Planning enforcement notices and appealing in Bromley
If you have received a planning enforcement notice from Bromley Council, or a letter or visit from a planning enforcement officer, you should take advice quickly.
A planning enforcement notice is a serious legal document. It can require you to remove works, stop a use, demolish a structure or restore land or buildings to their previous condition. If the notice is not appealed before it takes effect, the right of appeal is lost.
Bromley is one of the busiest councils in London for enforcement. It faces the full range of planning issues. Much of the borough is made up of ordinary residential streets, where enforcement cases often involve extensions, outbuildings, HMOs and flat conversions. But the borough also has conservation areas and listed buildings, where the heritage impact of works may matter; areas of Green Belt, where openness and inappropriate development are often central issues; and more urban parts of the borough with larger blocks of flats and higher-density development.
What Bromley tends to enforce against
In householder cases, enforcement action mostly relates to extensions, roof alterations, outbuildings, raised patios, balconies and other works that either needed planning permission or went beyond permitted development.
In residential cases, the issue may be the conversion of a house into flats, the use of a property as an HMO, or the construction of a new dwelling.
In other cases, the council may be concerned about commercial uses, storage, waste, vehicle repairs, hardstanding, containers, or unauthorised development on Green Belt land.
The council may also investigate works in conservation areas or other sensitive locations, where the effect on the character and appearance of the area is likely to be important.
Can a Bromley enforcement notice be appealed?
Yes. An enforcement notice can be appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, but the appeal must be submitted before the notice takes effect.
The right grounds of appeal will depend on the facts.
Sometimes the argument is that planning permission should be granted. Sometimes the argument is that the use or development is already lawful because it has existed for long enough. In other cases, the alleged breach may not have occurred, or the notice may require more than is necessary.
It is important to identify the correct grounds of appeal at the beginning. Different grounds require different evidence. A case about the four-year or ten-year rule is not prepared in the same way as a case about design, character, amenity or planning policy.
Bromley case study: Deverill Court, Penge
We recently acted for the management company of Deverill Court, a twelve-storey block of flats on Avenue Road in Penge.
Bromley Council served an enforcement notice requiring the removal of a metal fence over 2m high around the front of the site. The council said the fence harmed the open character of the area and had an adverse impact on the local townscape.
The fence had been installed for a practical reason. The site had a wide frontage, with trees and vegetation along the boundary. People were able to enter the grounds away from the main entrance and avoid the CCTV. There had been problems with anti-social behaviour and people gaining access to the building.
The management company had taken advice from the police Designing Out Crime Officer. The officer recommended a secure boundary treatment. The fence was then installed in good faith, on the mistaken assumption that it was permitted development.
We appealed the enforcement notice. The main argument was that planning permission should be granted.
We accepted that many nearby houses had low or open front boundaries. But Deverill Court was not a small suburban house. It was a large block of flats in landscaped grounds. It had a different relationship to the street. A taller fence was proportionate to the scale of the building and the size of the site.
We also argued that the fence was not a solid wall or close-boarded timber fence. It was a metal mesh fence. Views through the boundary were retained. Climbing plants had also been planted along the fence, softening its appearance and helping it merge with the trees and landscaping behind.
The inspector agreed. The appeal was allowed, the enforcement notice was quashed and planning permission was granted.
The case shows that Bromley enforcement notices can be successfully challenged. It also shows the importance of context. A structure that might be unacceptable in front of one type of building may be acceptable in front of another.
Evidence is important
Most enforcement appeals depend on evidence.
If the issue is the age of a use or building, the evidence may include photographs, tenancy agreements, rent records, bank statements, utility bills, invoices, council tax records, business rates records, statutory declarations or Google Earth images.
If the issue is whether planning permission should be granted, the evidence will usually be different. It may include plans, photographs, planning history, examples from the surrounding area, policy analysis and a clear explanation of why the development is acceptable.
It is not enough simply to say that the council is wrong. The appeal has to explain why the notice should be quashed, or why planning permission should be granted.
Do not ignore the notice
If you have received an enforcement notice from Bromley Council, the first thing to check is the date on which the notice takes effect. The appeal must be submitted before that date.
Whatever you do, never ignore an enforcement notice.
If the deadline is missed, the notice will take effect. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice after the compliance period has expired is a criminal offence.
Enforcement notices also run with the land. They can affect the sale, mortgage or future development of the property.
How we can help
Just Planning acts for homeowners, landlords, developers, management companies and businesses facing planning enforcement action.
We can review the council’s letter or enforcement notice, check the deadline, advise on the grounds of appeal, prepare the appeal and assemble the evidence needed to support the case.
In some cases, the best approach is to fight the appeal to a decision. In others, a strong appeal and a clear evidence pack may persuade the council to reconsider before the appeal is decided. In some cases, we are even able to get the enforcement notice withdrawn.
If you have received a planning enforcement notice from Bromley Council, or if a planning enforcement officer has contacted you about your property, send us the correspondence and we will explain your options.
