{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/town-and-country-planning-general-development-order-1988/article-29",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/town-and-country-planning-general-development-order-1988/article-29.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1988/1813",
  "legislation_title": "The Town and Country Planning General Development Order 1988",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/town-and-country-planning-general-development-order-1988",
  "path": "article/29",
  "kind": "article",
  "number": "29",
  "heading": "Established use certificates",
  "text": "(1) An application to a local planning authority for an established use certificate shall be in writing, shall be accompanied by plans identifying clearly the land to which the application relates and shall give—\n(a) the address or location of the land;\n(b) a description of the use in respect of which a certificate is sought (being a use subsisting on the date when the application is made);\n(c) if there is more than one use of the land at the date when the application is made, a full description of all uses of the land at the date and, where appropriate, an indication of the part of the land to which each of the uses relates;\n(d) whether the use referred to in sub-paragraph (b) was begun before 1st January 1964 and, if not, the date when it was begun;\n(e) if the use referred to in sub-paragraph (b) was begun on or after 1st January 1964, particulars of the use of the land at 31st December 1963 and all subsequent intervening uses, including the date when each such use began and ended;\n(f) the nature of the applicant’s interest in the land;\n(g) a statement of the grounds (as set out in section 94(1) of the Act) upon which a certificate is sought;\n(h) such other information as the applicant considers necessary to substantiate or make good his claim.\n(2) An application for an established use certificate shall be accompanied by such supporting evidence as the applicant can provide and, where a certificate is being sought on ground (b) of section 94(1) of the Act (use begun before 1964 under a planning permission granted subject to conditions or limitations which have not been complied with), a copy of the relevant planning permission or, where this cannot be supplied, details of the condition in question and such other particulars as the applicant can provide.\n(3) The local planning authority may, by notice in writing, require the applicant for an established use certificate to provide such further information as may be specified, to enable them to deal with the application.\n(4) An application for an established use certificate shall not be entertained by the local planning authority unless it is accompanied by one of the following certificates signed by or on behalf of the applicant—\n(a) a certificate stating that at the beginning of the period of twenty-one days ending with the date of the application, no person (other than the applicant) was the owner of any of the land to which the application relates;\n(b) a certificate stating that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to all the persons (other than the applicant) who, at the beginning of the period of twenty-one days ending with the date of the application, were owners of any of the land to which the application relates, and setting out the names of those persons, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to each of them, and the date of service of each such notice;\n(c) a certificate stating that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with either of the preceding sub-paragraphs, that he has given the requisite notice of the application to one or more of the persons mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) as are specified in the certificate (setting out their names, the addresses at which notice of the application was given to each of them and the date of the service of each notice), that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the remainder of those persons and that he has been unable to do so; or\n(d) a certificate stating that the applicant is unable to issue a certificate in accordance with sub-paragraph (a) of this paragraph, that he has taken such steps as are reasonably open to him (specifying them) to ascertain the names and addresses of the persons mentioned in sub-paragraph (b) of this paragraph and that he has been unable to do so.\n(5) For the purposes of this article a person shall be treated as an owner of the land if—\n(a) in respect of any part of the land, he is entitled to the freehold or a lease, the unexpired term of which at the relevant time is not less than 7 years; or\n(b) he is the occupier of any part of the land.\n(6) (a) All certificates given pursuant to paragraph (4) shall contain—\n(i) a statement that none of the land to which the application relates constitutes or forms part of an agricultural holding; or\n(ii) a statement that the applicant has given the requisite notice of the application to every person (other than the applicant) who, at the beginning of the period of 21 days ending with the date of the application, was a tenant of any agricultural holding any part of which was comprised in the land to which the application relates, with the names of each such person, the address at which notice of the application was given to him, and the date of service of that notice.