Planning and permitted development
How do you read the planning history of a house?
Short answer
Every council in England must keep a public register of planning applications and their decisions (section 69 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and article 40 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015), and a register of enforcement notices (section 188). Councils publish them through their online planning search.
Search by address, then open every decision notice and read the conditions, not only the one-line summary. The things that change what you can do are usually in the conditions: a permitted development restriction, a materials or glazing requirement, a plan the building has to match. Look for refusals, appeals, enforcement, lawful development certificates and listed building consents as well.
What the register must hold
Article 40 sets out the contents. For every application: a copy of the application and its plans, the decision with any conditions and its date, any appeal decision, later approvals of details, and any planning obligation (section 106 agreement). For every lawful development certificate application: what was applied for and the decision (article 40(7)). Entries must be made within 14 days of the application or decision (article 40(10)).
The enforcement register under section 188 covers enforcement notices, stop notices, breach of condition notices, planning enforcement orders and, since 25 April 2024, enforcement warning notices.
What to look for
| Item | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A condition naming the General Permitted Development Order | It removes some or all permitted development rights for that property (article 3(4) of the Order) | Note exactly which Parts and Classes are removed |
| Other conditions | Obscure glazing, materials, hours of use, a use tied to the main house. A permission runs with the land (section 75), and its conditions with it | Check the building still complies |
| Conditions that had to be met before work started | Details the council had to approve before building began | Look for a later "discharge of conditions" application and its decision |
| Approved plans | The permission is for what is drawn | Compare the plans with the building |
| Earlier extensions | They count against permitted development limits | Draw the original house |
| Permissions never built | A permission must usually be begun within 3 years in England (section 91) | Check the dates before relying on one |
| Refusals and dismissed appeals | The reasons show what the council and the Planning Inspectorate objected to | Read the officer's report and the appeal decision |
| Enforcement notices and warning notices | If an enforcement notice's steps are not taken, the person who is then the owner is in breach (section 179) | Ask what was required and whether it was done |
| Lawful development certificates | Confirm what was lawful at a date | Read the description closely: it is only as wide as its wording |
| Listed building consents | Works to a listed building need their own consent, often shown in the same search | See buying a listed building |
Read the officer's report as well as the decision notice where the council publishes it. The decision notice must give the reasons for each condition (article 35(1)(a)), and the report explains them further, which matters if you later want to change one.
What a planning history will not tell you
- Work done without any application. Unauthorised extensions and conversions only appear if someone later applied for them or the council took enforcement action. Compare the register with the building and with old photographs.
- Work done under permitted development. Most permitted development needs no application, so nothing is recorded. Larger rear extensions and extra storeys go through prior approval, so the council will usually hold a record of those.
- Designations. Conservation areas, listing and article 4 directions are recorded elsewhere. Check the National Heritage List for England for listing, and the council's own pages for conservation areas and article 4 directions.
- Building Regulations. Building control records are separate. A buyer's local search asks for approvals and completion certificates as its own question.
Before you buy
A conveyancer's local authority search asks the council, in the Law Society's CON29 form, which planning permissions, listed building consents, lawful development certificates and Building Regulations approvals exist for the property (enquiry 1.1), and whether enforcement notices, stop notices, listed building enforcement notices and similar have been issued or are proposed (enquiry 3.9).
The search tells you what the council has decided. It does not check that the house matches those decisions. That comparison is yours to make: plans against the building, conditions against how the house is used. Unauthorised work may be immune from enforcement after time, but the period for building work finished on or after 25 April 2024 is 10 years: see the 10-year enforcement rule.
Before you design
The history sets the starting point. It tells you whether permitted development is still available, how much of it an earlier owner used, and what the council has already refused. Decisions on neighbouring houses show how the council has applied its policies on the same street, including what it has allowed.
What this means for you
Search the history before you instruct a designer or exchange contracts. Start with the planning constraints checker for the designations, then read the council's register for the address and its neighbours.
Sources
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 69 (register of applications) legislation.gov.uk
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 188 (register of enforcement and stop notices) legislation.gov.uk
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 91 (duration of planning permission) legislation.gov.uk
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sections 75 and 179 legislation.gov.uk
- Development Management Procedure Order 2015, article 35 (decision notices) legislation.gov.uk
- Development Management Procedure Order 2015, article 40 (register of applications) legislation.gov.uk
- GPDO 2015, article 3 (conditions restricting permitted development) legislation.gov.uk
- The Law Society: CON29 forms lawsociety.org.uk
- CON29 Enquiries of local authority (2016), specimen form, enquiries 1.1 and 3.9 shropshire.gov.uk