Report a planning breach

Building work that does not have the right permission is called a planning breach.

A breach is also work that does not follow conditions that were set when planning permission was granted.

You can report a planning breach if someone is:

building an extension or making changes without planning permission, including putting up outbuildings or fences
not following approved planning permission
changing the use of a property or land without planning permission
working on trees without planning permission
working on a listed building without consent
putting up adverts without consent
bringing waste onto land, storing and sorting waste (excluding fly-tipping), or tipping waste above approved levels

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What you cannot report

These are not planning breaches:

neighbour disputes
issues with traffic or roads
breaches of building regulations

We cannot take action against work which is not classed as development, including:

clearing land of undergrowth, bushes and trees as long as they aren't subject to a tree preservation order and are not within a conservation area, or protected by a planning condition
advertisements displayed in accordance with the advertisement regulations
operating a business from home on a low key basis

View more information on the Planning Portal website.

Seek legal advice from a solicitor or Citizens Advice for private matters such as:

boundary or ownership disputes
covenants (an agreement to do something, or not to do something)
someone building on or over your land
fences built on your land
builders working on an adjacent property putting materials or scaffolding on your land

Unsafe building sites or health and safety concerns

Report general site safety concerns to The Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Report fatal and major injuries to their Incident Contact Centre on 0345 300 9923 (Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm).

Unacceptable work by statutory undertakers

Report unacceptable work by statutory undertakers (for example gas, electrical and telecommunications companies) to the company doing the work.

Commercial vehicles parked on-street in residential areas

If a commercial vehicle is blocking a road, contact the Thames Valley Police on 101.

Noise from construction and building

Report noise from construction and building to our Environmental Health Team on 01494 461 000.

Fire and contaminated land

Report fire and contaminated land to our Environmental Health Team on 01494 461 000.

Issues on the highway

The Buckinghamshire Highways team are responsible for:

works to vehicles on the highway, including the footpath
the sale of vehicles from the highway
vehicles parked in resident permit holder spots
vehicles parked on double yellow lines within the special parking area of High Wycombe
encroachment onto the highway, public footpath or bridleway

Vehicles parked blocking a dropped kerb should be reported to the police.

For more information see Parking, roads and transport.

After you've reported a breach

When we receive your enquiry, we will:

let you know that we’ve received it within 4 working days
look into the alleged breach, and we may ask you for more information or any proof that you have
take action where appropriate if it is a breach of planning control.

If there is no breach of planning control, we will explain the reasons why.

Formal action

We'll start formal action when negotiations to resolve a complaint have failed. We'll then consider serving legal notices requiring the breach of planning control to be resolved.

If the owner does not comply with legal notices we serve, we can take court action. This could result in a significant fine. In most cases, there is a right of appeal against the legal notices that we serve.

Further information

View the Planning Enforcement and Monitoring Plan for more information about our Planning enforcement team.

Report a planning breach

What you cannot report

Issues dealt with by other teams or organisations

After you've reported a breach

Formal action

Further information