Lavingham Planning Consultants
Planning and Development Specialists in Yorkshire and the North East
We enjoyed our 5 year birthday for Lavingham Planning Consultants earlier in the month.
We thought we would share some of our fun facts we have calculated over this time.
If you’re thinking of your next big project, then please let us know, we would love to help.
We offer a free consultation for new clients, so please do drop us an email at info@lavingham.com. Or use our contact form online.
If you don’t feel you have the skills, time or budget for a planning application process you could consider arranging your planned work so it falls within permitted development rights (no planning permission required)
Some loft conversions and property alterations can be considered under the permitted development rights.
Points to note if you are considering this as an option:
As with every part of the planning process, it’s best to do your research and get advice from the local authority if you’re unsure about what you can do. Even if your alterations are permitted development and don’t require planning permission it is worth getting this in writing from your local authority for future conveyancing purposes. It is important to note that most Councils charge for this service.
Why not call us for a FREE consultation today. For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
Make sure you:
Why not call us for a FREE consultation today. For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
As part of our role as a professional planning consultant we often act for our Clients when the applications are dealt with by the local Council Planning Committee.
Standing up and speaking in public can be daunting for some of our customers and we have found we can provide concise policy driven information related to your cases eloquently to the committee to get a positive outcome.
Understanding the way the Planning Committee works and knowing what they want to hear can take some time to process whereas we have experience from both sides of the table you hopefully get the outcome you desire.
We have recently been successful in representing one of our Clients in the Committee process where the recommended decision from the Planning Officer was to refuse the application, but by standing and speaking for our Client we were able to relay the true facts of the application to the Committee and the development was approved. Our Client was delighted.
You would be surprised how cost-effective Planning Committee representation is. Do get in touch to find out how we offer great value as professional planning consultants.
Why not call us for a FREE consultation today. For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
Not a lot? Then let us help you!
Some property on farmland has been restricted to Agricultural Occupancy (and have an Ag Tag) meaning they limit the use and occupation of the property to those employed in agriculture and were originally aimed at ensuring that the dwelling remains available to the wider agricultural workers community.
But the removal of an agricultural occupancy condition, or a certificate of lawfulness to regularise the non-compliance with it can increase the value of the dwelling by up to 30% so it is well worth considering.
We firstly look at what the circumstances are regarding the occupancy of the property to see if either route is appropriate for the Client.
The first route to addressing the ag-tag is by an application to the Local Authority to remove the condition from the original planning consent.
The Local Authority is only likely to remove an ‘Ag Tag’ if it can be proven that there is no need for the dwelling to be retained for agricultural workers’ occupancy.
Part of the way to prove this is to advertise the property for a period of between 8-12 months for sale at a realistic sale price. At the end of that period if there is no interest in the property it is appropriate to have an independent market assessment carried out by a surveyor, taking into account the marketing exercise to demonstrate that there is not an existing or foreseeable need for the dwelling. This feeds into a planning justification statement on why the ag-tag condition is no longer appropriate.
The second route to achieve this is by applying for a certificate of lawfulness. Sometimes ag tag properties have not been occupied by agricultural workers for over 10 years, and where this has continuously happened and the Council has not taken any enforcement action against this, a Certificate of Lawfulness can be applied for to make lawful the occupancy of the house by non-agricultural workers. This does not remove the ‘ag-tag’ condition from the original permission but makes lawful the occupancy of the house by non-agricultural workers. Robust evidence needs to be provided to the Council about the occupancy of the dwelling to evidence the non-compliance with the ag-tag occupancy condition.
Is this something we could help you with? Why not call us for a FREE consultation today. For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
We recently mentioned we had been successful in obtaining a Certificate of Lawfulness for one of our clients. We were pleased to get this sorted for the Client, but thought it would be a good time to explain more about how and why this needed to be obtained.
The property had had the approved house foundations poured in the early 1990s, but no further building action had taken place after that. We felt that the planning permission was still live, but it was vital for the Client to be able to prove to the local planning department that the permission previously granted was still valid and binding. The process of investigating this can be quite lengthy and it is advisable to seek professional help like ours to get this sorted. Our investigation of this not only involved discussions with our Client but also delving back through the historic records contained at the North Yorkshire County Records Office.
So, what is a Certificate of Lawfulness?
A Certificate of Lawfulness, in this case, allows you to make a formal application for a certificate to determine whether your development can become lawful through the passage of time and can be continued without the need for further planning permission.
In this case the planning permission had been given and foundations laid, but no further building action had been taken. It required us to fully investigate the case, speak to Building Control to ascertain that they were still functional enough to build upon.
The issue of a certificate depends on factual evidence we can gather about the history and planning status of the site or building and interpret any relevant planning law. The granting of a certificate applies only to the lawfulness of the development carried out.
We were able to supply this evidence in this case, to allow the Council to provide the Client with the certificate to satisfy any future interest or enforcement for the local planning authority, and to allow the Client the certainty that the permission for their house was valid.
Sometimes planning work can take up more time than you would like so it is advisable to take some professional advice. This is where we can help you. Why not call us for a FREE consultation today. For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
Well we would know, so here is what we think!
Many planning consultants have previously worked for local councils or private planning practices – YES, we have, we have worked for over ten years in a Local Authority planning team as a Planning Officer and understand how your local council planning department works!
What else can we offer?
Councils always request more information than you think, and a planning consultant can always be on hand to provide additional information in response to any additional questions.
By knowing the planning legislation and the rights of objectors and yourself as the applicant for the scheme, a planning consultant will handle your case on your behalf.
If your development hits a snag and ends up at Appeal your planning consultant will become your point of contact and handle the whole process for you.
The start of a New Year is always a good time to get your life in order and make some plans – New Year, New You! This can also be the case if you are thinking of developing land to build a property to be your forever home or as a project if you are new to developing!
Here some top pointers to look at:
Consider – The purchase price, purchase date and settlement.
Consider – Is there stamp duty on the purchase price?
Consider – Have you allocated budget for conveyancing and legal costs?
Consider – Consider some budget for architects, professional consultants, engineers, project managers and surveyors
Consider – Actual construction costs
Consider – Other rates and taxes based on property values
Consider – A contingency budget
Missed a couple on this list, or just need a friendly planning expert to chat to, then please get in touch and we know we can provide you with the up to date policy and planning information you need.
For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.
