11 common planning questions answered

Watching some of the popular TV shows on housebuilding, you’d think all the drama was in dealing with builders and the weather. In truth, none of that work can start until you get planning permission so the planning application stage is at least as important, and often more interesting than what comes later, but it’s usually less understood. That is probably why I spend my time helping clients make better planning application-related decisions.

If that notorious Handforth Parish Council meeting that went viral last year is anything to go by, a planning applications TV show could be at least as informative and dramatic as any other housebuilding-related programme. But until that gets made, hopefully this article will inform you by answering some of the key questions I get asked in my job. And it may help you to avoid some of the real-life planning application dramas some people suffer from.

1 In which cases do you not need to obtain full planning permission?

There are some situations when you don’t need