\n(b) A certificate of the kind mentioned in paragraph (4)(c) or (d) shall also contain a statement that the requisite notice of the application, as set out in the certificate, has, on a date specified in the certificate (being a date not earlier than the beginning of the period mentioned in paragraph (4)(b)), been published in a local newspaper circulating in the locality in which the land in question is situated.\n(7) Where an application for an established use certificate is accompanied by such a certificate as is mentioned in paragraph (4)(b),(c) or (d) of this article, or by a certificate containing a statement in accordance with paragraph (6)(a)(ii), the local planning authority—\n(a) shall not determine the application before the end of the period of 21 days beginning with the date appearing from the certificate to be the latest of the dates of service of notices as mentioned in the certificate, or the date of publication of a notice as therein mentioned, whichever is the later;\n(b) in determining the application, shall take into account any representations made before the end of the period mentioned in the preceding sub-paragraph, by any person who satisfies them that he is an owner of land to which the application relates or that he is the tenant of an agricultural holding the whole or part of which is comprised in that land; and\n(c) shall give notice of their decision to every person who has made representations which they were required to take into account in accordance with sub-paragraph (b).\n(8) Article 10(1) and (2) and 23(4) of this order shall apply to an application for an established use certificate as they apply to an application for planning permission.\n(9) In the case of an application which falls to be determined by the county planning authority, the district planning authority shall as soon as practicable notify the applicant that the application will be so determined and transmit to the county planning authority the application, all relevant plans, drawings, statements, particulars, certificates and correspondence and a statement of any action taken by the district planning authority in relation to the application.\n(10) The local planning authority shall give notice to the applicant of their decision (or the reference of the application to the Secretary of State, as the case may be) within a period of eight weeks beginning with the date of receipt of the application, or (except where the applicant has already given notice of appeal to the Secretary of State) such extended period as may be agreed upon in writing between the applicant and the authority responsible for determining the application.\n(11) Where an established use certificate is refused, the local planning authority shall give notice of their decision in writing with a clear and precise statement of the full grounds for their decision and a statement to the effect that if the applicant is aggrieved by the decision he may appeal to the Secretary of State under section 95(2) of the Act.\n(12) An applicant who desires to appeal against a decision of a local planning authority refusing an established use certificate, or refusing it in part, or against a deemed refusal of such a certificate, shall give notice of appeal in writing to the Secretary of State within six months of the date of notice of the decision or of the expiry of the period allowed under paragraph (10) of this article, as the case may be, or such longer period as the Secretary of State may at any time allow. Such persons shall also provide the Secretary of State with copies of each of the following documents—\n(a) the application;\n(b) all relevant plans, drawings, statements and particulars submitted with it (including the certificate given under paragraph (4) of this article);\n(c) the notice of the decision, if any;\n(d) all other relevant documents and correspondence with the local planning authority.\n(13) The provisions of paragraphs (3) to (6) of this article shall apply with any necessary modifications in relation to an appeal to the Secretary of State as they apply in relation to an application to the local planning authority for an established use certificate.\n(14) Article 27 of this order (registers) shall apply in relation to applications for established use certificates as it applies in relation to applications for a determination under section 53 of the Act, with the modification that for the reference in paragraph (4)(a) to the proposal forming the subject of the application there shall be substituted a reference to the use in respect of which a certificate is sought.\n(15) Any certificate given pursuant to paragraph (4) of this article shall be in the appropriate form set out in Part 1 of Schedule 5 hereto, and “requisite notice” for the purposes of that paragraph means a notice in the appropriate form set out in Part 1 or Part 2 of Schedule 6.\n(16) Established use certificates shall be issued in the form set out in Part 3 of Schedule 6 to this order.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "amended",
      "affecting": "uksi/1991/2805",
      "affecting_title": "The Town and Country Planning General Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 1991"
    },
    {
      "type": "revoked",
      "affecting": "uksi/1991/2805",
      "affecting_title": "The Town and Country Planning General Development (Amendment) (No. 3) Order 1991"
    },
    {
      "type": "revoked",
      "affecting": "uksi/1992/1563",
      "affecting_title": "The Town and Country Planning General Development (Amendment) (No. 5) Order 1992"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1813/article/29",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T15:56:26.565388+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}