When does development officially start

[Bournbrook]

Hi. We are going to be building a new house in the garden of current house starting next year. However we are keen to demolish a garage in the current garden. Although this was part of planning we could obviously do this anyway without planning permission. 
if we do this, would the development have officially started? Obviously we could do this completely separately to our actual house development, so I’m not sure where we stand. 
any info welcome. Thanks. 

[nod]

Check with your Cil 

Ours said we where ok Stripping the slates off the roof But nothing else 

No heavy machinery Diggers etc

[Bournbrook]

1 hour ago, nod said:

Check with your Cil 

Ours said we where ok Stripping the slates off the roof But nothing else 

No heavy machinery Diggers etc

Thank you. I have checked all documents and can’t see anything. Do you know which particular form?

[nod]

It wasn’t a form 

For both builds I contacted the Cil by phone 

They where quite clear Cut trees and clear the plot Remove slates but not joists No heavy machinery 

On our second build the SE required test holes I contacted them again and asked about taking a mini digger on 

There response was that I could take a full size digger on But leaving it there Or storing it onsite would constitute a commencement 

 

Im not sure if the Cil applies to you 

But that’s the main one 

Planners are more likely to tell you to stop what you are doing and that’s pretty much it 

Unless there’s a complaint It’s unlikely anyone will know 

Except All of BH 😁

[DevilDamo]

If it is noted on the approval, you could demolish it and then submit a Lawful Development Certificate application for an existing use. That will then confirm commencement.

 

But before any works start, make sure that any pre-commencement conditions or CIL requirements have been dealt with first. 

[nod]

Just to add The cil can be sleeted out over the phone Within a couple of days 

[Bournbrook]

47 minutes ago, DevilDamo said:

If it is noted on the approval, you could demolish it and then submit a Lawful Development Certificate application for an existing use. That will then confirm commencement.

 

But before any works start, make sure that any pre-commencement conditions or CIL requirements have been dealt with first. 

Thank you. That’s why I’m trying to ascertain whether cutting back hedges and taking down a garage would be classed as development as we still have outstanding pre commencement conditions to clear. 

[DevilDamo]

You will not be able to justify commencement without discharging any conditions or requirements first. Otherwise, you’d be in breach of Planning and open to enforcement action.

[Bournbrook]

30 minutes ago, DevilDamo said:

You will not be able to justify commencement without discharging any conditions or requirements first. Otherwise, you’d be in breach of Planning and open to enforcement action.

Hence the title of this post. Trying to ascertain if cutting back hedges (which we could without planning as part of gardening) would count as ‘commencement’

[DevilDamo]

No, that would not meet the definition of commencement. And even if it did, you would still need to discharge any pre-commencement conditions or requirements first.

[G and J]

We’re facing a similar question for our build. We’ve both a garage and a bungalow to demolish.  
 

We’re going to declare a start to the CIL team (ours are lovely and helpful on the phone) before we do anything but shrub clearance.  The CIL team were happy that we declared a start way too early - their attitude was better too early than too late.   It’s a similar thing with our party wall agreements, we’ll be notifying of a start well before the main demolition event takes place, but there’s lots of prep to do and we don’t want to risk an accusation of starting before giving notice. 

 

We cleared trees before planning was granted, which was a good thing. 
 

Site insurance is a consideration.  We’re currently insured as an empty house till mid January, and may well start site insurance then rather than renew.  But that means we are wary about doing stuff that would be questionable re the house insurance before then. 
 

With any luck, we’ll have building regs approval and planning conditions sorted by mid Jan and can start demolition after that knowing we’ve got our ducks in a row.  
 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

>>> There response was that I could take a full size digger on But leaving it there Or storing it onsite would constitute a commencement 

 

BTW these detailed rules are made up by the LPA (and therefore different between LPAs) - they’re not in the statute. So, you could argue them in court if you need.

[G and J]

26 minutes ago, Alan Ambrose said:

>>> There response was that I could take a full size digger on But leaving it there Or storing it onsite would constitute a commencement 

 

BTW these detailed rules are made up by the LPA (and therefore different between LPAs) - they’re not in the statute. So, you could argue them in court if you need.

I prefer my cheaper and lower stress approach based on a phone call.  The CIL thing is only one consideration, but you might find your area’s CIL people are just as helpful as East Suffolk.  Remember to smile when you call ‘em.  That smile does somehow make it to the other end of the line.