January 2021 - CB Homes

Site notices for planning applications

After registering the application, site notices for any applications that fall within a Conservation Area or relate to listed buildings or a public right of way will be displayed. In some areas, councils want site notices for all applications to be posted near to the proposed building works. These days, quite often, the applicant is required to post these notices and provide photographic evidence that this has been done. A public consultation period of three weeks then starts.

The council will write to any neighbours who may be affected by the construction to ask if they want to look at the plans and make any comments. The council will make statutory consultations to the local Highways department, and if applicable, the Environment Agency. This public consultation period also allows any other interested parties, such as the local parish council or specific interest groups to make any comments on the plans and express their views.

Expert planning help

Remember, if any aspect of your planning application is likely to be considered at all contentious, your planning expert will have provided a planning statement that demonstrates how your proposal is in compliance with planning policy. A design statement will also have been drawn up that provides more information about your project. Similarly, if your plot of land is in a conservation area or is near to listed buildings, a heritage statement will also accompany your application. The Council’s Highways department will be interested to see a traffic statement if access to the plot has any potentially dangerous aspects.

If anyone wants to make any representations on your application, these will be logged on the council website, along with any consultation responses. A neighbour for example, might raise an issue. The local planning authority will take into account any written comments, providing they are strictly relevant to the application and ‘material’ to planning issues.

Can neighbours block your planning permission application?

Reduction in value of a neighbour’s property is not a material planning consideration. Also, remember that you can’t be refused planning permission just on a neighbour’s opinion, for example if they are worried about noise.

If a project has been previously rejected on the same site then a similar scheme is likely to be rejected, unless the revised scheme specifically addresses the concerns raised by the Local Planning Authority in its previous refusal. Your own age, status of health or background are also not valid grounds for refusal of planning permission. The length of time it may take to carry out the construction is also not taken into consideration.

Planning officer site visit for your self-build

Once the consultation period is over, the planning officer will visit the site at some point before a further five week period. Planning officers are busy people, under considerable time pressure. Although you can try and contact them to arrange a site visit, they may well prefer just to turn up and may not always have time to meet with you. As well as visiting the site itself, they may also take the opportunity to view it from adjoining properties.

The planning officer is likely to be looking at ecological issues and also Flood Risk. If your site is categorised within Flood Risk zones 2 or 3, as defined by the Environment Agency, you should have submitted a flood risk assessment with your application. This is why it is so important to get issues like this checked by an expert before making the application as matters such as these, or appropriate drainage strategies for example, can be addressed in the application, with documentation to show how your design mitigates any issues.

What’s next?

Following the site visit, you can stay in touch with the planning officer to find out how your application is progressing. Sometimes, a planning officer may tell you in advance of the final decision that your project is likely to be denied planning permission, particularly if it is just a small tweak needed to the design. In these circumstances you may be allowed to make a change to your design so it can still go through.

The planning officer assesses your application against local and national planning policies. They will be looking primarily at the design, scale and layout of the proposed building. They will also be looking at highways issues and car parking allowance. They will take note of the location of the proposed development and its impact on the landscape, the local environment and ecology, such as trees, and neighbouring property.

You will hear when the planning office has made a decision on your case by email or by letter. You can keep an eye on the council’s website, which will show when the status of the application has changed. Most planning applications are decided within an eight week period. Particularly large or complex applications can take up to 13 weeks.

How much does it cost to apply for planning permission?

If you are carrying out your self-build project via a turnkey solution from a self-build specialist, the cost for applying for application is included in the overall fee. If you are managing the process yourself, it currently costs £462 to apply for a new single dwelling in England. Apart from the separate costs for architectural plans, additional costs you need to allow for are those involved in preparing the plans and documents and having necessary surveys carried out. If you need to revise your plans in any way to secure planning permission, this might incur further architect’s costs too. It is sensible to allow for around £2,000 for the planning permission part of the self-build process.

Contact us to find out more about our free planning advice and full self-build turnkey package, which includes the management of the whole planning application process.

Self-build planning permission

At the start of your self-build project you need to consider whether you need planning permission. You usually need to get planning permission if you are constructing something new, making a major change to a building or changing the use of it. It’s more than likely that your self-build project will need planning permission. It is possible to have planning permission granted retrospectively but there are also many reported cases of an entire building needing to be demolished. It’s never worth taking the risk of going ahead with building work without planning permission in place.

Going it alone or full self-build package?

Just as you can project manage the construction of a self-build yourself, it is entirely possible to take care of the planning application process yourself too. However, as with project management, you may decide that you would prefer to have someone else take care of the whole process for you. Our full turnkey self-build package includes every aspect of planning, from initial free planning advice, preparing all the planning submission documents, managing the entire process through to the decision. We have the advantage of decades of experience in streamlining the process, as well as enjoying close working relationships with Local Authorities.

