On 25th April 2024, several significant changes to the planning enforcement system took effect due to amendments introduced by Chapter 5 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023). While many of these changes include transitional provisions, they will profoundly impact future enforcement practices. I will focus specifically on explaining these changes and what the new time limits mean for property developers and other property owners.The new legislation
Section 115 of LURA 2023 modifies sections 171B(1) and 171B(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) 1990. These amendments extend the previous four-year time limit for Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) to take enforcement action against planning control breaches.
The new limit is ten years from either “the date of the breach” or “the date on which the operations were substantially completed.”
Up till 25 April 2024, the Local Planning Authority could only take enforcement action for four years in relation to breaches, which are building and engineering works. The four-year rule also applied to the unlawful change of use of a building to a single dwelling house.
However, it is important to note that the extension of the enforcement period does not apply retrospectively. Therefore, building works that were completed or operations that were substantially completed before the new provision came into force are not caught by the change in time limits.
How could the new legislation affect property developers and owners?
Since the new law came into force, the Local Planning Authority will have longer to investigate and to consider taking enforcement action against development that they consider to be unauthorised.
If your development was not complete or substantially completed before the deadline, it will only be immune from enforcement action after ten years. Indeed, over time, it may become increasingly challenging for property developers and homeowners to obtain evidence of when a development was completed / substantially completed. This is likely to mean that the four-year rule will no longer have effect in practice.
However, the legal position is that as the change is not retrospective, if the development was completed / substantially completed before 25 April 2024, the 4-year period still applies.
Therefore, to avoid any disputes with the Local Planning Authority, clients who take the view that the 4-year rule still applies to their development may be well advised to start work on gathering any relevant evidence about when a change of use to a single dwelling house or about building or engineering works took place.
As long as the Local Planning Authority has not commenced enforcement action, clients may also want to consider applying for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm the position with the Local Planning Authority.
How can Fortune Green Legal Practice help?
As town and country planning solicitors, Fortune Green Legal Practice advises many clients on planning enforcement matters. Get in touch for more information.
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