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Planning Permission: The Truth And Why You Don't Need It!
- NAP - Expert
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
How Statutory Authority Over Your Land Depends on Presumptions That Can Easily Be Challenged
This article examines the legal foundations of planning permission in the United Kingdom. It applies established principles of agency law, trust law, contract law, and equity to expose what the planning system actually requires to have authority over you and your land—and what happens when those requirements are not met.
Introduction: The Question No One Asks
When a local planning authority issues an enforcement notice, or demands you apply for permission, or threatens prosecution for "unauthorised development," there is a question that never gets asked:
By what instrument does statutory planning law attach to this land and this living being?
The planning system operates as if the answer is obvious—as if planning statutes automatically apply to everyone and everything by virtue of their existence. But when examined through the lens of established legal principles, a different picture emerges.
Planning permission, like all statutory licensing regimes, operates through a very specific mechanism. That mechanism depends on presumptions that are rarely examined—and that cannot survive proper challenge.
This article will examine that mechanism in detail.
Part One: What Planning Permission Actually Is
The Conventional Understanding
Most people understand planning permission as follows:
The state has authority over land use
Development requires permission from the local planning authority
If you develop without permission, you can be prosecuted or served with enforcement notices
This is simply "the law" and applies to everyone
This understanding is incomplete. It describes the administrative operation of the system but not the legal foundation upon which it rests.
The Statutory Structure
Planning law in England and Wales is primarily governed by the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990). This Act, like all statutes, addresses persons—not living beings directly.
Section 57 provides:
"...planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land."
But who requires this permission? The statute addresses "persons" who carry out development. The planning authority can serve enforcement notices on "persons" who breach planning control. Penalties are imposed on "persons" who fail to comply.
Person is a defined statutory term (Interpretation Act 1978). It includes bodies corporate and unincorporate—artificial constructs that require living agents to function.
The Critical Insight
The planning system does not address you, the living man or woman, directly. It addresses the person—the statutory construct created at birth registration and maintained through participation in the statutory system.
For the planning system to have authority over your land and your actions, there must be a valid connection between:
The living being (you)
The statutory person (the NAME on the Land Registry title)
The statutory system (planning law)
That connection is presumed. It is not established by any instrument.
Part Two: The Licensing Parallel
Planning Permission Is a Licence
Planning permission is, in substance, a licence. It operates identically to other statutory licensing regimes:
Licensing Regime | What It Regulates | Who Applies | What Acceptance Creates |
Driving licence | Use of motor vehicles on public roads | "Person" | "Driver" role bound by road traffic statutes |
Alcohol licence | Sale of alcohol | "Person" | "Licensee" role bound by licensing statutes |
Planning permission | Development of land | "Person" | "Developer"/"Owner" role bound by planning statutes |
In each case, the application process serves a specific function: it is the mechanism by which a living being volunteers to enter the statutory role.
What Happens When You Apply
When you submit a planning application, you are:
Identifying yourself as the person (by signing the application form in the NAME)
Accepting the jurisdiction of the planning authority over the matter
Volunteering into the statutory role of applicant, developer, or owner as defined by statute
Consenting to be regulated by all conditions, restrictions, and enforcement powers the statute provides
The application is not merely a request for permission. It is an act of submission to a regulatory framework. It is consent to be governed by that framework.
The Trap of the Application
This is why planning authorities are so insistent that "if in doubt, apply." The application itself is the jurisdictional hook. Once you have applied:
You have identified yourself as the person
You have accepted the authority of the planning system
You have entered the statutory role
All statutory powers and penalties now appear to attach
Without the application—without some act of voluntary participation—the planning authority must rely on presumption to establish jurisdiction.
Part Three: The Presumption Mechanism
How the System Claims Authority
The planning system, like all statutory systems, operates on a chain of presumptions:
Presumption of identity: The living being IS the person (NAME on the title)
Presumption of agency: The living being acts AS agent for the person
Presumption of transfer: Beneficial interest in the land has been transferred to the statutory structure (through registration)
Presumption of jurisdiction: Statutory authority attaches automatically to all registered land and all persons
These presumptions are treated as self-evident. They are never examined. They are never proven.
The Registry as Presumed Transfer
Land registration is treated as if it transfers beneficial interest in land to the statutory system. When land is registered at HM Land Registry, the title is held in the NAME—the statutory person.
But registration is administrative record-keeping. It is not an instrument of transfer. The requirements for valid transfer of beneficial interest are not met:
Requirement for Valid Transfer | What Exists at Registration |
Clear intention to transfer beneficial interest | None expressed |
Identified property | Land is identified |
Identified transferee | NAME is identified |
Proper instrument | None—only administrative record |
Consideration | None to transferor |
Informed consent of transferor | Never obtained |
Registration records that the person (NAME) holds legal title. It does not evidence transfer of beneficial interest from the living being to the person or to the statutory system.
The Gap Between Presumption and Law
There is a fundamental gap between what the planning system presumes and what the law actually requires:
What Law Requires | What Actually Exists |
Agency contract connecting living being to person | Presumption from conduct |
Instrument transferring beneficial interest | Nothing |
Consent to jurisdiction | Presumed from participation |
Authority to regulate beneficial owner | Presumed, not established |
When these presumptions are challenged—when proof of the underlying instruments is demanded—the gap becomes apparent.
