Applying for a Lawful Development Certificate

Some of the most popular home building projects involve works that can be completed without the go-ahead from the planners.

Perhaps the scheme counts as permitted development (PD, a type of pre-authorised work) – or maybe it doesn’t need any formal approval at all. The trouble is it’s not always easy to tell where the lines are drawn.

That’s where lawful development certificates come in (also known as LDCs and as certificates of lawfulness). As the name suggests, they provide a way for you to get the council to determine whether an existing building and its use, or a proposed future development, is lawful.

So, let’s take a look at why they’re useful, when it’s necessary to apply for them and how to go about it.

The basics

If you’re contemplating a project involving permitted development – such as a small extension – applying for an LDC is the only way to be 100% certain that the council agrees your scheme would indeed be classed as PD.

Seeking an informal opinion from a planning officer is no substitute for the certainty a lawful development certificate brings to your scheme.

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