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There has been a big announcement in Parliament by the Housing Minister of State about big revisions to the planning framework. These were my expectations posted elsewhere, which seem mainly to have been delivered, though not necessarily quite in this form: IMO they need to hit the vested interests which are blocks (eg speculative private land banking), in a way that aligns Local Political interests with development following the legal principles. In a way which is enforcible. My checklist of what is required: 1 Local Councillors to be focussed on long term direction / strategy / local plans, not micro-management of individual applications. 2 Individual applications to be determined by Planning Professionals following law, not Planning Committees following parish pump politics. This should also remove some conflicts of interest / opportunity for corruption, though not all. 3 Housing targets to be mandatory, and obsessed objectively. 4 Possibilities for robust intervention if local Councillors sit on their hands. 5 Planning Gain to be capped in some effective way. 6 Encouragement / facilitation for local councils to be more proactive in Compulsory Purchase, potentially involving the opportunity to intervene on sustainable (in planning terms) development sites. 7 Possibility is streamlining enforcement. 8 All of the above will require capacity building. My tentative assessments (just from the speech) on what may impact self-builders are: - Much increased pressure on councils to pass local plans, and have them in place quickly. Transitional arrangements for a few months. - The pre-Election NIMBY-pandering done by the last Government is being summarily reversed. Good. - Planning Committees powers to micro-manage individual application will be reducing. PP will be tipping towards determination by Planning Officers. - Building on grey or brown belt to become more straight forward, ie on scrubby bits of the Green Belt. Likely to be a slow-burn - 6 months not next week. - If a development follows planning principles and does not walk the edges of what is acceptable, chances of getting it through straightforwardly are better than before. - Heavy circumscribing of use of "viability assessments" by developers, which is a tool used to control the planning process. Not really relevant to self-builders, but interesting. But these are major changes, so take time to do the homework. There are a few webinars being announced. NPPF announcement and document:: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework--2#full-publication-update-history https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/675abd214cbda57cacd3476e/NPPF-December-2024.pdf

Hi all, can anyone - in brief - explain what the difference is between a planning amendment application (to PP already secured) vs a full-blown new application? We have added some (PD sized) dormers to an outbuilding without PP, I am proposing to remove 2 of the said 5 dormers as a volumetric gesture to the council, which would be submitted as an amendment to the existing PP. Our planning consultant thinks we have a solid shot of getting these dormers across the line via a full app, however... The LPA are trying to edge me down the route of submitting a full planning application, which I am reluctant to do a) because I deem it unnecessary and b) because with a full app this gives them (in my cynical view!) more ways to come at me. Finally, I really can't be bothered with the rigmarole of them flyer-ing all the deranged neighbours again, which is what would happen with a full app. So what is the difference between the two? Where does an Amendment end and a Full App begin?

As part of my planning application I have to run an ad in local newspaper, a formal notice under Article 13 of Town and Country Planning Act 2015. Cost for the classified ad seems to be about £250-300. Seems rather pricey, not to mention it being an anachronism! Anyone done this? Any tips for saving money and doing it more cheaply?

There are different views about Planning Consultants, and whether they should be used. This is a short example of a Planning Consultant offering superb advice, that most of us self-builders would perhaps not think about. The Problem I have just received a Planning Permission, after 3 months of engagement with the Council. It is a commercial Change of Use but the lesson applies to self-builder permssions. We received our permission, but on the last morning the Planning Department applied an unacceptable Planning Condition which threatened the whole project. The Planning Condition clearly violates several of the basic tests. This condition had not been mentioned in the previous months of consultation, and I did not see it until it appeared on the Decision Notice. At this point the Planning Application has been "determined" (ie decided and frozen), so the Condition cannot be modified without a further Planning Application or an Appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The problem is that a Full Appeal gives the Inspector the opportunity to reopen the basic Planning Application, and modify it - which I do not want. The Solution The recommendation from our Planning Consultant was: 1 - To apply for a Variation of the unacceptable condition, which might be accepted, then... 2 - To Appeal the Refusal of the application for the Variation if we need. The advantage is that we then if needed we can get a Determination by the Planning Inspectorate on the narrow point, while keeping all the other acceptable aspects of our Planning Permission out of their scope. The Learning Point As self-builders, we think about discharging Planning Conditions at the end of the build process. The same process can be used to vary them before we start building. It takes extra time and a fee, which is smaller than a Full Planning Application fee for a new dwelling, but does not run the risk of reopening the entire Permission to change. More information The appropriate form on the Planning Portal. Explanation of Planning Condition Variations on the Government Website.

Damn ! I realised that the maps i bought online are 1:200 and 1:500, and i already had these and so didn't need to reorder and now i find the application ACTUALLY requires a 1:1250 or a 1:2500 version. I am loathe to fork out £25 again ...is there another way to get them ? Ps I know its my fault ..i should have checked the right box at checkout and yes i have tried t contact the company and of course i havent had a response