Planning Enforcement

It is useful to set out the principals on which planning law and the enforcement of such law works.

There is often confusion about the powers of local authority officers and how they are used for Planning Enforcement. The approach set out below is typical of most local authorities and is used by Enfield Council. The paragraphs in this section are numbered for later reference.

1. Enforcement officers can only investigate breaches of planning legislation. If the work which has been carried out does not need planning permission, or if the works have been carried out in accordance with a planning permission, enforcement action cannot be taken. Also, some matters do not fall within the scope of either development control/planning services and therefore cannot be investigated by enforcement officers, for example a boundary dispute or a covenant issue.
   
2. If a breach of planning control is found to have occurred, the Council can take enforcement action. However before such action is taken we will give people the opportunity to put things right. If it is considered that the development may receive planning permission, the person responsible for the work may be invited to apply for permission retrospectively.
   
3. However, if no application is made, or the breach is a significant one, then formal action would be considered. This could include serving an enforcement notice. This would only be a last resort - formal action will normally only be taken if other means of resolving the breach have not been successful.
   
4. The question is often asked: - if someone breaks planning regulations shouldn't they always be punished as a matter of principle, and made to remove or stop whatever they have done?
   
5. The answer is not straightforward. In planning law, other than in the case of unauthorised display of advertisements or works to listed buildings, carrying out building works or a change of use without the necessary planning permission is not a criminal act and, initially, not subject to penalties such as fines or imprisonment. Later in the process, if an enforcement notice has been served and not complied with, then court action and penalties such as fines can be imposed. However, planning enforcement is a discretionary power of a local authority that should only be used to put right any harm caused by a failure to comply with planning control.
   
6. When there is no harm, or it is insignificant (this is an important point), enforcement action is generally not justified. A harm requiring enforcement action would normally occur when the breach in question results in an unacceptable departure from relevant planning policies that would have justified refusing planning permission if it had been the subject of a planning application.
   
7. Again another question asked is:- Doesn't planning law mean some people who break the regulations get away with it?
   
8. In the first instance, the objective of planning enforcement is generally not to punish those who break the regulations but to remedy any harm caused by unlawful actions. However, people who do not get the necessary planning permission for something they are doing risk the possibility of serious consequences from enforcement action that can be extremely costly, and failure to comply with an enforcement notice can result in court action and legal penalties. It may also be difficult or impossible to sell a property if planning permissions have not been properly obtained or followed.