Lavingham Planning Consultants

Planning and Development Specialists in Yorkshire and the North East

News

Top tips to get your planning permission approved

By

First things first! Allow plenty of time for planning permission approval.

Planning applications are not decided in a couple of weeks and if you have complex plans you have to be aware that the deadline may need to be extended.

What can you do to minimise delays

  • Research your local council’s timeframes and their performance figures to be sure how your council process works within the statutory timeframes to get an idea of how much time you will need to allow.
  • Make sure your application is correctly completed with all the necessary supporting information, this is something we are happy to advise you on.
  • Be vigilant – you may receive actions to respond to, to help further your application, the quicker you respond the better, as it will help your application to continue moving.
  • Be realistic about possible delays, if your builder or contractors are ready to start work on the day of your application decision, maybe build in some time for possible application delays, you don’t want to lose your good builder!

Avoid changing plans after work has started, unless the Council specifically ask you to.

Before you submit your application make sure you pull together all of your information and get your advice ready in support of your application. Getting professional advice and support at this stage could be a vital step to ensuring a smooth application process.

Of course, sometimes, things do go awry and changes will need to be considered, just make sure you speak directly with your planning department as quickly as possible or engage a professional planning consultant to advise you at every stage.

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.

Interested in reading other blogs we have written on planning, please go here

 

Listed buildings – worth the time and effort?

By

Did you know that most building pre 1700 in the UK is likely to be on the Listed Building list?

Though only accounting for 2% of the build heritage in England, (92% are Grade II, 5.5% are Grade II* and 2.5% are Grade I)

Modern buildings can appear on the list too, if believed to be of significance, or are potentially under threat.

For everyday householders, careful consideration needs to be made on purchasing a listed building and the necessary consent you need for any work to the property.

Retrospective applications do not go down well with planning authorities if started and you must be mindful that any work undertaken before consent, is classed as a criminal not a civil offence.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel and if you prefer the heritage properties, help can be at hand with the use of our professional services to smooth the way.

With the right guidance and support, many types of work from minor repairs to large extensions are likely to be approved.

Top Tips we would recommend:

  1. Read the description of your Listed property on the Historic England National Heritage List, this will provide details of why the property is on the list and provide you with supportive information for any application.
  2. Check in with your Local Council to see what its thoughts are. This process can be assisted by working with a professional planning consultant who will already have good contacts with the Planning team. The Planning team may well have a Conservation Officer you can speak directly with.
  3. Review the previous planning history of the property to see what might have been approved and declined in the past.
  4. Do your own historical research on the property, look at Ordnance Survey plans, local archive offices to get a full picture of your building’s history.

We have worked on many projects concerning Heritage properties and understand the areas that can sometimes trip up residents who have over-ambitious plans for their heritage properties.

If you are thinking of buying one and require some research work to be completed or you currently own one and are considering some changes, please get in touch, we would love to work with 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.

Using a professional at a planning committee

By

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.

 

Planning approval rates grow

By

The number of planning applications granted has steadily increased over the last decade up from 73.5% in 2010 to 80.5% now, new research has found.

Though the number of applications submitted is down by 4%. This number has stayed quite steady in general terms and with increased approval applications the number of actual houses being built has increased from 30% to 42% since 2010.

However, the introduced ethos of ‘presumption in favour of development’ via the National Planning Policy Framework does look to have boosted approvals, with an increase of 30,000 planning permissions per annum since 2014.

Reports have suggested that the increased approval rate has allowed more homes to be completed which has been complemented by a more efficient planning system.

If you need a hand getting your planning application into shape to get it through the planning process. Please do get in touch with us.

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 do you know about Ag Tags?

By

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?

By

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?

By

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?

By

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.