What should I do if I think if someone is doing something without planning permission?
The Council has a full range of powers available to establish if planning rules may have been broken. Development which has been carried without planning permission out is often referred to as a breach in planning.
Our compliance service will investigate whether there is a breach and will also establish what harm is caused as a result of the breach and how the situation can best be remedied. You should report your concerns to our compliance service.
What types of complaints will you investigate?
For a breach to have occurred, it must be established that development requiring permission has taken place. Such development could include the erection, extension or alterations to a building or changing the use of a building for example from a shop to a house.
A breach may also occur if planning permission has been agreed, but the conditions attached to the permission are not being followed.
It is not an offence to carry out development without planning permission, but the City Council can serve an enforcement notice which will require steps to be taken to rectify the breach or the harm which it is causing. Other matters which we will investigate, which carry a legal penalty, are;
- non compliance with an enforcement type notice
- carrying out of works (other than like for like repairs) to a listed building without listed building consent
- carrying out works to protected trees without the Council's written consent
- display an advertisement without advertisement consent
Some developments do not need planning permission because of their size, height and so on. This type of development is called permitted development.”
What can I do?
The Council takes breaches of planning control very seriously and relies, in part, on the public reporting any suspected breaches of planning control. Most of our complaints come from neighbours or Councillors, as well as from officers as part of their routine checks of new developments.
Complaints are best submitted in writing and we need your name, address and telephone number. These details are kept confidential and are not made known to the person who carried out the breach unless you agree. An online form is available to use here.
What other information do you need?
It is helpful if you can provide as much information as possible, including:
- when the activities started
- the address of the land or building
- details of any problems that are being caused
- contact details of any owners, occupiers or builders involved
What happens to my complaint?
We will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and let you know the name of the officer who will be dealing with your complaint and when we expect to be able to investigate it.
We investigate all complaints and first of all check to see if there has been a breach of planning control. We do this by looking at our records and relevant planning applications.
If it’s clear that no planning rules have been broken we will write to you explaining why no further action will be taken. However, many complaints need further detailed investigation before deciding if there has, or has not been a breach.
All complaints are investigated according to their priority:
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Priority 1 is where there is a likelihood of irreparable harm occurring and we visit within 24 hours
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Priority 2 is where there is a significant nuisance or a risk to public safety and we visit within 2 working days
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Priority 3 is for less urgent cases and we visit within 10 working days
What are the things that are considered before enforcement action is taken?
Enforcement action is usually only used if voluntary co-operation cannot be achieved. If there is a breach of planning control then the person responsible will be asked to take corrective action to resolve the breach. This could be by:
- submitting a retrospective planning application
- ceasing the unauthorised activities and / or removing any unauthorised development
- demonstrating that planning permission has been obtained or is not required
- negotiating improvements or asking the person responsible to alter a structure or relocate a use
Most people do take the positive steps required to rectify the situation and formal enforcement activity is only necessary in a small number of cases.
What does formal enforcement action involve?
Should no progress be made, we will decide if an enforcement notice should be served. The notice may be served if the development is causing harm and unacceptably affects public amenity or the existing use of land and buildings meriting protection in the public interest.
We need to make sure the notice is served on the right people and that the wording on the notice is precise and exact. This often includes taking legal advice before serving the notice.
The enforcement notice will require certain steps to be taken within a specified period of time. There are rights of appeal and the notices can be challenged if they are inaccurate.
Where breaches are causing serious harm, the Council can issue a stop notice or obtain an injunction, although this is only appropriate in exceptional cases. Immediate prosecution can also take place where the breach involves a criminal offence such as demolition of a listed building, demolition in a conservation area or the felling of a protected tree, or tree in a conservation area.
There are time limits for taking enforcement action. Built development becomes lawful four years after substantial completion, whilst the time limit for most unauthorised uses and breach of conditions is ten years.
Register of Notices
This register contains details of the following notices; Enforcement, Advertisement Discontinuance, Breach of Condition, Planning Contravention, Section 330 and 215 Untidy Land, Stop and Temporary Stop Notices that have been authorised and/or served. It is updated weekly, listed by Ward then address and is searchable. As some of the entries within this register are very old, Ward boundaries may have changed since the notice was served. It can be accessed from the download section of this page.
Anyone wishing to use this information for a property transaction are advised to carry out a local land charges search through the Council's Land Charges Section. No responsibility will be taken for any errors or omissions in this register. The information contained within this register does not constitute in any way a formal notification of the existence or non existence of any notice authorised or served under any Act of Parliament and as such any actions taken as a result of information displayed in this register are undertaken entirely at the viewer's own risk.
Leeds City Council reserves the right to remove or not display certain notices for confidentiality or other reasons.