This page contains important information and guidance on submitting applications.
Links to the forms, validation requirements and information on documents that must be supplied.
If you want to know ‘if you need planning permission’ or if something is ‘permitted development’ you need to submit a lawful development certificate.
Planning can also provide pre-application advice on the feasibility of your scheme prior to you submitting an application.
Application information
You will need to provide an application form, plans / documents and a fee. This is detailed on the Making an application webpage on GOV.UK.
- Applications: must meet the national and local validation requirements.
- Fees: See the national planning application fee list (PDF) or you can go to the Planning Portal fee calculator.
- Planning forms and application types: Planning legislation and applications are categorised as follows:
- Planning permission (full, outline, reserved matters, variations to permissions etc) - major or minor, householder development, listed building consent, prior notifications, lawful development certificates and ‘other’ applications for example: discharge of conditions, adverts and protected trees (in a conservation area or subject to a Tree Preservation Order). These are all listed along with the validation requirements.
- Find more assistance with householder applications and lawful development certificates further down this page. Changes of use, new dwellings and dropped kerbs are submitted on the FULL application form 4. Find out more about prior notifications and what type of development may fall into these categories.
- For all major development proposals within the Borough, please follow the Development Framework Protocol (PDF) for guidance purposes and to aid discussions between the Council.
- Refunds and adjustments: Most planning fees are not refundable once the application becomes valid in accordance with the national planning fee regulations for which local planning authorities have no discretion. Dissatisfaction with the service or determination does not allow for refunds.
Assistance with applications
- All planning documentation to be considered as part of your application must be supplied by yourself. The Planning department cannot provide you with documentation, submit applications for you or decide which application you need to submit. Applications are checked on receipt.
- Please contact a professional (agent) to act on your behalf for planning applications and advice. An agent can be anyone that you wish to appoint, for example a builder, architect, planning consultant, loft company or someone familiar with the planning process. If you choose to use an agent for your application, they should be able to advise you about the foreseeable issues associated with your proposal. All correspondence and enquiries will go to your agent and they will receive the decision notice. We will not discuss a case with an applicant where there is an agent, so if you have any issues or require an update, please contact your agent.
- If you have included plans within your statements / reports such as a ‘planning statement’ or ‘Archaeology Report’ etc. these are acceptable (but not as a replacement for the required individual plans that form part of the application).
- Please do not supply documents with signatures /personal data this includes any email addresses and phone numbers
- For all other details about what you must supply please read the validation requirements, the helpful matrix and information with the forms.
- For guidance on how we assess some types of applications see Residential Extensions, New Dwellings and Small Infill Developments (2000) (PDF).
- Applicants and agents are encouraged to submit an appropriate checklist sheet with their planning application in order to identify the information items or topics in the Local List that have been addressed in the submission.
- Applicants may also wish to support their proposals through submission of a Planning Statement and draft S106 Planning Obligations document for major schemes. These are not essential for validation and guidance on contents can be found in the local validation information.
What happens after you submit an application
- Your application will be checked. This is called the ‘validation’ process and ensures all the details submitted are correct in accordance with the local and national validation requirements please refer to these for any queries.
- If anything is missing or requires amending, the application will be invalidated and you will be sent a letter explaining what you need to provide within a deadline. If you supply some information and the application is still invalid you will be sent another letter with a new deadline.
- An application is only valid and can be processed for a decision once all the required information has been received.
- If you do not respond or provide the correct information within the time frame given, your application will be returned and you will need to reapply. Please note: Once an application has been returned and refunded we cannot reverse this process.
- Validation dispute: The procedures for validating and processing planning applications is set out in The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (as amended). This sets out the formal route for an applicant to challenge a local planning authority’s information request by enabling an appeal against non-determination after the statutory time period has passed and where no formal validation has taken place. Any applicant who considers that the information requested on a Local List does not meet the tests set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) can therefore challenge the need to provide it.
Notes
- Where the local planning authority judges that relevant and required information items have been omitted from an application, it will not be possible to validate the application until the particular documents, statements or plans have been provided. Wherever possible, applicants should seek to agree information requirements with the local planning authority prior to submission through the pre-application process.
