People looking to sell off agricultural land they own, and property developers interested in building homes on agricultural land will both know only too well just how difficult it can be to be granted planning permission for a proposed development plan.
In the UK, there’s a lot of legislation in place to protect Britain’s beautiful agricultural landscape and wildlife in Greenbelt areas in the countryside. Many property developments as a result of these pieces of legislation fail every year to receive consent and the go ahead for planning permission applications.
However, it certainly is possible to receive the green light for planning permission for property developments on agricultural land through hiring the services of top quality specialised ecological consultants who know just what exactly to look out for.
We have come up with a guide explaining how property developers can ensure they manage to successfully get planning permission to build and develop property on agricultural land in the UK.
Do Plenty of Research into Which Ecological Consultancy to Go with for Land Surveys
Any property development company will be aware of the extent of the environmental surveys, conveyancing, and checks on the impact on local wildlife that new property developments in rural areas have to go through to have planning permission approved by the local council’s LPA (Local Planning Authority). For this reason, it’s vital that you are able to find the services of a reliable ecological consultancy to carry out the environmental surveys and check on the land. Do lots of research into just how reliable an ecological consultancy firm is and do plenty of checks online going through customer reviews with a fine-tooth comb.
You should also have a good read through the company’s values on their website and what they stand for. How long have they been operating as a business? Have they won professional awards? What specific qualifications and expertise does it say their staff have?
It is also a good idea to look out for any evidence of their past work online, this may be in the form of photographs, videos, and so on. If after doing a bit of research you can clearly see that an ecological surveyor company has a history of a poor track record of getting planning permission for property developments, you may want to choose to go with the services of a different company.
Get the Ecological and Arboricultural Experts in To Make Sure Your Planning Application is as Strong as Possible
Your best chance of getting planning permission approved for your housing development by the planning authority is by getting a team of professional experts in to survey and look into every nook and cranny on the land you’re thinking of developing on. An ecological surveyor consultancy firm with a team of well qualified biologists and environmental scientists should be able to bring it to your attention if there are any environmental risks and hazards which may put the planning permission application for the site into jeopardy. Hopefully, the land you want to use as the site for the development is perfect to build on and there are no issues, but you can never be too sure. You must remain stringent to give you the best chance when trying to apply for planning permission in rural areas and employ the best in the business.
If you are a property developer on the lookout for getting some reliable tree surveys for the site you’re intending on building on, definitely take a look at Arbtech. Arbtech is an ecological and arboricultural consultancy company with a hard-working team of dedicated arboriculturists and ecologists that has had over 20,000 planning applications approved since 2005, so you know you’ll be in safe hands.
Property Developers Should Read Properly Through the Local Authority’s Planning Applications Validation Criteria
You should firstly make sure that you are up to date with the local council’s criteria that apply when trying for planning permission to build a new housing development in a specific area. What are some of the dos and don’ts? By reading through the planning application forms on the local council’s website and doing a bit of extra research into what getting planning permission approved in the area requires, you should quickly learn if there are any clear red flags meaning the development won’t be granted planning permission. Often on council websites online you will find help such as planning application checklists and the details of documents that you have to provide if you want to apply for planning permission with a local authority.
So, to save a lot of valuable time and money, property developers should always firstly take time to have a proper look into what it takes to successfully get planning permission to build a housing development in a specific local area. Developers should bear in mind that the criteria for planning permission is usually different from one area to the next seeing as no two sites are ever exactly the same and they have different environmental issues.
Property Developers Must Provide the Local Authority with Detailed Maps of Where the Development Site Will Be
When submitting a planning application, property developers must also provide the local authority with a location plan of where the proposed development site will be situated. In order to have planning permission granted, a location plan must meet the local authority’s planning application validation criteria. Look through the Ordnance Survey site to find your nearest planning application map supplier.
Property developers also need detailed maps of the area around the site to help the properties and the surrounding buildings pass the building regulation approval checks.
So, getting planning permission to build developments in agricultural areas in the UK is always a tricky and lengthy task, however it is very much do-able through using the services of a top ecological consultancy. Property developers should never be scared to apply for planning permission for a project, the worst that can happen is that it gets rejected and you start again somewhere else with another exciting project that benefits a local community.
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