Plain-English articles and guides on retrospective planning permission, enforcement notices and the planning system — written by Chartered Town Planners (MRTPI).
Whether you have received an enforcement letter, need to regularise works carried out without consent, or want to understand the time limits for retrospective planning applications, our articles explain the law, the process, and your realistic options. Every guide is researched and written by MRTPI Chartered Town Planners who handle retrospective planning permission cases every week.
The two questions every retrospective planning case starts with.
In our experience, around 70% of retrospective applications are approved, 10% are approved with modifications, and 20% are refused. Here's why the success rate is higher than most homeowners expect.
Read article →The 4 and 10 year rule explained — including the 25 April 2024 changes under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, and how to use a Lawful Development Certificate.
Read article →Everything we know about retrospective planning, in one place.
The honest answer to the most common question we hear — with the legal definitions, the three preliminary tests, and the realistic outcomes.
Read article →How to tell whether your works needed consent in the first place — and the five common situations where permitted development rights have been quietly removed.
Read article →A five-step plan for responding to a council enforcement letter, written by Chartered Town Planners. The deadlines, the notice types, and the route forward.
Read article →The legal definition under section 171A TCPA 1990, the categories of breach, and the council's expediency test that decides whether enforcement follows.
Read article →What to do when a pre-commencement condition was missed and the works have already started — the section 73 route back into compliance.
Read article →The four most common objections councils raise — neighbour concerns, policy non-compliance, enforcement risk and cost — and how to address each one.
Read article →Exactly what councils expect in the application pack — drawings, statement, forms and supporting documents — and the validation traps to avoid.
Read article →HMOs, short-let annexes, agricultural to commercial, shop to takeaway — when a change of use needs consent and how to regularise it after the fact.
Read article →The most common type of retrospective case. Why most home extension cases are approvable, and how the application is drafted to give the case officer everything they need.
Read article →The 1 metre / 2 metre rule, when consent is needed, and how to regularise an unauthorised boundary treatment that has triggered a council letter.
Read article →The 30cm rule, the overlooking question, and the structured planning arguments that get raised decks approved despite neighbour concerns.
Read article →A Chartered Town Planner will give you an honest, written read on your case — for free.