The Planning Enforcement Team make sure that land and buildings are used and developed properly. Unauthorised or harmful development can negatively affect the community, environment, and quality of life. So, enforcing the rules is an important part of the development process.
It's important for the public to understand how the Council handles suspected planning violations. Any breach of planning rules, whether intentional or not, will be addressed quickly, effectively, and fairly.
The Planning Enforcement Team has various enforcement powers to fix issues caused by rule-breaking.
Usually, there's a right to appeal. While most planning violations aren’t illegal, it becomes a crime if an enforcement notice is ignored. In such cases, we can choose to prosecute if it's in the public's best interest.
Breaches of planning regulations
Breaches of planning regulations can be varied and may comprise:
- Development without planning permission, like: building or engineering operations, and changing the use of land or buildings.
- Breaches of conditions on a planning permission, listed building consent, or conservation area consent. Or, building differently from approved plans.
- Unauthorised works to a listed building or demolition of a building in a conservation area;
- Felling or work to a protected tree or a tree in a conservation area
- Unauthorised display of advertisements
- The untidy condition of land or buildings which adversely affects amenity.
Some minor works or activities are not "development." and do not need planning permission. For example:
- Internal works to buildings (except listed buildings where listed building consent may be required)
- Works that do not materially affect the external appearance of a building
- Repair or renew sewers, pipes or cables
are usually exempt from planning control.
Maintenance is also usually not considered development.
Some building works are permitted development. They don't need a planning application.
Householders have extensive permitted development rights. They allow domestic properties to be altered or extended without seeking planning permission first.
The Planning Portal provides guidance on many common householder projects.
Making a complaint
Before reporting a planning violation, you should:
- Check if the work needs permission – not all building projects require planning approval.
- Check the planning application – see if the development you’re concerned about has been approved. Also, check what was approved and any conditions attached to it.
You can report a suspected breach by completeing our Enforcement complaint form :
You can upload photos to the form. We encourage you to do so if it helps, as this can make our investigation faster.
We won't reply to your complaint unless we need more information from you.
Confidentiality
All planning complaints and related files are confidential. The public cannot access these files, and we do not reveal the identity of complainants or any personal information. We cannot investigate anonymous complaints.
Priorities
Enforcement action is optional, and we respond based on the seriousness of the suspected breach.
Since we get many complaints, we focus on those causing the most harm. Minor breaches or issues better handled by other laws will be closed after a quick review.
Priority 1 - High
A serious risk to public health, safety, or the community, such as developments causing heavy pollution, major traffic hazards, or storing dangerous materials.
Permanent harm to the environment, including:
- unauthorized work on or demolition of a listed building,
- breaking conservation rules, like demolishing protected buildings or structures,
- unauthorized work on or cutting down a protected tree.
Priority 2 - Medium
- Unauthorised and unacceptable development in the Green Belt
- Unauthorised developments causing nuisances to neighbours through noise, smells, congestion, or new extensions.
- Breaches of planning permission that harm residential amenity or cause nuisance to neighbours through noise, smells, or congestion.
- The unauthorised display of large advertisements facing a main highway
Priority 3 - Low
- Unauthorized and inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
- Unauthorized developments causing problems for neighbors, like noise, smells, traffic, or new extensions.
- Breaches of planning rules that negatively affect neighbors with noise, smells, or traffic.
- Unauthorized large advertisements facing a main road.
Breaches we cannot investigate
The following issues are not covered by planning rules, so we can't investigate them:
- Breaches of deeds, covenants, trespassing, or property damage – you'll need legal advice.
- Party wall disputes – refer to government guidance for help.
- Report Building Regulations violations and dangerous buildings to Building Control.
- Health and safety concerns should be reported to Environmental Health.
- Parking issues, road obstructions, and public paths should be reported to the Council's Highways Service.
- Noise disturbances and fly-tipping should be reported to Environmental Health.
- Environmental issues like large-scale dumping or river pollution should be reported to the Environment Agency.
- Anti-social behavior can be reported to Environmental Health or the Police.
Enforcement action
If there is no breach of planning control, both the complainant and the landowner/occupier will receive written notification explaining how that decision was reached.
If a breach has occurred, the Enforcement Officer will:
- Inspect the site to confirm the facts. If it’s a serious breach (priority 1), they will advise those responsible to stop all work and/or unauthorized uses.
- If possible, try to resolve the issue informally through negotiation.
- If appropriate, request a retrospective Planning Application or a Certificate of Lawful Use or Development Certificate.
The complainant will be informed in writing about the outcome within five working days of the decision.
If a retrospective application is not received, or if it is denied, the Council will consider whether to take formal enforcement action based on the severity of the breach and the harm it causes. Enforcement action will be taken when:
- The breach is causing enough harm to justify action.
- There is no realistic way to make the breach acceptable through negotiation or a retrospective planning application.
- If a retrospective application is denied or negotiations fail, we can use various formal enforcement powers to address the harm caused by the breach.
Any enforcement action must be appropriate to the scale of the breach and the level of harm being caused or potentially caused.
Most breaches of planning control are not criminal offenses, and the main goal of planning enforcement is to fix the harm, not to punish the offender.
Pursuing minor breaches of control does not support good planning. However, failing to take action when necessary could be seen as poor administration.
We will not take enforcement action just to resolve private planning issues that have limited public impact, such as disputes between neighboring landowners.
Appeals
You have the right to appeal against Enforcement Notices to the Secretary of State. Information about how to appeal is provided when a notice is issued.
Appeals can be handled through a public inquiry, an informal hearing, or written statements.
When you appeal, the notice can be canceled, upheld, or changed.