Enforcement: What if you have gone ahead without planning permission or Building Regulation Approval?

Make anenforcement complaint or find out more information about enforcement.

If you required permission for work the council may simply ask you to apply retrospectively. However, this can depend on the nature of the development and its effect on neighbours so the Council may consider it necessary to take enforcement action.

This involves issuing notices setting out the steps required to put things right and the date by which these must be implemented. You may be required to cease activities, or demolish problem buildings. If you have not complied with a condition imposed on the grant of planning permission, the council may issue a breach of condition notice requiring you to carry out work to abide by the terms of the condition.

You can appeal against this but if an appeal is dismissed and a notice becomes effective, it is an offence not to comply and the council can prosecute. Enforcement proceedings can be time-consuming and disruptive so it is as well to be sure about the planning situation before going ahead with any development.

There is no right of appeal against a breach of condition notice and you will risk prosecution if you do not comply with it. The reason for this is that there is a right of appeal against the original imposition of a condition on a planning application.

A guide to Enforcement Notice Appeals is available from The Planning Inspectorate.

Where the Building Regulations have been contravened, the Council can depending upon the seriousness of the particular case, take enforcement action for a fine and/or require the offending works to be corrected to comply with regulations or in extreme cases require the offending works to be completely removed.