Planning Permission

Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 defines 'development', except where the context otherwise requires, as the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land. Planning permission from the Local Planning Authority (LPA) is generally required before development is carried out.

GOV.UK guidance indicates that planning permission will probably be needed to build something new, to make a major change to an existing building such as an extension, or to change the use of a building. Applicants must contact their LPA, via their local council, both to check whether a project needs permission and to apply for it.

If a project needs planning permission and the work is carried out without obtaining it, the LPA can serve an enforcement notice ordering the changes to be undone; it is illegal to ignore an enforcement notice, though it can be appealed. Not all development requires an application — some works fall within 'permitted development' rights, which allow certain changes without a separate planning application.