Report unauthorised development

Planning Enforcement is the process used to investigate alleged breaches of planning control.

Breaches of planning control may include:

• Building without consent.
• Works to listed buildings.
• Works to protected trees.
• Non-compliance with approved plans or conditions attached to planning permissions.
• Change of use of buildings or land.
• Advertisements displayed without consent.
• Land or buildings in very poor condition.

Not every breach leads to enforcement action. We will only take action where we decide that the breach of planning control causes unacceptable harm to the built environment, the natural environment or to the amenities of neighbours.

Make a report 

You can report a breach of planning control to us. 

You must provide:

• your name, address and contact details
• the precise location of the breach
• as much detail as possible regarding the breach. This should include the reasons why you believe that the works breach planning control, the harm that it causes, the dates on which the works took place, and photos or other details where possible.

The planning enforcement process 

1. A report of a breach of planning control is received and registered.
   If we decide that further investigation is not necessary, or we believe that a different department would be more appropriate, we will contact you to explain why. We triage our cases at this stage depending on possible planning harm.

2. The breach is investigated.
   The case is allocated to a planning enforcement officer who will decide whether a breach has occurred and assess the harm that it causes. This often includes a visit to the site.

3. Possible outcomes to an investigation.

• The works are found to not need permission.
• An alteration can be made to the works to alleviate the breach.
• The breach stops or is removed.
• A retrospective planning application is approved.
• The breach took place so long ago that it is immune to enforcement action.
• A breach has occurred, but the level of planning harm caused by it is deemed to be low. We would consider it to be not expedient to pursue formal action in these cases.
• In cases where our negotiations fail, we may take formal enforcement action such as serving an enforcement notice. This occurs in a relatively small number of cases.

Planning enforcement can be a lengthy and complicated process, as well as involving personal data which we must keep safe. This means that it is not always possible to provide updates whilst an investigation is in progress. We will however provide a summary of our findings to the complainant/s once the investigation is complete.

Our planning enforcement service

We are committed to providing a fair, proportionate and transparent planning enforcement service. Our Planning Enforcement Policy sets out in more detail how we will investigate and respond to breaches of planning control.