planning permission - any tips on how to get past first base?

[BitLessTiredNow]

We are looking to do a self build on a patch of land a relative is willing to sell to us, but when we tentatively questionned the local planning authority they siad no chance as they thought it was agricultural. But the land is technically part of this person's garden. Any ideas, oh great and wise ones?

when you say techincially If it has restrictions on it and has had no previous strcuture you may have an uphill struggle . We were thinking of buying house with an extra part of "garden" acquired from adjacent landowner but it was still designated greenbelt and we could not so much put a garage on it.

it's a small holding, but the bit of land is part of the garden not a field and is in the deeds as such. I am so clueless about all this.

i built in my garden even tho the planners said they didnt thinlk it was big enough etc

You need to find out what the local plan says about this area, and then we can perhaps advise further. To find this out, go onto the district/borough whatever council website, go onto the planning section (sometimes under 'environment' and find out what the Adopted Local Plan is - it could be a Local Plan, a UDP or similar. Hopefully you will be able to find a plan which shows the whole of the area, and you will be able to zoom in on the area that you are looking at. From this you should be able to tell us whether the land is Green Belt, open countryside, within a village or whatever. You then need to look at the relevant policies that relate to these areas in relation to new housing. FOr instance, lots of places have the fact that in 'open countryside' you will only be allowed to build new houses if they are replacing an existing one or need for an agricultural or forrestry enterprise. If you can find this out and get back to us, we may be able to offer a bit more advice... (we, as in there are several people on Mumsnet that have this sort of expertise)

even enclosed garden can be classified as greenbelt if that is what it was designated originally.

thanks so much mistlethrush - that is really very helpful. I will get to it!

Talk to the planners informally.

If you can prove the land has been used as garden for more than 10 years, then you can apply for a "Certificate of Lawfulness" to get it formally recognised as such. Once you've done that, you may stand a better chance of getting planning permission.

But as others have said if you're in green belt, aonb or aglv then it's very hard to get anything through (we're in all 3 and struggling to get permission to use the inside of an outbuilding!).

I am so grateful for all these tips. i have looked at the adoption plan, but can't really make sense of it. It really is the only site we can go for as I have to get close to mum to look after her but I don't suppose that kind of approach will be of any use? Also, I was idly surfing and came across some firms advertising help to get planning permission through, do you think they are worth bothering with initially or would it be a waste of money?

Get a planning consultant - they will know how to work all this out.

I am a planning consultant! BLTN, can you give me an email address so I can contact you and I will have a quick look for you....

i would love to - I am not set up for CAT - I will do it tonight when the children are in bed. I am most grateful, MT.

I can't CAT either... can you do me an email I can contact you on with putting words for the punctuation or something?

ok - I don't mind if you don't! it is andyanddebs at t-online dot de Lookk forward to hearing from you, Mrs lovely helpful!

I'd ring the local Planning Department and ask to speak to someone in their Planning Policy section - they should know the relevant Local Development Framework (new name for Local Plans) policies and be able to point you in the right direction so you can look at the policies yourself (almost all plans are now online). If you don't get much help, you could always ring again and ask for someone in the Development Control section - they are the planners who actually deal with assessing planning applications so should know the local area very well (the Policy section devises the policies by which planning applications are assessed - hope that makes sense!). As with most things, it just depends who you get on the end of the phone and how helpful they are!

If its in a rural area, most plans will have policies relating to garden development - sometimes called 'backland' development. They usually relate to the location of the village development boundary (if its outside of this it can be v difficult to get planning permission), and issues such as access ie would the site need a new access or could it be shared with the existing property.

Many plans are currently being revised, so it may be worth asking if the village development boundary is due to be reviewed and changed and the timescale for this - a lot are due to the pressue for new housing in rural areas.

One last thing - the Planning Department should also be able to let you know how to find out it planning applications have been made on the site previously - this can be very useful in terms of finding out the policies used and reasons for refusal etc. Agree with comments re using a local planning consultant, especially if you think the policies are not exactly favourable - tho they can be a bit pricey!

Hope all that doesn't put you off! Good Luck!

BLTN - I emailed you - did it arrive (a bit confused about the thing after the dot - just de?

And just so you know, not all garden development is 'backland' - if it has a frontage to the road it isn't. Its only if it is behind the established line of houses and effectively has a narrow drive between two other properties, which passes their gardens then widens out enough to get a house in.

Not all settlements have development boundaries, and most LDF's have not progressed far enough to be the 'statutory development plan yet' - but this is why I said I'd have a quick look for you!

Ooops - didn't mean to confuse! Know planning can be a minefield especially with all the jargon involved and its not always easy to generalise!

cheers OWW - mt, I have e-mailed, and the land to the left of the house does have a gate direct onto the road.