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 new National Planning Policy Framework introduces Policy DM8, a national policy dealing specifically with unauthorised development, retrospective applications and enforcement — including substantial weight where development is found to have been intentional.
Read the article →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. This explains why the success rate is higher than many 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 →Our full library of guides on retrospective planning.
Policy DM8 introduces a national policy on unauthorised development and enforcement — what it means for retrospective applications, and the weight given to intentional development.
Read article →A considered answer to the most common question we are asked — 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 in which permitted development rights have been 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 requirements to meet.
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 planning arguments that support raised decking where neighbour concerns have been raised.
Read article →A Chartered Town Planner will provide a written view on your case, at no cost.