- Validation of an application does not prevent the local planning authority from subsequently refusing an application on the grounds of insufficient information. This is because when an application is accepted as valid, the local planning authority is not making a judgement on the quality or adequacy of the information submitted.
Once you have submitted an application or you want to know more about the planning process, please see the guidance for applicants and agents page. We also have a How to guides page for more information about the website and some types of applications.
Householder applications guidance
This section is to be read in conjunction with the information provided above it is divided into two parts:
1. Applications and lawful development certificates and 2. The planning advice service
- Part 1: To assist you to apply for the correct application, please see householder development guidance. This explains what you can apply for as Householder planning permission and in the Exclusions section: Find out about Householder prior approvals (notifications) and permitted development enquiries as these are different applications.
- Householder planning permission: Find out more about listed buildings and conservation areas on our heritage pages.
- Householder prior approval notifications: are normally for single storey rear extensions.
- To find out if you need planning permission or if what you want to do is permitted development: Please read this guidance: Permitted development rights for householders technical guidance (PDF). For planning to check this for you requires the submission of a lawful Development certificate. Find out more about solar panels, cladding and render (PDF), Electric charging points and dropped kerbs.
- Important note: Householder development does not include: dropped kerbs, vehicular crossovers, a change of use, change of use of land to residential / garden land, a new house / dwelling or creation of an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) etc. If your application is for or includes this type of development you would need to complete form 4 to apply for Full Planning permission.
- Part 2: Planning advice prior to submitting an application: The service is chargeable and provides informal planning advice only. It does not provide planning permission or can be used to find out if something is permitted development or not. To apply for planning permission or you have a permitted development question for example ‘do I need planning permission’, you need to see point 1. above.
- If you submit a PREAPP the Advice service will look at the feasibility of your scheme or whether or not it is likely to obtain planning permission. To apply go to www.bedford.gov.uk/planningenquiries. and see each of the steps. It is important you read the fees and exemptions document and other details in step 4 before applying.
- If the property is a listed building: you can apply for listed building householder advice only for a response from the Heritage team only, or you can request householder advice for planning advice and we will consult the Heritage team for comments, the response will be from a Planning Officer.
Lawful development certificates guidance
Lawful development certificates are either for proposed or existing development and they are the only way to obtain a response from planning regarding what is or not permitted development. The government has a lawful development certificates user guide (PDF) more details about the process.
For proposed requests: this is for works not carried out and the fee is half the relevant planning fee.
For existing requests: this is for works already carried out and the fee is the same as for a planning application of the same development type.
The response sent from Planning is a legal certificate which is either ‘issued’ if confirmed as permitted development / lawful, or ‘not issued’ if confirmed as not permitted development / lawful (or there is insufficient information to make a determination). Both types of responses include an officer's report explaining the decision. A ‘not issued’ certificate will require the submission of a further application if you wish a response from planning.
It is up to the applicant / agent to submit sufficient information for a determination to be made.
The requirements for the request to be valid are minimal, but the decision can still be refused ‘not issued’ due to insufficient information, because officers have not been able to make a proper assessment as to whether or not the works are or not permitted development.
We would advise you to submit as much detail as possible for any lawful development certificate. (This will avoid its sole reason for being refused as a lack of information.)
For example: For proposed building works this can include plans / drawings showing the development as proposed and the property as existing, both with dimensions and possible materials. For change of use we advise you to submit details of proposed use and existing. For listed buildings these have their own form for Permitted development queries.
- To apply go to the step by step guide
- The form numbers are 15, 14 and 32 depending on which type you require.
Prior notifications guidance
Prior notifications are for development that is permitted in the General Permitted Development Order however, you need to apply and provide certain information for consideration to all the details can be checked. These can be approved or refused by the Local Planning Authority but must be done within the time frames allotted as are time critical and have different consultation requirements to planning applications. Prior notifications can be submitted for lots of different types of development including some: changes of use, telecommunications development, householder development.
You can find out more about prior notifications in Guide 13.
Minerals and waste applications
Find out more about Minerals and waste applications and waste applications which for specific types of development and in some cases have their own forms.