Many clients complain that this is exactly how they feel about the refusal of a planning application or the decision to issue an enforcement notice. What they have done seems trivial and completely harmless compared with what has been allowed elsewhere. However you may feel about the decision, something has to be done about it. If you ignore an enforcement notice it will have significant and painful consequences. Conversely, if the right action is taken the notice can simply disappear. Let’s look at a typical enforcement scenario.
Suppose you have done some work that required planning consent but didn’t obtain it first, for example an extension to a house. Upon discovery, the council are likely to serve you with a planning contravention notice by which you are required to provide them with answers to a set list of questions. They will want to know such matters as: who owns the house, what is the size of the extension, over what period was it built, do you have any documents or receipts for work done, and so on. They must then decide whether it is necessary to take enforcement action. They shouldn’t if they feel that planning permission could be granted and will invite you to apply for planning permission instead.
If not, they will issue the enforcement notice which will describe the breach (“the erection without planning permission of an extension”), what must be done to rectify the breach (“remove the extension, return the house to its original condition and remove all demolition materials from site”), the time by which this has to be done, and the date when the notice takes effect.
This is the point at which you should take advice. You have two choices: comply with the notice, or appeal against it. In fact there is a third option: do nothing and await the summons to go to court. The maximum fine for non-compliance is £20,000 and, with or without a conviction, the council can send the demolition gang in and charge you for the cost.
You should be made aware that there are set grounds of appeal, and the consequences of succeeding on any of them. The principal grounds of appeal are:
A That planning permission should be granted. The Planning Inspector will assess the impact of the extension and consider the local and national policies. If the appeal is allowed planning permission is granted and the enforcement notice is quashed.
C There has been no breach of planning control. For example, the extension may have the benefit of permitted development rights and no planning permission was needed. The enforcement notice will be quashed.
D That it is too late to take enforcement action. If the extension was built more than four years ago it becomes immune from enforcement and the notice will be quashed.
G Insufficient time has been allowed to comply with the notice. This ground will only really achieve further time for compliance so that the notice will still have to be complied with in all other respects.
This is at best a brief overview of the process and does not consider other enforcement steps that the council may take such as the service of a breach of condition notice, a stop notice, a temporary stop notice or injunction. However, the advice remains the same. Take proper advice at the earliest possible opportunity. Taking no action, or the wrong action, can have dire consequences.
