Planning Law — SQE1 practice question

A company owns a nineteenth-century warehouse in an area the council designated some years ago to protect its character and appearance. The warehouse is not listed. The company wants to pull it down completely and build a new office block on the cleared site. It accepts that the new building will need planning permission, but it takes the view that demolishing an unlisted building it owns is a matter for it alone.

Does the demolition of the warehouse require permission in its own right?

Option A. Incorrect answer. No, because demolition is not development, so no consent is required for pulling a building down.
Option B. Correct answer. Yes, because planning permission is required for the demolition of most unlisted buildings in a designated area.Correct
Option C. Incorrect answer. No, because the permission for the new office block will authorise the clearance of the site.
Option D. Incorrect answer. Yes, because conservation area consent must be obtained before an unlisted building in such an area is demolished.
Option E. Incorrect answer. Yes, because listed building consent is required for the demolition of any building in a designated area.

Why

The correct answer is B. Conservation area consent was abolished in 2013. The demolition of an unlisted building in a conservation area is now "relevant demolition", for which planning permission is required in its own right under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and carrying it out without permission is a criminal offence under section 196D. A handful of small structures are excepted, but a nineteenth-century warehouse is not among them. In determining the application the authority must pay special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of the area (section 72 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990), and permitted development rights in such areas are restricted, often further by an Article 4 direction.

A is incorrect because demolition can be a building operation, and in a conservation area it expressly requires permission. C is incorrect because a permission for the new building does not carry with it authority to demolish the existing one; the demolition needs its own permission. D is incorrect because conservation area consent no longer exists as a separate consent; the control now runs through planning permission. E is incorrect because listed building consent applies to listed buildings, and this warehouse is not listed.

Why