If you are taking care of the planning application yourself, it is well worth taking expert advice at least initially.

One of our planning experts, Steve Goodwin, of Goodwin Planning Services says, “If I could only offer one piece of advice to anyone embarking on a self-build, it would be to ask a planning expert to do a site visit and appraisal before embarking on any work at all.

“A planning expert can advise you from the outset whether a project is likely to be acceptable or unacceptable in principle, saving potentially thousands of pounds pursuing an unacceptable site and, if acceptable in principle, guiding you on what will be needed to support your planning application.”

Fitting in with the Local Development Framework

When you are considering a plot of land and working out whether it is viable for building or not ,you need to investigate relevant planning policies and find out if development is promoted in your area. Find out which Local Planning Authority and neighbourhood boundary it falls under and if they have a Local Plan or Neighbourhood Plan in place which sets out a development framework. You will find these documents on the local council’s website.

Once you have looked over these plans, consider whether your self-build project would be in accordance with any existing Local Development Plan or Neighbourhood plan? Is it inside the settlement boundary? Is it Green Belt or a Conservation Area or an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)? If you are looking at a replacement dwelling, find out if the existing building is listed or identified as a Building of Local Importance.

Planning applications are usually decided in accordance with the development plan. If your project needs to be an exception to the plan, you will need to be able to justify it within your application. It is important that you can say why you think your proposed development should be allowed to go ahead.

Timing of surveys is crucial for your planning application

Ecological issues are really important for almost all development. In Cheshire, for example, any project involving either demolition or restoration is highly likely to require bat and bird surveys. You should consult an ecologist as soon as you can. There are seasonal ‘windows’ when these surveys can be carried out. If you miss out you may have to wait the best part of a year to complete them before being able to start the planning application process. As well as looking at the potential impact on native species, the ecologist will also recommend what mitigation measures you need to put in place. This detail will need to be included in your planning application. You also need to consider any trees around the plot and find out if any of them have Preservation Orders. Flood risk is another key area to investigate too.

Other material considerations that the council’s Planning Officer will be looking at are any potential impacts on neighbours, highways implications for access, particularly if it is an isolated spot, or its proximity to an industrial site as this might have noise implications for future occupants. Any of these issues will need to be addressed in your application.

Outline or full planning application

You can apply for outline planning to see if the principle of residential development is allowed or you can proceed straight to a full planning application. There is more cost associated with putting in the full application as you need your whole design to be complete, along with architect’s drawings. Generally speaking, if your application is quite straightforward, there is no reason not to go straight to the full planning application.

Prior to submitting an application, you can also have informal contact with a planning officer if you want to. You may be charged for this. Their response will demonstrate if the principle of the project is acceptable and makes it less likely that you will submit an invalid application. You can discuss any potential issues such as infrastructure, including highways, footpaths, power and phone lines and how to address them. You can ask if the council is likely to refuse permission or to impose particular conditions. Remember that it is worth exercising caution though, as councils can tend towards being a little negative at this stage, in order to cover their backs further down the line when the full application is submitted.

Online or ‘old school’ planning application

To apply for planning permission, you need to submit a planning application. Planning applications can be made and paid for online via the Planning Portal. Planning fees are set nationally. Following the portal’s instructions will show you what type of application you need to make and also which council you need to apply to. The portal has provision to attach documents, fill in the application forms and submit them. You can save as you go and return to it later. If you want, you can still make the application in a more old fashioned way by downloading and printing out the forms and posting hard copies of everything to the council instead.

Your planning application will need to include detailed architectural drawings, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) form, and the Land Ownership certificate. If you do not own the site, or if you only own part of the site, you will need to serve the appropriate notice on the owner.

Details matter, be consistent in your planning application

The external appearance of a home and the finishing materials used are becoming increasingly important to Local Authorities. You can keep the application section on materials quite general if you wish but you will need to provide details anyway at a later date, so you may as well provide all the details in your application, down to the type of bricks you are going to use. Once you have committed to this level of detail, it is important that you stick to it when it comes to the build. This is because planning permission will be granted on the basis of all the details you are submitting in your application, so any changes risks invalidating it. As well as meticulous attention to details like this, consistency is absolutely key. For example, a small difference between an elevation drawing and the corresponding floor plan will cause delay in validation.

Once you have submitted your application you are allowed to make minor amends. This is comparatively straightforward to do, but it’s obviously preferable to be sure of all the details before your submission.

Contact us to find out more about our free planning advice and full self-build turnkey package. This includes the management of the whole planning application process.

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