Small investors, self-builders and individuals can be tempted to buy 'micro-plots': fields carved into parcels of land sold with hope value for housing. These rarely gain planning permission and this good article provides a summary. Take advice if you are interested in purchasing, or want to pursue a planning application or appeal.

Appeals can be progressed on a site following every refusal of planning permission. This can lead to a lot of applications and appeals over time, with this news report reporting six appeals over the years. However, perhaps it is better to put a good case at the outset and avoid the expense and time of wasted appeals.

Planners like to categorise things in neat boxes, and a change is now in place to a crucial area of commercial use classes. The new Class E is now in force, which combines a lot of former business and retail uses into one category. This means that planning permission is not needed for any use within that Class E, for instance a change from a shop to a restaurant, or an office to a cafe. See more here

.The Government has announced the biggest shake-up to planning for years. There are proposals for new zoned areas of land, a change in how financial contributions are made, digital planning initiatives, more public involvement in plan-making, and lots more. But it is all consultation at the moment, which means for now all planning applications and appeals are still the same.

The planning system likes its neat categories of different types of uses. The Government has recently announced a shake-up of this for commercial uses, combining many uses into one general class. This means that many changes of use are not going to need planning permission, in an attempt to provide more freedom for high streets and businesses. As ever, there are limitations on this, so you'll need to check the legislation or with Councils.

Having recently announced that blocks of flats can add additional storeys without planning permission, the Government has said houses can too. But there is a process of 'prior approval' which means details still need to be checked and approved with the Council. So don't get too excited just yet - the Council can still have a say.