Historic England’s latest monthly ‘Planning Bulletin’ highlights some of the recent and forthcoming developments in the world of planning from a heritage perspective, including this month on Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023.
image for illustration: Open Government Licence v3.0
HE writes:
….
- On 2 April, The Planning Act 2008 (Commencement No. 8) and Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (Commencement No. 4 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024 were made. This brings into force various heritage and enforcement provisions of the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act (LURA).
- The heritage specific provisions brought forward by these regulations include:
- Temporary Stop Notices in relation to listed buildings. Section 103 of the LURA enables a local planning authority (LPA), which suspects unauthorised works were carried out on a listed building, to issue a Temporary Stop Notice requiring the works to stop for up to 56 days. This allows the LPA to investigate the suspected breach and establish the facts of the case. It also creates an offence for contravention of such a notice. Section 103 came into force on 25 April.
- Removal of compensation for building preservation notice (BPN). Section 105 of the LURA removes the right to claim compensation for BPNs in England. S.105 also requires LPAs to consult with Historic England before serving a BPN. A BPN is a means for an LPA to protect a building that might have special architectural or historic interest where it is in danger of demolition or alteration, whist it is considered for listing. It protects a building for six months, which allows Historic England time to carry out an assessment of the building. S.105 comes into force on 25 July.
- Enforcement provisions that came in to force on 25 April include:
- The time limit for taking enforcement action against operational development or change of use to a dwellinghouse was extended from four years to ten years. This means the time limit for taking enforcement action is now ten years in all cases (see LURA, S.115).
- The maximum duration of Temporary Stop Notices has been extended from 28 day to 56 days to give local authorities more time to investigate suspected breaches of planning control (See LURA, S.116).
- New powers for LPAs to issue an Enforcement Warning Notice asking a person concerned to submit a retrospective planning application within a specified period (see LURA, S.117).
- Restrictions to appeals against enforcement notices on the ground that planning permission ought to be granted or that a condition or limitation attached to a planning permission ought to be discharged, if permission has previously been refused in the last two years (see LURA, S.118).
- New powers for the Planning Inspectorate to dismiss an appeal against an enforcement notice or certificate of lawfulness where the appellant is causing undue delay (see LURA, S.119).
- Increases to fines for failures to comply with a breach of condition notice or a Section 215 Notice (relates to maintenance of land) (see LURA S.120).
- The Regulations also bring into force S.122 and S.124 of the LURA. S.122 makes permanent the powers to make provision for pre-application consultation. S.124 enables the Secretary of State to make provision to require or allow planning applications to be made and associated documents to be provided by electronic means or in accordance with particular standards.
See this and more at Read more….
For the full list see Historic England’s Planning Bulletin
