Building Regulations, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or the Listed Building and Conservation Areas Act 1990. These are only a few examples. If in doubt, please check with the Planning department.
A certificate granted for an existing use, operation or activity will specify (by reference to a plan or drawing) the area of land included in the certificate and describe the precise nature of the use, operation or activity which is certified as lawful. The certificate will not protect you from enforcement action by the planning authority if you subsequently change the specified use ‘materially’ without making a planning application for it.
A certificate granted for a proposed use or operation will describe the precise use or operation on a site in the terms considered permissible without the need to make a planning application for it.
The certificate will always give reasons why the use, operation or activity is, or would be, lawful and will conclusively establish the lawfulness of the use. A certificate granted for an existing use, operation or activity will not protect future development on the site. For example, an extension to an existing building described in the certificate, or the intensification of an existing use will not be covered.
A certificate granted for future use or operation will protect future development, but only if the future development is as described in the certificate and is undertaken before there is any material change in relevant circumstances. If the limitations specified in a certificate are exceeded, the landowner or occupier may be liable to enforcement action by the planning authority for any resulting breach of planning control.
You may apply for a certificate if you wish to find out whether any proposed development which would otherwise be ‘permitted development’ (by virtue of provisions in the General Permitted Development Order) requires the submission of a planning application and what is called an ‘environmental assessment’. You may also apply in order to find out whether there are any special restrictions on proposed development because the land is, or is near to, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area (under the European Community’s Birds Directive), and in future a Special Area of Conservation (under the European Community’s Habitats Directive), and your proposal may have a significant effect on the site.
Making an Application
Your application should be made in writing. The Council will provide an application form but you must also provide sufficient factual information for the authority to decide the application. You and your agent are responsible for providing the necessary information. Without sufficient or precise enough information the authority will be justified in refusing a certificate.
An application must specify in reasonably precise terms what the use, operational development, or other activity is, or is proposed to be. The Council need not consider any proposal which does not include specific details of what it involves. Nor need they answer general questions on what could be undertaken on the land or what is lawful. The planning merits of the use, operation or activity in the application are not relevant. The issue of a certificate depends entirely on factual evidence about the history and planning status of the building or other land and the interpretation of any relevant Planning law or judicial authority.
Fees for applications
You will have to pay a fee to the Council when your application is made. These fees are broadly linked to the fee payable for a planning application. In brief (though there are exceptions), the fees are:
(1) for an application for an existing use of land or operational development not supported by an ‘established use’ certificate, the same as for an equivalent planning application
(2) for an application for a proposed use of buildings or other land or any operations proposed to be carried out in, on, over or under land, half the fee for an equivalent planning application
The fees are set out in Regulations and the Planning department will be able to tell you what fee is required with your application.