Planning Permission: Your Questions Answered
You need planning permission to develop your property. This
includes developing land, extending buildings and changing the use
of land or buildings. Other types of work you may require
permission for are those to a Listed Building or trees subject to a
Tree Preservation Order. However, some minor developments,
such as a small extension to your house or a temporary change of
use to your land, may be defined as 'Permitted Development' and may
not need a specific planning application.
Regardless of whether or not you need to apply for planning
permission for your work, you may still need other kinds of
approval.
The most commonly used planning terms may be found in
the Planning Glossary of Terms
Permitted development rights are when you can make minor
changes to your house without needing to apply for planning
permission. If you live in a Conservation Area or an Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (A.O.N.B.), permitted development rights
are more restrictive. Therefore you will need to apply for planning
permission for certain types of works which do not need an
application in other areas. There are also different requirements
if your house is a listed building or has an Article 4 Direction
issued on it.
Historical checks on buildings to see what status they hold
may take some time and is not a service that the
Duty Planning Officer can
generally provide. To enquire as to whether there are any planning
restrictions on your property please put your query into writing
and send it to the Council. Alternatively you can e-mail the query
to us.
Contact details may be found here.
We will endeavour to process your query as soon as possible and
have a target of 10 working days. However in more complicated cases
or when the offices are experiencing high workload answering your
query may take longer. Where possible please include a phone number
the case officer may contact you on in the eventuality
clarification of a certain aspect is needed.
For advice as to whether the work you propose can be completed
within the confines of permitted development please visit the
Planning Advice Page, or if still unsure please
contact the
Duty Planning Officer.
How do I obtain Planning
Permission and advice?
Most forms of development will need
planning permission, but other types of consent may also be
required:
- Listed building consent
- Conservation area consent
- Advertisement consent
For further advice on these types of approval, contact the
Duty Planner on (023) 92474174.
Detailed below is the typical process that an application has to
go through.
Pre-application discussion - you are welcome
to discuss what you are proposing to do with us before you submit
your application.
Submit application - your application will be
checked. If it is incomplete, further information or fee will be
requested. If the application is complete it will be registered and
an acknowledgement letter sent to you or your agent.
Processing the application - we will consult
with other interested organisations and notify people who may be
affected by your proposals.
Site visit - we will visit the site to assess
the impact of your proposal on your property, neighbouring
properties and the surrounding area.
Negotiate amendments if necessary - if, after
assessing your proposal, we require amendments to ensure it
complies with our policies for development, we will contact you. We
may re-consult if these amendments are significant.
Report prepared with recommendation -
depending on the type of application, this report will be
considered by either the Chief Planning Officer or the Development
Control Committee for a decision.
Decision made - a decision notice will be
issued to you or your agent. The application will be approved,
approved with conditions, or refused. If it is refused or there are
conditions attached, which you do not agree with, you can appeal to
the Secretary of State.
Where conditions attached - some may require
further details to be submitted to and agreed by us before you
start work.
In most cases we have a statutory 8 weeks to determine an
application from the date the application is valid (accepted). In
the instance of a major application this period is extended to 13
weeks.
In most instances you will find that you need both Building
Regulation Approval and Planning Permission, but this is not
always the case. To check telephone: (023)
92474174 or e-mail: planning.development@havant.gov.uk
You may start your work as soon
as you have received your approval notice and complied with any
conditions imposed by the Council.
If you build something that needs permission without first
obtaining it, you may be required to correct it later, which could
prove troublesome and expensive. You also risk having to remove an
entire building if it is not authorised.
If you should have sought
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 and the environment. If
the Council considers it necessary it will take enforcement action
immediately which will require you to cease activities, or demolish
problem buildings. Failure to comply with a notice could involve
criminal proceedings.
The cost of applications for planning permission varies.
Please check the fees for
planning applications (68Kb pdf) (Please note that to
open a PDF file, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
Full permission is usually valid for three years, however
exceptionally this may be a shorter period, details of timescale
the application is valid for will be on the planning decision
notice. You can start any time during the allowed period provided
you have satisfied any conditions requiring further details before
development starts. If you fail to do so, you will have to reapply.
If outline permission has been granted, you will need to submit for
the approval of reserved matters within 3 years. Different
timescales apply to other forms of consent, please contact the
Duty Officer on
(023) 92474174 for further advice.
If the Council refuses permission or imposes conditions it will
tell you why.
If you are unhappy or unclear about the reasons for refusal or
the conditions imposed, talk to the officer who processed your
application.
You must make an appeal against a decision on planning
permission within 6 months. After speaking to the planning officer,
if you are the applicant and you wish to appeal against a refusal
of planning permission or against a condition which is imposed on
an approval you can appeal to the Secretary of State,
click here for more information >>
There is no third party right of appeal.
To find out about recent planning applications see the Planning
Applications and Appeals weekly publicity list.
Alternatively, you can visit the Customer Services Reception
between 9.00am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday on the
ground floor of the Civic Offices in Havant.
For applications for development in the Cowplain, Purbrook,
Waterlooville and Widley areas you can view applications on-line at
the Service Point in Waterlooville between 9.00am -
5.00pm Monday and Friday only.
Service Point
Hermitage House
7 St George's Walk
Waterlooville
All objections and comments should be made in writing by the
date published in the weekly list. All letters are put on a public
file, therefore no action can be taken on letters that are sent in
confidence.
Any request for a matter to be heard by the Development
Control Committee has to be made by the end of the publicity period
as defined in the weekly publicity list the application appeared
on.
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