If your commercial property is in breach of planning regulations, the Local Authority can take steps to enforce those regulations and ensure compliance.
The first step that is taken is the service of an enforcement notice.
Have you received an enforcement notice?
An enforcement notice will include details about the violation that has occurred. It will inform the recipient of the exact steps that they need to take to rectify the breach. This can involve altering, removing or stopping work on a development, or it can order a complete rebuild of a building that has already been demolished. The notice will also provide specific timescales by which action is to be taken to rectify the violation.
The instructions enclosed in an enforcement notice can be severe and impose heavy costs. In 2015, a company demolished a 1920’s pub in London, without planning permission, with the intention of constructing a block of flats on the land. At the time, the pub was being considered for listed building status based. The Local Authority took court proceedings against the company, which resulted in an injunction being ordered to stop the development. An enforcement order was then made, which ordered the company demolish any new construction works that they had started and to re-build the pub that they had just demolished. Not only did they have to rebuild the pub, but they had to rebuild it in accordance with the original plans, so that the pub was exactly the same as it was before it was demolished. The rebuilt pub eventually re-opened for business 6 years after being demolished and the company who committed the violation, made a significant financial loss.
What if an enforcement notice is ignored?
A planning enforcement notice should never be ignored under any circumstances. A Local Authority will nearly always escalate the matter to court if this happens and seek an order for the recipient to legally comply with the notice. With the backing of a court order, anyone who continues to ignore a planning notice can be fined or even face imprisonment. It’s likely that they’ll also have a costly legal bill to pay.
What can I do to avoid enforcement action?
Quite simply, don’t carry out any alterations, demolition or change of use without planning permission.
If you do and you haven’t yet received an enforcement notice, then it’s not too late to prevent action being taken against you. You can make an application to the local authority for retrospective planning permission. It is important to note that retrospective planning permission is not guaranteed, and it also comes with risks. To obtain retrospective planning permission, you may need to carry out further works before the permission is granted. Costs of this could be high.
How can planning enforcement affect my commercial property?
Commercial property can be severely affected when it comes to planning enforcement. If a property is found in breach, there could be fines and unexpected costs to pay, not to mention disruption to trade or project progress. These could all have an impact on the company’s profits and income.
Our Commercial Property solicitors have extensive experience with planning enforcement regulations. We are here to advise to ensure that you don’t fall victim to costly planning enforcement action.
