How to be certain of planning success
Planning consultant MartinGaineshares his top seven tips for ensuring your application to build is approved by your local council
Sometimes, when you’re applying for planning permission, you are not just hopeful of being granted permission – it’s critical that you get consent. If you have invested your life savings in a small plot of vacant land with the aim of building a new home, failure is not really an option!
Of course, it’s impossible to be sure that planning permission will be granted. Even if your proposal seems entirely uncontroversial or if you have spent countless hours ensuring that you have covered every possible objection, you cannot know how neighbours or other consultees will respond, or what unexpected objection your case officer or the council’s planning committee might suddenly raise against it.
Though you can’t guarantee success, there is much you can do to maximise your chances. To help with your planning journey, here is my guide to putting together and managing a bulletproof planning application with the best possible chance of getting a quick and easy approval.
When Caroline Buckingham looked to build her dream home on a coastal plot on the Isle of Wight, her plans for a two-storey property faced objections from a neighbour, who would lose his bedroom view of the Solent’s fort in the process. She overcame the planning obstacle with a clever redesign, keeping good contact with the parish council and neighbours to gain support. However, she still had a challenging time getting consent, with the approval process taking a while. But eventually it was passed and Caroline could get started on her build.
COLIN POOLE