Northumberland County Council - Apply for planning permission

Apply for planning permission

Find out how to submit a planning application, what it costs and what documents are required.

You don't actually need to own the land or property to apply for planning permission.

Where building work is undertaken the owner of the property or land is responsible for complying with the relevant planning rules (and building regulations, which are dealt with by a separate department). Failure to do so can result in enforcement action being taken. Find out more about your responsibilities and other permissions you may require.

To apply for planning permission you need to submit a planning application form, fee (where applicable) and the required documents. The most common way to do this is to apply online through the Planning Portal website, which will guide you through the type of application you require. You can make the application yourself or appoint a professional planning consultant to do this for you.

It is important to do the following before submitting your application.

Use our pre-application advice service if you are unsure whether you need permission or what type of application to make.
Check the Planning Application Fees List to ensure you pay the correct fee. Refer to the Planning Fees and Charges Supplementary Guidance Document for further clarification.
Submit the correct documents from our Validation Checklist to avoid your application being ‘invalid’ upon receipt. Our Validation Team check all your documents against this Checklist when we receive your application, unfortunately 50% of applications we receive are submitted with incorrect or missing information/fee. Only when your application passes validation will it be seen by a Planning Officer and start the decision timescale so it is important to ensure your application contains everything we need.
Appoint a professional planning consultant to make the application if you are unsure how to provide this information yourself.

For details of how we handle your information please read our Planning Application Privacy Notice.

Important Notice regarding new dwellings

Contributions to Sport and Play in former Tynedale and Wansbeck District Areas

The Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England (No. 2) Regulations 2019 came into force on 1 September 2019. These regulations make a number of important changes to the operation of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and section 106 planning obligations. These changes included removing altogether the ‘pooling restriction’ which prevented charging authorities from entering into more than five section 106 obligations to fund a single infrastructure project and allowing authorities to charge developers for the costs of monitoring planning obligations.

Following a review of the relevant legislation and policy, Northumberland County Council will be requesting contributions towards Sport and Play infrastructure in the Tynedale and Wansbeck Areas for development of one or more dwellings for any application validated on or after 1st April 2020.

The relevant documents and guidance are available to view on our website but you will be contacted by the case officer if this applies to your planning application.

Section 106 Agreements - Guidelines on Contributions to Play & Sports Facilities (Tynedale District Council Area)

Section 106 Agreements - Guidelines on Contributions to Play & Sports Facilities (Wansbeck District Council Area)

Fire safety and high-rise residential buildings

Planning applications for buildings over 18 metres (or 7 stories) tall containing more than one dwelling (or any educational accommodation) will require a 'Fire Statement' for the application to be considered valid. There are some exemptions.

View government planning guidance on fire statements

Access the fire statement template and guidance.

Online applications prevent delays by reducing the chance of your application being invalid when we receive it.

Submit your application online using the Planning Portal.

Get help choosing the correct application type,
Answer questions relevant only to your application,
Upload your documents online (no need to provide paper copies),
Built in fee calculator and online payment,
Start and return to your application anytime,
Create location and site plans online,
We can process your documents electronically whether we are based at Council offices or working from home during COVID.

As soon as you submit your application you’ll get a reference number and the application will be made available to us so we can begin to validate it.

View the Planning Portal Frequently Asked Questions section if you have any queries regarding its use. Northumberland County Council do not operate the Planning Portal website. Application fees and the service charge must be paid directly to the Planning Portal otherwise the application will not be transferred to us.

Find out what happens after your application is submitted

Other ways to apply / find an application form

Please submit your application online via the Planning Portal rather than on paper or by email. The Planning Portal system sends all your documents and payments directly into our back office system meaning instead of time spent manually scanning/uploading documents and matching up the fee we have instant access to validate your application whether we are based at Council offices or working from home.

However, if you cannot apply online the information below explains where to obtain application forms, pay the fee and submit your application.

Application forms

Use the Paper Application Form Chooser to select the correct application form (ensure you read the guidance note). Download the form as a PDF document which you can print out, complete, scan, and submit by email. We only require one full colour copy of all documents (not four as stated on the application forms).

Payment and fees

Check the list of Planning Application Fees and Exemptions before you make your application.

Pay for a planning application online (quoting the site address) and include your payment reference number when you email us your application. If you apply online the Planning Portal will help you work out the cost of your application and the fee must be paid directly to them.

Read the planning Fees and Charges Supplementary Guidance Document for further clarification on fees.

Include the correct documents

Read our Validation Checklist, it tells you what documents you need to submit according to the application type. If you do not submit the correct information your application will be deemed invalid. This will cause delays to your application and increases the time it takes us to process it. An application will only be deemed ‘valid’ and passed to a Planning Officer from the date we received all the required information.

Most applications require a location plan. Please check the red line is clear and includes any access from the site to the public highway. You can purchase a location plan online using the Planning Portal. We cannot accept photos of plans or google maps in place of a scaled location plan. View guidance to help you better understand what your location plan should look like. View a map showing the public highway.

Submitting your application

Email your application to planning@northumberland.gov.uk if you are unable to make your application on the Planning Portal. Please provide an email address on the application form so we can correspond by email rather than post. Do not send a duplicate in the post if you have already emailed the application to us.

Guidance on how to reduce file sizes should be read if your submission contains large file sizes as the largest file size we can receive by email is 25mb per email.
Cryptshare is a secure way of sending larger/multiple documents to us. Upload the documents to Cryptshare, create a password and then submit the documents. You can upload around 5GB. The password you create must be sent to us at the above email address, so we are able to log in and retrieve the documents.
Our security system prevents us from being able to access documents on CD or on USB memory sticks or via links such as We Transfer etc.
We do not accept links to online documents / websites as part of your submission.

Hazardous Substances Consent (HSC)

The information below outlines when Hazardous Substance Consent is required, how to apply for consent and how to access the public register of sites with a Hazardous Substance Consent.

Hazardous Substance Consent is required when substances on a site are at, or in excess of the 'controlled quantity' as set out in the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 2015. What constitutes a Hazardous Substance are set out within the same regulations.

Apply for Hazardous Substances Consent on the HSE website. An online 'wizard' to guide applicants through the major-hazard information required in an application for hazardous substances consent is provided on the same HSE website. You cannot apply for these on the Planning Portal. Find out what to include in your application and how much it will cost on the Gov.uk website. The timescale for a decision is 8 weeks from the date we receive all the required information/fee. Pay for your application online.

Public Register of Sites

Section 28 of the Planning (Hazardous Substance) Act 1990 requires the Council to maintain a public register of sites at which hazardous substances are permitted to be located.

Search our Public Register. To view all the applications in Northumberland use the advanced search and pick Hazardous Substances Consent Application from the drop down Application Type list (leaving all other fields blank).

Modification of construction working hours

View the application form and further detail on the new route for applicants seeking to extend construction site working hours introduced in the Business and Planning Act.

The aim of the new temporary fast track deemed consent route under section 74B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is to enable urgent changes to construction working hours to support safe construction working in line with the government’s latest social distancing guidance on construction and other outdoor work. For many construction sites, implementation of this guidance will require changes to working practices, including staggered starts and finishes, requiring different hours of operation to those which are currently permitted for the site through planning conditions. Local Authorities have 14 calendar days to determine such applications and no fee is required.

Application Form for Modification of Conditions relating to Construction Working Hours (Word document)

Please email the completed form to planning@northumberland.gov.uk. Note that applications can only be made electronically.

Visit the .gov.uk website for further guidance on the modification of planning conditions relating to construction working hours.