The twin regimes of planning law and building regulations — what counts as development, when consent is required, and how breaches are policed, evidenced and resolved.
An unauthorised extension or an unconsented change of use can lie dormant for years, then surface as a buyer's problem on a routine transaction. This chapter separates the two regulatory systems before working through the statutory meaning of development, the role of the Use Classes Order, permitted development rights, Article 4 Directions and the certificates of lawfulness that prove an existing position. It then turns to the stricter controls on listed buildings and conservation areas, the duration and transfer of a planning permission, section 106 obligations, and the enforcement of planning breaches — including the time-limit changes made by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. It closes with building regulations compliance and the documents that evidence it, then the searches that reveal breaches and the four main options, including indemnity insurance, when one is discovered before contract.
