Planning, listed building and conservation area enforcement

Breach of planning control and enforcement action

For the purposes of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990), a breach of planning control is subject to enforcement action. For these purposes, a breach of planning control means:

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carrying out development without the required planning permission—unauthorised operations or a material change of use which constitute(s) development within the meaning of TCPA 1990, s 55 must have occurred, for which planning permission is required but has not been obtained. In deciding whether a breach of planning control has occurred within this context, the guidance and case law concerned with the meaning of ‘development’ will need to be followed. See Overview: Is planning permission required?
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failing to comply with any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted—this includes any of the limitations or conditions applied to individual permitted development rights in the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015, SI 2015/596

Responsibility for enforcing breaches of planning control is generally vested in the local planning authority (LPA). The Secretary of State retains default

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