Planning Enforcement Orders
24 January 2012
Category: Planning
Landowners could face action from local planners...
The new Localism Act 2011 will attempt to deal with fraud or abuses of the planning system and deliberate concealment. As of April 2012, the Act could see landowners facing a breach of planning control and open to action by a Local Planning Authority (LPA) if there is possible case of concealment of the facts.
Jennifer Hadland of Smiths Gore’s Planning Team says “Landowners who have genuine evidence to support an application for a lawful use certificate need to act quickly before these new enforcement provisions come into force on 1 April.”
The 'Fiddler’ case, where a castle was constructed while hidden by bales of straw, and the 'Beesley’ case', where a barn was converted into a house using the façade of the barn to conceal the new dwelling, were both widely reported in the press. As a result the Government intends to target such breaches of planning control, and LPAs will be given an extended period of time in which to take action against land and property owners who have set to out to deliberately conceal development. This Planning Enforcement Order will be irrespective of the normal 4 or 10 year time limit for enforcement action.
Although there is currently some debate as to what constitutes ‘concealment’, and it is probable that such debates will only be settled in the courts, the new rules are meant to deal with deliberate deception.
Once the Act comes into force an Order could be triggered by landowners making an application for a Certificate of Lawful Existing Development or Use (CLEUD) in respect of a breach of which the authority may previously have been unaware. As a result, any landowners with sound evidence to support an application for a lawful use certificate should give serious consideration to regularising their position before the Act comes into force. This would minimise any risk of an order being served on properties in their ownership.
If you therefore have any issues with regard to the lawful use of a building or wish to discuss any of the above in greater detail then please do not hesitate to contact:
Jennifer Hadland MRTPI: 01325 462966 jennifer.hadland@smithsgore.co.uk
Robert Murphy MRTPI: 01325 462966 robert.murphy@smithsgore.co.uk