What is a certificate of lawful development?
A certificate of lawful development is a legal document which outlines the legally allowed development of a property. A certificate of lawful development is often applied for to prove that the proposed or existing development is/was lawful. This is useful, because if someone at a latter date complains about the use of a property, you as the owner will have a legal document outlining that the development is lawful. In order to obtain a certificate of lawful development, the burden lies with the applicant to prove that the development is permitted under permitted development rights. Once through the evidence presented by the applicant, the local planning authority is satisfied that the development is lawful, they will then issue a certificate of lawful development.
