Do You Need Planning Permission?
Lawful Development Certificate
If you want to be certain that the existing use of a building is lawful for planning purposes or that your proposal does not require planning permission you can apply for a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC).
It is not compulsory to have an LDC but there may be times when you need one to confirm that the use, operation or activity named in it is lawful for planning control purposes.
You can apply for a LDC via the Planning Portal online application service. Planning Application Forms are also available via the link below. The applicatiohttps://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200126/applicationsn must provide sufficient information for the council to decide the application. The fee is normally half the current application fee for the equivalent full application.
Often the issues involved in LDCs are complex and if you decide you need to apply for a certificate you might benefit by obtaining professional advice. You may also need to complete a pre-application advice form if you need to see one of our Planning officers for advice. They will tell you about the sort of information needed to support your application.
Further information is available from our validation checklists – scroll down the list of downloads to find the correct LDC checklist.
If you want to apply for planning permission without pre-application advice go to this internal page: