Anyone has the right to submit a Certificate of Lawfulness application on a property or site. This means that prospective purchasers or occupiers as well as existing owners or occupiers are able to clarify the lawfulness of an existing or proposed development. A Certificate can be used to confirm that:

• Something you want to do or build does not need planning permission;
• Something which has been built in the past did not need planning permission;
• A change of use of a building or land whether proposed or carried out in the past does not need planning permission;
• Existing building works or use have been in existence for so long that the law allows them to be retained and are therefore immune from any enforcement action under planning legislation.