What is planning enforcement and how can you help out in the process?
Last updated: 2 July 2025
If a person carries out a development without the required planning permission or does not comply with a condition attached to their planning permission (known as a ‘breach of planning control’), the local planning authority (LPA) may take enforcement action against them.
There are various options available to LPAs in tackling breaches of planning control. Sometimes a satisfactory outcome can be achieved by informal negotiations, for example the LPA can request the submission of a retrospective planning application to rectify an unauthorised development. However, if this is not possible then formal action may be taken, which must be appropriate to the scale of the breach. Enforcement is a discretionary power, meaning that it is up to the LPA how it responds to breaches of planning control. They must consider whether it is in the public interest to take enforcement action and in certain situations they may decide that no action is necessary.
If formal action is required, an enforcement officer may issue an enforcement notice. This sets out what has to be done to remedy the situation and outlines the right to appeal against the notice. A stop notice can also be issued with an enforcement notice, to stop unauthorised works from continuing during the time it takes for the enforcement notice to take effect. This can be an important tool in protecting areas from unauthorised development which could be harmful to nature if it continued. It is an offence to not comply with an enforcement notice or a stop notice.
Another type of formal enforcement action is a breach of condition notice, which requires the recipient to comply with the terms of a planning condition or conditions attached to a planning permission. A breach of condition notice cannot be appealed, so the recipient must comply with the conditions specified in the notice. A failure to comply with a breach of condition notice is also an offence so may result in a criminal prosecution.
Read more about the different types of enforcement action that are available to LPAs in the Find out more section below.
LPAs have very limited resources to monitor unauthorised development and the implementation of planning permissions. Members of the public can act as valuable eyes and ears on the ground which can be very helpful to an under-resourced enforcement team.
If you suspect that development in your local area has taken place unlawfully or that a condition of a planning permission is not being complied with, you should make a formal enforcement complaint to the LPA and ask for an enforcement investigation to be started. If you believe your enforcement complaint has not been taken seriously or properly dealt with by the LPA, you could bring the matter to the attention of a local councillor who may be willing to support you in your complaint.
Never trespass or put yourself at risk! It is important not to trespass on other people’s property or put yourself at risk on development sites while investigating potential planning breaches (due to health and safety reasons you will only be allowed access to completed parts of a development). Instead pass any information you have directly to the planning enforcement team at your LPA as soon as possible.
A council may issue a notice under section 43(1) of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, which requires that a planning application be submitted when it appears that a development has been carried out without planning permission. In relation to operational development (eg, building or engineering works), such notices must be served within five years from when the development was substantially completed. For changes of use or other breaches of planning control, the five years begins on the date of the breach.
In most cases, unauthorised development becomes lawful and immune from enforcement if no enforcement action is taken by the LPA within five years.
The lawfulness of a development can be formally regularised via applying for a ‘certificate of lawful use or development’. This process establishes whether land or buildings are lawful for planning purposes on the date specified. It is based entirely on factual evidence rather than the merits of the use or activity.
Such certificates are not compulsory, but there may be times when a landowner might need one to confirm that the building or use is lawful in planning terms (eg, when selling a property).
Effective planning enforcement is important as it can prevent and address unauthorised development and breaches of planning conditions that would otherwise have an unacceptable impact on an area. Enforcement action is also important in maintaining public confidence in the planning system.