Reporting breached planning regulations
Before reporting a suspected breach of planning regulations, check our online planning application search to find out if approval for the development has been given.
If you cannot find that approval has been given for the work you wish to report, please also check our Enforcement Notice Register to check if the breach has already been reported to us as we may currently be investigating the issue.
Report a planning breach
If you suspect someone has breached planning regulations, you can report it online. You will need to tell us:
- the address of the breach or location of the land
- a description of the breach or problem
- when the activity started
- how it’s affecting you or your property
- the names and addresses of any owners, occupiers or companies involved
- your contact details so we can keep you updated
- evidence must be uploaded in PDF format.
What happens after you report a planning breach?
If you report a breach, we will keep your details confidential and will not disclose them without your permission.
You will receive an acknowledgement with information about the case, including a reference number and the name of the person dealing with your enquiry.
Once we have investigated the report, we will let you know whether a breach of planning regulations has been identified and what action, if any, we may take.
Register of notices
You can view notices relating to enforcement notices, stop notices and breach of conditions notices on the Enforcement Notice Register.
If you require written confirmation that you have remedied the breach of planning identified in the Enforcement Notice, please email the planning enforcement department at planningenforcement@harrow.gov.uk.
Confidentiality
It is important that members of the public feel confident about reporting breaches of planning control to the council. With that in mind:
- the council will not disclose complainant details to external third parties without the complainant's consent
- the identity of a person making a complaint will be kept confidential unless the council is required by law to release the information
- if a case proceeds to formal action, evidence from the complainant may be needed as part of the council's case. In such cases, we will usually ask the complainant to make a statement. Anonymous complaints, however, will not normally be taken or pursued.