Lawful Development Certificates for an Existing Use
April 17, 2026
Lawful Development Certificates for an existing use are a valuable way to gain consent for a development or activity that has taken place without the necessary planning permission, and is therefore unlawful in planning terms.
If successful, and a Certificate is granted by the Local Planning Authority (LPA), the use, development or activity is then lawful in planning terms and protected from any enforcement action.
Lawful Development Certificates are based on the facts of the case (not planning policy) and evidence needs to be provided to prove to the LPA, on the balance of probability, that the use, development or activity has been continuous and is on-going at the time of submission of any application. There are time limits to consider but since 25 April 2024 most breaches of planning control will need to have taken place for a continuous period of ten years before an application can be submitted.
Evolution Town planning has assisted many clients over the years and most recently successfully obtained a Certificate on behalf of a client in Yorkshire for a house that had been used as a separate dwelling and not ancillary to the adjoined public house.
Evidence was provided to confirm the use as a single dwelling house had been continuously carried out since 2018 (when the property was purchased by the client).
In this case, a four year time period could be applied to the qualifying period as the Planning Act provides time limits for enforcement in respect of changes of use of buildings to dwelling houses carried out before 25 April 2024.
The LPA agreed that the evidence submitted to support the application was convincing and a Certificate was granted.
The dwelling house and the public house are now not only separate legal units but also separate in planning terms.
As each site and project is unique, planning requirements may vary. If you would like to discuss a proposal, please contact Evolution Town Planning and we would be happy to provide specialist planning advice.
