Thornbury Plan Making sense of planning, property and place

Thornbury Plan

Making sense of planning, property and place

Latest Articles

The Fence Posts and the File: Boundary Works, Planning Control and Private Rights in 2026
Property Due Diligence

The Fence Posts and the File: Boundary Works, Planning Control and Private Rights in 2026

When a fence or hedge is proposed at the garden edge, homeowners often ask a single question: do I need planning permission? In practice there are two separate questions — one about public planning control, the other about private rights in the land. This guide sets out how to keep them apart before work starts.
The Award in the Drawer: Party Wall Notices and the Renovation Risk at Completion
Property Due Diligence

The Award in the Drawer: Party Wall Notices and the Renovation Risk at Completion

Party wall paperwork rarely appears in a local land charge search, yet it can determine whether a recent extension or basement was built on a secure legal footing. This guide explains the excavation thresholds under the Party Wall etc Act 1996, how missing or disputed awards surface after completion, and what a buyer should audit in 2026.
Two Keys, One Door: Planning Consent and the Restrictive Covenant Trap in 2026
Property Due Diligence

Two Keys, One Door: Planning Consent and the Restrictive Covenant Trap in 2026

A planning permission may satisfy the public planning regime while a private covenant still prevents the work from proceeding. This article explains how restrictive covenants survive consent, where they surface during a 2026 transaction, and the practical routes to release, modification or insurance.
The Skip Behind the Wall: Conservation Area Demolition and the Buyer’s Audit
Property Due Diligence

The Skip Behind the Wall: Conservation Area Demolition and the Buyer’s Audit

Demolition inside a conservation area is not always obvious from the plans, and it is rarely confined to the main building. This guide sets out the consent questions a buyer or developer should settle before exchange, including partial works, boundary walls, outbuildings and rebuild proposals.
The Line at the Field Gate: Settlement Boundaries and Rural Consent in 2026
Planning Applications

The Line at the Field Gate: Settlement Boundaries and Rural Consent in 2026

A settlement boundary drawn on a proposals map can decide whether a field-edge site is treated as countryside or as a location for limited infill. This guide explains how village envelopes operate in 2026, how to read the policies map with a critical eye, and what to check before committing to a rural purchase.
The Paper Trail Beneath the Paving: Basement Extensions and Planning Proof in 2026
Planning Applications

The Paper Trail Beneath the Paving: Basement Extensions and Planning Proof in 2026

A basement beneath a rear garden can look like permitted development on paper, but the planning authority will judge the scheme by the evidence supplied before excavation. This guide sets out the validation, flood-risk, drainage, tree-protection and construction-management questions that decide whether a subterranean project is viable in 2026.
Weighing the Postbag: How Neighbour Representations Shape a Planning Decision
Planning Applications

Weighing the Postbag: How Neighbour Representations Shape a Planning Decision

Letters of objection can feel like a referendum on a scheme, but the planning system treats them as evidence, not votes. Here is how representations are weighed in 2026, which points carry genuine weight, and how an applicant can answer concerns without turning a planning file into a feud.
Consent Is Not Cosmetic: Seven Listed Building Works That Remain Unlawful in 2026
Property Due Diligence

Consent Is Not Cosmetic: Seven Listed Building Works That Remain Unlawful in 2026

Listed building consent is not confined to conspicuous external change. In 2026, seemingly sympathetic repairs and internal improvements can still amount to unauthorised works, with consequences that attach to the people who commission or carry them out. This article examines seven recurring pitfalls and sets out a due-diligence routine for owners and buyers.
The Root of the Matter: Protected Trees and Development Viability in 2026
Planning Applications

The Root of the Matter: Protected Trees and Development Viability in 2026

Protected trees are rarely the first item on a development appraisal, yet they frequently determine whether a scheme can be built at all. This guide explains how Tree Preservation Orders are confirmed and enforced, what an arboricultural impact assessment must demonstrate, and why root protection areas sit at the centre of so many 2026 planning decisions.
The Five-Square-Metre Threshold: When a Front-Garden Driveway Still Needs Planning Permission
Planning Applications

The Five-Square-Metre Threshold: When a Front-Garden Driveway Still Needs Planning Permission

