Understanding planning permission may sound like one humongous task destined to be fraught with stress and jumping through hoops, it can be simple in reality. If you are not proposing anything contentious or large – it can be straightforward.
For home improvements, loft conversions and extensions, the application for homeowners is called a Householder Planning Application – simpler than a full planning permission application that new builds and commercial use would require.
Simpler
The application process is now quite simple once you have experience in using the national online Planning Portal system. This service allows the application to be completed and saved online, with all supporting documents uploaded. The application fee is currently £234, but this entire process is something that your architect Cheadle can help you with.
As it is a national system, you need to understand your local authority’s planning department criteria. Without that step, you can find that the registration process could be held up once passed to the relevant local authority due to incorrect documentation.
In typical circumstances, registration takes between 1-2 weeks. Occasionally, it can take upwards of 4 weeks. That would include the local authority planning department registering the application onto their systems and maps and allocation of a case officer.
A planning department will start the 8-week target clock from the point of submission rather than the registration. Holdups and extensions of time are always something that can crop up in the process, but eight weeks is the usual timeframe that it would take to obtain your planning permission.
What Happens During?
Once your application is registered, the council will forward consultation letters to your immediate neighbours, town council and other departments deemed necessary. That could include tree officers, ecology, drainage and building conservationists in certain cases.
Not all of these will fall into your specific planning permission case, but any slow responses can hold up planning applications – especially if they request changes. Although the council will choose to consult with multiple parties, the case officer is not obliged to follow everything a consultee can reply with. As the case officer recommends decisions to their line manager, they are essential to the decision-making and will take the time to visit the whole site to see for themselves.
Would Planning Be Denied?
Thankfully, a negative outcome is unusual for householder applications – especially when everything is in accordance. The only time proposals would be rejected is if they are overly ambitious or meet with a wave of opposition. Although you will receive a denial of your planning permission, it is not necessarily the end of the project.
It does help to have your Manchester architect manage this process for you. At Cheadle Architects, we have successfully managed many planning appeals and demonstrated that the project complies with a level where planning permission should be granted.
For more information on understanding planning permission and the process, contact the team at Cheadle Architects today.
