Rother District Council

In July 1992 a new system of Lawful Development Certificate was introduced to replace the Established Use Certificate.

These enable Local Planning Authorities, when the appropriate conditions are satisfied in each case, to grant a certificate saying that:

1. an existing use of land, or some operational development, or some activity in breach of a planning condition, is lawful; or
2. a proposed use of buildings or other land, or some operation proposed to be carried out in, on, over or under land, could be lawful.

The new system provides the possibility of obtaining a statutory document confirming that the use, operation or activity named in it, is lawful for planning control purposes. Once granted, the new type of certificate will remain valid for the use or development described in it, on the land it describes.
An application must be accompanied by factual information which is sufficient for the Authority to make a decision. In many cases affidavits will be required to support the evidence.

If an application is wholly or partly refused, an appeal may be made to the Secretary of State. ODPM.

It is a serious offence to make a false or misleading statement or use a false or misleading documents to obtain a certificate. The maximum fine is up to £5,000 upon summary conviction.

• Print This Page