Replacing a lawn with parking can look like ordinary domestic improvement, but the planning system treats front-garden hardstanding as development with its own drainage conditions. This guide explains the five-square-metre trigger, the permeable-surfacing test and the records worth keeping before the paving goes down.
The Date That Decides: Proving Immunity from Planning Enforcement in 2026
Property Due Diligence

The Date That Decides: Proving Immunity from Planning Enforcement in 2026

Planning enforcement is not always forever. Statutory time limits can turn an unauthorised building or use into lawful development, but only where the dates and evidence hold up. This 2026 guide explains the four-year and ten-year rules, the role of lawful development certificates, and the paper trail buyers should demand.
The Weight of Informal Counsel: Pre-Application Advice in a 2026 Planning Submission
Planning Applications

The Weight of Informal Counsel: Pre-Application Advice in a 2026 Planning Submission

Pre-application advice is often treated as a council blessing, yet it is rarely binding and can vary between officers and authorities. This article sets out how to test the guidance, challenge it where it departs from policy, and record it so that it strengthens rather than weakens a 2026 application.
The Second Kitchen Question: Planning and Council Tax Tests for Family Annexes in 2026
Property Due Diligence

The Second Kitchen Question: Planning and Council Tax Tests for Family Annexes in 2026

An annexe can look like a family arrangement while operating as a separate home. This guide sets out the planning and council tax tests that matter in 2026, and how to structure consent before a granny flat becomes an unauthorised dwelling.
First Spade, Last Chance: Building a Defensible Commencement Record
Planning Applications

First Spade, Last Chance: Building a Defensible Commencement Record

A planning permission is a wasting asset. This article explains the statutory deadlines that apply in 2026, the difference between a material start and a token gesture, and the documentary trail a developer should assemble before the clock runs out.
The Rights That Leave Without a Letter: Reading Article 4 Directions Before You Commit
Planning Applications

The Rights That Leave Without a Letter: Reading Article 4 Directions Before You Commit

A permitted development right can be withdrawn by a single notice, and the site you are pricing today may not carry the same fallback position in twelve months. This guide explains how Article 4 directions work, what evidence a council must produce to justify one, and how to test a direction before it changes the arithmetic of your scheme.
Measuring Quiet: Air Source Heat Pumps, Permitted Development and the 42 dB Boundary in 2026
Planning Applications

Measuring Quiet: Air Source Heat Pumps, Permitted Development and the 42 dB Boundary in 2026

Air source heat pumps are increasingly common, but their planning status is conditional rather than automatic. This guide explains the permitted development route, the noise test that decides most cases, and the siting evidence homeowners should assemble before an installer arrives.
Ten Per Cent, Approved Before Groundworks: Biodiversity Net Gain on Small Sites in 2026
Planning Applications

Ten Per Cent, Approved Before Groundworks: Biodiversity Net Gain on Small Sites in 2026

Biodiversity net gain has applied to small sites since April 2024, yet the exemptions, the small sites metric and the credit market remain widely misread. This guide explains when the ten per cent obligation bites, how the national register and off-site units work, and how to sequence an ecology report so it does not become a post-submission panic.
From Shopfront to Front Door: Due Diligence on a High Street Conversion in 2026
Property Due Diligence

From Shopfront to Front Door: Due Diligence on a High Street Conversion in 2026

An empty high street unit looks like the simplest conversion in the planning system. In practice, Class E to C3 permitted development is decided by vacancy periods, Article 4 directions, retail frontage policy and a fire strategy that is far easier to write before completion than after.
Common Ground: What Really Decides a Village Green Application in 2026
Planning Applications

Common Ground: What Really Decides a Village Green Application in 2026

Registering a field as a town or village green remains one of the most effective ways to obstruct a housing scheme — and one of the easiest to get wrong. This guide examines the twenty-year use test, the trigger-event timetable, and the evidence that genuinely moves a registration authority or an inspector.
The Levy Doesn't Forgive: Ten Ways Self-Builders Lose Their CIL Relief
Property Due Diligence

The Levy Doesn't Forgive: Ten Ways Self-Builders Lose Their CIL Relief

Self-build relief from the Community Infrastructure Levy can be worth tens of thousands of pounds, yet it is claimed and lost on procedure rather than principle. These ten traps — from commencement notices to annexes and apportionment — are the ones that most often turn a modest project into a full levy bill.

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