Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use or Development

Permitted development rights let you build a great deal without planning permission, but they come with conditions and limits, and “I think it’s permitted development” is not much of a defence if the council disagrees two years later. A certificate of lawfulness of proposed use or development, often shortened to CLOPUD, settles the question in advance. Apply to the council, describe exactly what you propose, and if they agree it would be lawful you get a certificate saying so. It is the difference between believing you are allowed and being able to prove it.

What is a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use?

Section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 lets any person who wishes to ascertain whether a proposed use of buildings or other land, or operations proposed to be carried out on land, would be lawful apply to the local planning authority, specifying the land and describing the use or operations in question.

If the council is provided with information satisfying it that the use or operations would be lawful if begun at the time of the application, it must issue a certificate. If it is not satisfied, it must refuse. The question the council asks itself is a precise one: if this proposed change of use had occurred, or this proposed operation had commenced, on the application date, would it have been lawful for planning purposes?

The everyday use is confirming permitted development, such as a loft conversion with dormers, a hip-to-gable roof extension, a rear extension within the Class A limits. It is also worth having when you come to sell: a buyer’s solicitor asking how you know the extension was lawful is much easier to answer with a certificate than with an opinion.

It is not planning permission

This matters, and it is the most common misunderstanding. A certificate does not grant anything. There is no power to grant planning permission on a certificate application, so the planning merits of your scheme are simply irrelevant: whether it is attractive, whether neighbours object, whether it accords with policy. The only question is lawfulness.

That cuts both ways. The council cannot refuse because it dislikes the scheme. But equally, a certificate is no comfort on anything outside planning law: it does not remove the need to comply with the Building Regulations, to obtain listed building consent, or to satisfy any other licensing or permitting regime.

You can also apply for planning permission in the normal way at the same time, without prejudice to the certificate application, which is a belt-and-braces approach where the position is genuinely arguable.

The catch: what “conclusively presumed” really means

Once a certificate is in force, the lawfulness of the use or operations it describes is conclusively presumed. That is powerful. It is not a view, it is a legal conclusion the council cannot go behind.

But for a proposed-use certificate there is a proviso, and it is easy to miss. Section 192(4) presumes lawfulness conclusively unless there is a material change, before the use is instituted or the operations are begun, in any of the matters relevant to determining that lawfulness.

So the certificate protects the position as it stood on the application date. If something material changes before you start, the presumption can fall away. The government’s own guidance gives the obvious example: an Article 4 direction removing the very permitted development right the certificate rests on. Get a certificate, sit on it for two years while the council makes an Article 4 direction, and you may find the ground has moved.

This is the clearest difference from a certificate for an existing use. Under section 191, lawfulness is conclusively presumed full stop. There is no proviso, because the development has already happened. Under section 192 it is conclusively presumed unless something material changes first. The practical lesson: a CLOPUD is not a permission you can bank indefinitely. Use it.

How to apply for a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use

The application goes to the local planning authority, describing the land and the proposed use or operations. Two features are worth knowing:

• anyone can apply, so you do not need a legal interest in the land, which is why prospective buyers sometimes apply before committing
• the burden is entirely on you, so the council does not go looking for reasons to grant; you must provide information that satisfies it

A fee is payable, and it is worth weighing against the cost of simply applying for planning permission, so see our guide to planning fees in England. Where the position is genuinely clear, the honest answer is often that you do not need a certificate at all: less is frequently more, and an application you did not need is money and attention spent for nothing.

Precision is everything. The certificate describes exactly what has been certified, so vague drawings produce a vague certificate, or none. Say which Class of permitted development you rely on, and show the measurements that bring you within it.

A refusal is not necessarily the end. Government guidance is explicit that a refusal is not conclusive that something is unlawful, because it may simply mean insufficient evidence has been presented so far. The council may also issue a certificate for a different description from the one you applied for, as an alternative to refusing outright, though it should seek your agreement first.

One further limit: a certificate does not excuse you from conditions on an existing planning permission, unless the certificate describes that matter. Being certified as lawful is not the same as being released from the conditions that made it lawful.

Appeals: no deadline, and no merits

If the council refuses, or fails to decide, you may appeal to the Secretary of State under section 195. Two points stand out.

First, and unusually, there is no time limit for appealing a section 191 or section 192 refusal. Almost every other planning appeal has a hard deadline; this one does not. It is a striking contrast with the listed building version under section 26H, which must be appealed within six months, and with the deadlines that apply to planning appeals generally.

The reason there is no deadline is narrower than it looks, and it is worth understanding before you rely on it. Our guide to a lawful development certificate appeal sets out where that gap comes from, why it could be closed at any time, and why delay still costs you even while the door stays open.

Second, only the applicant can appeal, and planning merits are not in play. Your case has to be that the proposal does not amount to development at all under section 55, or that it is permitted development, or that it is otherwise lawful.

Where the facts are genuinely in dispute, these appeals are often decided at an inquiry, so evidence can be given on oath and witnesses cross-examined. Where it is really an argument about the interpretation of agreed facts and the law, written representations will usually do. Note that the written representations rules that changed on 1 April 2026 do not apply to these appeals. Those rules sort most planning appeals into a Part 1 or a Part 2 procedure, but they only cover appeals made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. A section 195 appeal sits outside them and is dealt with under the enforcement appeal procedure, so the Part 1 rule stopping you from adding new evidence does not apply.

CLEUD, CLOPUD and section 26H: telling them apart

Three certificates, three different jobs:

• Section 191 (CLEUD): certifies that something already there is lawful, usually because it is immune from enforcement. See our guide to the certificate of lawfulness and the 10-year rule
• Section 192 (CLOPUD): certifies that something proposed would be lawful. This page
• Section 26H: certifies that proposed works to a listed building would not affect its character, and so need no consent. See our guide to the certificate of lawfulness of proposed works

They differ in more than subject matter. A section 26H certificate only protects works that are actually carried out within ten years of the date it was issued, and a refusal must be appealed within six months. A section 192 certificate has no expiry, but its presumption is vulnerable to a material change before you start, and there is no deadline at all for appealing a refusal.

If you are not sure whether you need permission in the first place, start with our guide to permitted development. If it turns out you do need permission, see the types of planning application.

See also our guide to the types of planning application.

Relevant legislation

The certificate regime sits in the enforcement part of the main planning Act. When checking any provision, use the “Changes to Legislation” panel on legislation.gov.uk, as later amendments are not always shown in the main text.

• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 192: the proposed-use certificate, and the material-change proviso in section 192(4)
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 191: the existing-use certificate, where lawfulness is presumed without a proviso
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 193: procedure, and the limit on the effect of a certificate where conditions apply
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 195: appeals against refusal or non-determination
• Planning and Compensation Act 1991, section 10: replaced established use certificates with lawful development certificates

Other Planning Application Sections

Certificate of Lawfulness of Proposed Use Page Updated: 14th August 2026