National information requirements

If you submit an application online via the Planning Portal the correct form is built as the details of the development are added: 

Submit an online planning application

If you submit the application on paper, you will need to ensure that the correct form has been used or your application will be invalid.

Ownership certificates

All applications for planning permission must include the appropriate certificate of ownership. An ownership certificate A, B, C or D must be completed stating the ownership of the property. The certificate is part of the standard application form.

For this purpose an ‘owner‘ is anyone with a freehold interest, or leasehold interest with an unexpired term of no less than seven years.

Under section 65(5) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) , the local planning authority must not accept an application for planning permission unless the relevant certificates concerning the ownership of the application site have been completed.

Applications must include a copy of a location plan based on an up to date map of a scale of 1:1,250 or 1:2,500. In exceptional circumstances, plans to other scales may be required.

Plans should show at least two named roads and surrounding buildings. The properties shown should be numbered or named to ensure that the exact location of the application site is clear.

• Red line:
  The application site should be edged clearly with a red line. It should include all land necessary to carry out the proposed development – for example, land required for access to the site from a public highway, visibility splays, landscaping, car parking and open areas around buildings. Note: if you are submitting a householder application, the red line should go around your house and garden (domestic curtilage) and not just around the proposal.
• Blue line:
  A blue line should be drawn around any other land owned by the applicant, close to or adjoining the application site.

Applications must include a copy of a site/block plan, preferably at a scale of 1:2,00 or 1:5,00.

It should illustrate where the proposal sits in relation to the site and the immediate surroundings and include dimensions to boundaries. Any notable features such as trees, access points and footpaths should also be identified on the plan.

If you do not own all the land to which your application relates, you will need to serve notice on the owner(s) in accordance with Article 11 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015. This should be done 21 days before submitting the planning application.

If you do not know all of the owners of the land, you must publish the relevant notice in a local newspaper, see the relevant notice template to use:

• An owner, or to publish in a newspaper - planning permission(PDF 16KB)
• An owner - listed building consent(PDF 10KB)
• To publish in a newspaper - listed building consent(PDF 10KB)

An Agricultural holdings certificate is required, whether or not the site includes an agricultural holding. All agricultural tenants must be notified prior to the submission of the application. This certificate has been incorporated into the ownership certificates' section of planning application forms.

Note: this certificate is not required if the applicant is making an application for reserved matters, renewal of temporary planning permission, discharge or variation of conditions, tree preservation orders, or express consent to display an advertisement.

To check for the correct fee, visit: Planning permission fee calculator.

A Design and access statement (DAS) is a short report accompanying and supporting a planning application. The statement explains the design thinking behind a planning application. For example, it should show that the person applying for permission (the applicant) has thought carefully about how everyone, including disabled people, older people and very young children, will be able to use the places they want to build.

A DAS is only required for a limited number of planning applications. These are:

• Major applications, not including 'Major applications for extensions of time‘, Section 73 applications, Variation of condition, engineering or mining operations, changes of use or waste development;
• development in a conservation area for:
  • one or more dwellings;
  • the provision of a building or buildings where the floorspace created will be 100 square metres or more.

The Town and country planning (Development management procedure) order 2010 (as amended) states that a DAS, related to planning applications, should explain:

• the design principles and concepts that have been applied to the development;
• demonstrate the steps taken to appraise the context of the development and how the design of the development takes that context into account;
• how issues relating to access to the development have been dealt with, including how policies relating to access in relevant local development documents have been taken into account;
• what, if any, consultation has been undertaken on issues relating to access to the development and what account has been taken of the outcome of any such consultation; and
• explain how any specific issues which might affect access to the development have been addressed.

In addition to the national requirements, to enable a proper assessment of the application these plans may also be required, where new building work is proposed. All plans should be at a scale of 1:50 or 1:100.

• Existing and proposed elevations
  These should show clearly the proposed works in relation to what is already there. All sides of the proposal must be shown and these should indicate, where possible, the proposed building materials and the style, materials and finish of windows and doors. Blank elevations must also be included; if only to show that this is in fact the case. Where a proposed elevation adjoins another building or is in close proximity, the drawings should clearly show the relationship between the buildings, and detail the positions of the openings on each property.
• Existing and proposed floor plans
  These should explain the proposal in detail. Where existing buildings or walls are to be demolished these should be clearly shown. The drawings submitted should show details of the existing building(s) as well as those for the proposed development. New buildings should also be shown in context with adjacent buildings (including property numbers where applicable).

• Existing and proposed site sections and finished floor and site levels
  The plans should show a cross section(s) through the proposed building(s). In all cases where a proposal involves a change in ground levels, illustrative drawings should be submitted to show both existing and finished levels to include details of foundations and eaves and how encroachment onto adjoining land is to be avoided. Full information should also be submitted to demonstrate how proposed buildings relate to existing site levels and neighbouring development. Such plans should show existing site levels and finished floor levels (with levels related to a fixed datum point off site) and also show the proposals in relation to adjoining buildings. This will be required for all applications involving new buildings.

  In the case of householder development, the levels may be evident from floor plans and elevations, but particularly in the case of sloping sites it will be necessary to show how proposals relate to existing ground levels or where ground levels outside the extension would be modified. Levels should also be taken into account in the formulation of design and access statements.

• Roof plans
  A roof plan is used to show the shape of the roof and is typically drawn at a scale smaller than the scale used for the floor plans. Details such as the roofing material and their location are typically specified on the roof plan.