Certificates of Lawfulness forms

If your building is listed then you may also need to make a Listed Building Consent Application

Please make sure you have checked our validation checklist (National and Local Requirements) below before submitting your application. If you do not send all the information we need your application will be deemed invalid.

S191 Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for an Existing use or operation or activity including those in breach of a planning condition

Please use this form when the development or use has already taken place but did not receive planning permission. For instance, if you would like formal confirmation that planning permission was not required as the work carried out was within the tolerances of Permitted Development; or if you believe the development is exempt from enforcement action due to the length of time that has elapsed since the structure was built or the operation/use commenced. All unauthorised structures (and also unauthorised use as a dwelling house or self-contained flat or maisonette) require a four-year period of proof, while all remaining unauthorised uses and breach of a condition require a ten-year period of proof.

S192 Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for a Proposed Use or Development

Please use this form when a person wishes to find out whether any proposed use or operations would be lawful and therefore whether any planning permission is needed.

If granted, a Certificate of Lawfulness has the benefit of:

1. Giving you a decision which is legally binding, and where a development is lawful providing a defence against any planning enforcement; it also serves as acceptable proof to mortgage lenders and loan arrangers.

2. Providing a decision which will appear in the statutory planning register and be disclosed in land searches made on the property, which in turn will give subsequent owners certainty over the planning status of the particular development

General advice relating to applications for lawful development certificates

When a home owner/applicant wishes to establish whether an extension or change of use is lawful and therefore does not require planning permission from the Local Planning Authority (LPA), the LPA will receive an application form, fee and plans showing the proposed development and will issue a certificate once it has been established that planning permission is not required for the proposal.

This is assessed on matters of fact (set out in the General Permitted Development Order) and is not assessed on merit, or against adopted policy or guidance or how the development will impact on neighbouring residents.

The Council is not obliged to consult neighbours on such applications.

In cases where the land owner is confident that the proposed development does not require planning permission, they can proceed without the benefit of receiving a Certificate of Lawful Development or Use and therefore the LPA would have no knowledge of the development (although Building Regulations may be required). However, the LPA strongly advises that an application for a Certificate of Lawful Development or Use is sought to avoid any possible enforcement action where the development may indeed require planning permission and not be acceptable