Act now before it might be too late: How the latest changes to the Planning System may not be all good news

May 4, 2009

The recently announced changes to the planning system bring welcome relief for local authority planning staff and the general public alike. For the local authority, the changes mean that the number of residential planning applications they will have to deal with will drop, which is good news for many overstretched planning departments. Some commentators believe that countrywide, this will represent an annual drop of around 80,000 planning applications.

Quite often, residential applications can be contentious and provide an opportunity for neighbours to vent their spleen over past neighbour misdemeanours. For the general public, the changes mean less bureaucracy and less neighbour control over their expansionist plans. However, the changes may not be all good news in the long term. Under the current system, local planning authorities have to apply to the secretary of state to gain approval for the creation of an Article 4 direction. An Article 4 direction is a way that the local authority can control development that takes place in specific locations by removing permitted development rights. Permitted development rights are those rights which allow certain forms of extension or indeed alteration to be undertaken without the need for planning permission. Now however, the power to sanction Article 4 directions has been passed to local authorities. The ability to exercise this power and create new Article 4 directions may well impact upon what you may be able to carry out in the future. This means that in a year's time, the right to develop your home in the way afforded in the recent reform could be totally removed.

The good news is that if you live in an area likely to be considered for an Article 4 direction, your local authority will have to give you one year's notice of its intention to remove or amend permitted development rights. If you bought your house with the intention of extending it, act sooner rather than later.

For more information regarding your property and any applicable Article 4 direction, please consult with your legal representative who handled your property purchase or contact your local authority directly.

Originally posted 22 November 2008

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