Lawful development certificate - change of use land
Discussion
Just wondering whether anyone has experience of obtaining one? We are about to put our house on the market and need to get a certificate for our garden. Essentially we have a field next to the house and have used a smallish part of it as a garden for the past 20 years. Hopefully not too difficult proving contained use as have loads of photos of the kids in the garden from babies to early 20s.
Just interested to hear anyone else's experience of applying for a certificate for a similar change of use. I'm part way through the Planning Portal process but it's unclear whether I need sworn statements or just emails/letters to back up our claims. Any help much appreciated!
Just interested to hear anyone else's experience of applying for a certificate for a similar change of use. I'm part way through the Planning Portal process but it's unclear whether I need sworn statements or just emails/letters to back up our claims. Any help much appreciated!
We've dealt with them before.
You provide whatever evidence you can (and bear in mind that the LPA will be looking for counter-evidence). Sworn statements from yourselves as owner are kind of the last resort (but does no harm as an addition to more solid evidence); statements from neighbours are better. Documentary evidence, historic photos, historic maps etc. is better still.
One thing to remember is that the breach of planning must be continuous, both for it to be proven, and to prevent it lapsing, Another is that it doesn't confer you and PD rights, so don't go thinking you can build a shed or anything on there once it's granted - you'll still need Planning Permission (at which point I would suggest a combined application for formal Change of Use) for that.
You provide whatever evidence you can (and bear in mind that the LPA will be looking for counter-evidence). Sworn statements from yourselves as owner are kind of the last resort (but does no harm as an addition to more solid evidence); statements from neighbours are better. Documentary evidence, historic photos, historic maps etc. is better still.
One thing to remember is that the breach of planning must be continuous, both for it to be proven, and to prevent it lapsing, Another is that it doesn't confer you and PD rights, so don't go thinking you can build a shed or anything on there once it's granted - you'll still need Planning Permission (at which point I would suggest a combined application for formal Change of Use) for that.
I have recently successfully done one. The key point is I believe that there is no right of appeal to the final decision. Thus it is imperative to get every possible bit of relevant evidence however small or however inconvenient to you to obtain.
Electronic photographs are great as they are date stamped in the metadata. Things being delivered to the site with addresses and dated invoices, I know it’s a garden but turf maybe? Sworn statements from as many relevant people as possible, especially not family members.
Good luck it can be a lottery.
Electronic photographs are great as they are date stamped in the metadata. Things being delivered to the site with addresses and dated invoices, I know it’s a garden but turf maybe? Sworn statements from as many relevant people as possible, especially not family members.
Good luck it can be a lottery.
Equus said:
We've dealt with them before.
You provide whatever evidence you can (and bear in mind that the LPA will be looking for counter-evidence). Sworn statements from yourselves as owner are kind of the last resort (but does no harm as an addition to more solid evidence); statements from neighbours are better. Documentary evidence, historic photos, historic maps etc. is better still.
One thing to remember is that the breach of planning must be continuous, both for it to be proven, and to prevent it lapsing, Another is that it doesn't confer you and PD rights, so don't go thinking you can build a shed or anything on there once it's granted - you'll still need Planning Permission (at which point I would suggest a combined application for formal Change of Use) for that.
Firstly, many thanks for commenting - really helpful. Do statements from us, neighbours etc need to be sworn in front of a solicitor? Re: sheds,, there is a shed on the 'garden' that has been there for 20 years. Does that need a separate certificate application? Our main evidence is photos of the kids in the garden. Hopefully this will be sufficient! Thanks againYou provide whatever evidence you can (and bear in mind that the LPA will be looking for counter-evidence). Sworn statements from yourselves as owner are kind of the last resort (but does no harm as an addition to more solid evidence); statements from neighbours are better. Documentary evidence, historic photos, historic maps etc. is better still.
One thing to remember is that the breach of planning must be continuous, both for it to be proven, and to prevent it lapsing, Another is that it doesn't confer you and PD rights, so don't go thinking you can build a shed or anything on there once it's granted - you'll still need Planning Permission (at which point I would suggest a combined application for formal Change of Use) for that.
bigmowley said:
I have recently successfully done one. The key point is I believe that there is no right of appeal to the final decision. Thus it is imperative to get every possible bit of relevant evidence however small or however inconvenient to you to obtain.
Electronic photographs are great as they are date stamped in the metadata. Things being delivered to the site with addresses and dated invoices, I know it’s a garden but turf maybe? Sworn statements from as many relevant people as possible, especially not family members.
Good luck it can be a lottery.
Many thanks for the advice. I was concerned that photos weren't date stamped but it sounds like the meta data is good enough. I was going to group them into pdfs but probably better to send the original files. CheersElectronic photographs are great as they are date stamped in the metadata. Things being delivered to the site with addresses and dated invoices, I know it’s a garden but turf maybe? Sworn statements from as many relevant people as possible, especially not family members.
Good luck it can be a lottery.
We obtained a Certificate of Lawfulness for our garden about three years ago. We’d bought the house two years earlier, conveyancing solicitor had missed it. We used photographs, statement from the gardener who had been working here for 20 years, statement from previous owner and an e-mail exchange we had with the owner prior to that who confirmed he had used the land in question as a garden and then refused to actually make an official statement ! Prior statement’s were witnessed by a solicitor. I think it also helped that there was a well established hedge/tree line on our boundary which supported that had indeed been the boundary for much longer than the ten years in question.
Ours was maybe a bit more complicated because the land/part of the garden in question was in the Green Belt/AONB.
From what I remember the Planning Officer referred it to the Legal Dept, we used a Planning Consultant who had previously been Head of Planning at the Council so application was pretty thorough, From memory it took six months...it was certainly a decent amount longer than a normal planning application and was pretty “non controversial”.
Ours was maybe a bit more complicated because the land/part of the garden in question was in the Green Belt/AONB.
From what I remember the Planning Officer referred it to the Legal Dept, we used a Planning Consultant who had previously been Head of Planning at the Council so application was pretty thorough, From memory it took six months...it was certainly a decent amount longer than a normal planning application and was pretty “non controversial”.
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