Localism Bill Update

On Monday 17 January the Localism Bill entered the Second Reading stage, which is the first opportunity for MPs to debate the main principles of the Bill. At the end of the debate, the Commons will decide whether the Bill should proceed to the Committee Stage, which is where the each specific clause may be debated.

We will keep you up to date as things progress. In the meantime, we wish to highlight two areas of the Bill which could fundamentally change the way unauthorised development is dealt with.

Retrospective applications abolished in enforcement cases

The Bill proposes that local planning authorities will be able to decline to determine planning applications where an enforcement notice has been served in respect of the development. Furthermore, an appeal against an enforcement notice will no longer be possible on the grounds that planning permission should be granted. This would make it more difficult to for an owner to seek to resolve breaches of planning control.

Time limits for taking enforcement to be changed

At present, where there has been a breach of planning control, no enforcement action may be taken after the end of either a four or ten year period (four years for operational development and for use of a building as a single dwelling house, and ten years, for changes of use and breach of conditions).

The Bill proposes that the usual four or ten year restriction should not apply where local planning authorities consider that there has been concealment of the breach in planning control. Local planning authorities would be able to apply to a Magistrates Court to obtain a Planning Enforcement Order, which would enable them to take enforcement action, regardless of whether the current four or ten year deadline has passed.

Providing the local planning authority can demonstrate to the magistrates that they only became aware of the breach within the past six months, a Planning Enforcement Order could be obtained many years after the usual deadline for taking enforcement action.

This would throw the old certainties about the four and ten years completely in the air, as owners could potentially be the subject of enforcement action against breaches in planning control which took place years ago. The only certainty would be to obtain Certificate of Lawfulness (CLEUD) before this part of the Localism Bill comes into effect.

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