Lavingham Planning Consultants

Planning and Development Specialists in Yorkshire and the North East

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What do you know about Ag Tags?

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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.

 

What exactly is a Certificate of Lawfulness?

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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.

What are the benefits of using a professional planning consultant?

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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?

  • We like to get involved early in the process to view any plans and give our opinion on them to consider local council regulations and policies.

 

  • This could save a lot of money from the outset to prevent costs to redraw plans and other tweaks, or progressing a scheme      which the Council wouldn’t accept in principle.We can assess your current situation and ensure your necessary documentation is ready to go!

 

  • We can liaise directly with the planning department on the Client’s behalf and handle any Council requests and objections. Having one central point of contact can allow appropriate responses to be supplied to the Council and the Client being advised on what changes may need to be made to appease the Planning Committee.

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.

 

  • Handling your case at Appeal

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.

 

Thinking of making some changes in 2019?

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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!

But do you know where to start? Then perhaps we can help!

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.

Ten questions you should ask your town planner

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Ask away!

  1. Which authority/council will make the decision regarding my proposed project?
  2.  What is this council’s attitude towards development projects?
  3.  What experience do you have with applications to this particular authority?
  4.  Do you recommend a pre-application meeting with the council planners? Why or why not?
  5.  Do third parties (including neighbours) have a right to object to our proposal? If so, do you recommend neighbourhood consultation?
  6.  How long will the Planning Application process take?
  7.  Do I have a right of appeal to the council decision?
  8.  Do third parties (including neighbours) have a right to appeal the council’s decision?
  9.  In the event of an appeal, where are the likely costs?
  10. Will there be a need for additional applications to other authorities and at what cost?

For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.

Building on Brownfield sites, can digital tools help?

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The National Housing Federation has recently showcased its tool for highlighting over 17,000 brownfield sites, totalling 27,700 hectares and potentially providing land for nearly 1 million homes.

This digital tool has been welcomed as a great way of seeing brownfield sites, but hasn’t considered some of the land that is not publicly owned or some parcels of land that are no longer available due to local plans being amended and updated.

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) have welcomed the provision of the tool as a potential to help tackle the housing crisis but are keen to for it to be used with caution and can help Local Authorities to see the potential of sites within their areas.

It will be interesting to see how these tools develop and help provide LAs, private developers and planners with options on sites in their areas and potentially achieve options on these instead of venturing onto green field sites.

We work with Local Authorities and private developers to look at land potential and can provide a wide range of services to assist with their assessment and future planning application options.

For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.

 

How do I know if my barn conversion will need planning permission or not?

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We are often asked many questions about planning permission, and unfortunately a Yes or No is not always the answer. Of course we would always advise getting professional support when submitting a planning application on a range of options.

One area we often speak to our clients about is ‘what permissions are needed for barn conversions.’

Here are some of the situations where your planned barn conversion will not be permitted development and will still need planning permission:

  • if it is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)
  • if it is a listed building
  • if it isn’t on an agricultural unit (e.g. if the barn is in a garden or paddock rather than on a farm).

Outside these rules, there are numerous grey areas to find out about.  We would be able to advise you on whether your planned conversion is permitted development or not.

Interested in finding out more?

For more information, please contact us at info@lavingham.com or send us a message via our social media platforms.

 

We could be your planning specialists, come and say Hello!

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We are town and rural planning and development specialists.

We have been in business for the last two years but have developed a huge amount of experience as our principle, Andrew Cunningham, has spent 10 years of his professional life working in North Yorkshire in a local authority as part of their planning team.

In addition, to this varied experience, Andrew also holds an MSc in Town Planning and is a full member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. This experience, qualifications and excellent local authority knowledge of handling the full range of planning application types is a perfect way to ensure that your planning application is managed through the complex and increasingly challenging planning system.

Andrew set up Lavingham Planning Consultants to apply his specialist knowledge of planning particularly in a

  • rural
  • urban
  • heritage context

to provide comprehensive, good value advice, tailored to client’s needs, to achieve the best possible outcome for clients, hopefully adding value to their property, portfolio or land holding.

We are based in North Yorkshire but engage with clients throughout the UK.

We do not charge a fee for an initial local site visit, or a telephone or email consultation about your development proposal. So please do contact us via our social media platforms, give us a call or drop us an email, with your enquiry!