What is the 10 year rule in planning?

What is the 10 year rule in planning? Where a breach of planning control has taken place and 10 years have passed, that breach would become immune from planning enforcement. This 10 year rule currently applies to all breaches of planning control, except where it involves operational development or a change of use to a dwellinghouse, where the 4 year rule would apply.

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Section 171B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 introduces the 10-year rule.

This Act states that where there has been a breach of planning control no enforcement action may be taken after the end of the period of ten years beginning with the date of the breach.

The 10-year rule will soon replace the 4-year rule. The 4-year currently relates to building, engineering, mining or other operations and the change of use of any building to use as a single dwellinghouse. The 10-year rule applies to any other breach of planning control.

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act became law in October 2023. As a result, the four-year rule will soon become the ten-year rule.

Further Regulations will be published by the Secretary of State to set the arrangements for the transition between the four and ten-year rules. These Regulations could be issued imminently.

Breach of Planning Condition

Planning law dictates that all breaches of planning conditions, except those preventing use as a single dwellinghouse, are subject to the 10 year immunity period.

Material Change of Use

A material change of use for would fall under the 10-year rule, unless it involves a dwellinghouse.

In these cases, an assessment will need to be made to compare a material change of use at the date the application was submitted and the use as it existed ten years before.

However, in some cases it may be necessary to go further back in history to determine when the change of use first took place and measure the 10-year period from that point. The 10 year rule applies from the end of the first period of ten years “beginning” with the date of the breach.

The key planning test is “continuous use”. The unauthorised use must have taken place for a continuous 10 year period. If there were any material interruptions during that period, the clock starts again with any subsequent breach.

Lawful Development Certificate Applications

To regularise an unauthorised use or breach of planning control, a Lawful Development Certificate would be need to be submitted and approved by the local planning authority.

To demonstrate that the 10 year rule has been met, the burden of proof is on the applicant to provide the evidence to support this. The key planning test is that on "the  balance  of probability” the 10 year rule has been met.

If a local planning authority has no evidence  itself,  nor  any  from  others,  to  contradict  or  otherwise  make  the applicant’s version of events less than probable, there would be no good reason to refuse the application, provided the applicant’s evidence alone is sufficiently precise and unambiguous to justify the grant of a certificate on the balance of probability.

Is your property in breach of planning control?

Contact our planners to assist to assist you with your Lawful Development Certificate application and to provide advice in respect to any unauthorised planning works and breaches of planning control. Email us at mail@adpltd.co.uk or use the form below.