Some developments are too big for the local planning system to decide on at all.
A new power station, a major rail scheme, a large reservoir – projects on this scale don’t go through the local authority’s planning committee. They bypass it entirely, decided instead by central government under a completely separate regime. That regime is Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), and understanding why a scheme sits inside it changes where you’d even look to find out about it.
Here’s what makes a project an NSIP, and why that matters for anything nearby.
What is an NSIP?
The Planning Act 2008 created a distinct category of large-scale development in five sectors – energy, transport, water, waste water, and waste – that qualify as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects once they exceed defined statutory thresholds. An onshore generating station over 50 megawatts is a typical example of a threshold test; similar size- or capacity-based tests apply across the other sectors, covering things like electricity generating stations, rail freight interchanges, reservoirs, and hazardous waste facilities.
Since 2013, business and commercial projects that don’t automatically meet a sector threshold can also opt into the regime if the Secretary of State considers them nationally significant, so the category isn’t purely a function of the thresholds; there’s a discretionary route in as well.
Why does size change who decides?
Once a project meets the NSIP threshold, it no longer goes through the local planning authority for permission. Instead, the applicant applies to the Planning Inspectorate, which examines the proposal and makes a recommendation to the relevant Secretary of State, who takes the final decision. This has been the arrangement since April 2012, when the Planning Inspectorate took over the role from the former Infrastructure Planning Commission following the Localism Act 2011.
The logic is straightforward: projects of this scale often cross multiple local authority boundaries, involve national policy priorities that a single council isn’t well placed to weigh, and benefit from a single, consistent consenting process rather than a patchwork of separate local decisions.
What happens to the local authority’s role?
It doesn’t disappear, it changes shape. A host or neighbouring local authority becomes a statutory consultee rather than the decision-maker, and is required to produce a Local Impact Report during the examination stage, setting out the effects the project will have on its area. That report feeds into the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation, but the authority no longer has the power to grant or refuse permission itself.
How is an NSIP actually authorised?
Through a Development Consent Order (DCO), a single consent that can bundle together permissions that would otherwise need to be applied for separately, including elements of compulsory acquisition. The process from formal acceptance of an application to a decision typically takes over a year, and is front-loaded with substantial pre-application consultation requirements before the Planning Inspectorate will even accept a submission. The mechanics of the DCO process – and what it means for landowners along a scheme’s route – are worth a piece of their own, given how much they involve.
Why does this matter for a property search?
Because an NSIP bypasses the local planning authority, the usual channels a conveyancer relies on for planning history don’t necessarily surface it in the way they would a conventional planning application. A DCO application sits with the Planning Inspectorate’s national register, not the local authority’s planning portal, and a standard local search isn’t necessarily designed to highlight a nationally significant scheme progressing through a separate, centrally administered process.
For any property near a proposed energy, transport, water, or waste scheme of real scale, that’s a reason to check the national register specifically rather than assuming a clean local search means nothing of consequence is coming. It’s also the route by which some of the most substantial compulsory acquisition and blight issues arise – an NSIP’s DCO can carry powers that touch a much wider area than the footprint of the scheme itself.
An NSIP isn’t defined by controversy or local objection, it’s defined by scale, sector, and a statutory threshold that moves the decision out of local hands entirely.
Knowing a project qualifies as an NSIP tells you immediately where to look for information about it, and it’s rarely the place a standard search would otherwise point you.
A new road opens nearby. Nothing is built on the property; no land is taken… and yet its value can still fall.
Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 exists for exactly that situation. It’s a compensation right most conveyancers rarely encounter, precisely because it doesn’t involve land being acquired at all – but for properties near new or altered infrastructure, it can matter a great deal.
Here’s what a Part 1 claim actually is, and why it’s a different animal from compulsory purchase.
What is a Part 1 claim?
Where the value of an interest in land is depreciated by physical factors caused by the use of public works, the person with that interest can claim compensation from the authority responsible for the works. This is known as a Part 1 claim, after the part of the 1973 Act that creates the right.
Crucially, no land needs to be taken from the claimant for a Part 1 claim to arise. It’s a form of injurious affection; value lost through the presence and operation of nearby infrastructure, not through anything physically removed from the property. The legislation provides a route to compensation in circumstances where an affected owner may otherwise have limited remedies for depreciation caused by the use of public works.
What counts as a “physical factor”?
The Act sets out a fixed, exhaustive list: noise, vibration, smell, fumes, smoke, artificial lighting, and the discharge of any solid or liquid substance onto the land. Nothing outside that list qualifies, however genuinely a property’s value has been affected – general loss of view, disruption during construction, or a change in character to the area won’t support a claim on their own.
The factors also have to result from the use of the works, not their construction or their mere existence. A new road causing traffic noise can qualify; the fact of a road having been built at all doesn’t.
What counts as “public works”?
The Act covers three categories: any highway, any aerodrome, and any other works or land provided or used under statutory powers – which in practice extends to a wide range of infrastructure delivered by public bodies, from road schemes to certain utility and transport works. Although the statutory responsibility sits with the relevant authority, funding arrangements behind infrastructure schemes can be more complex.
When can a claim be made?
Timing is tightly defined by statute. The “relevant date” is the date a highway first opened to public traffic, or the date other public works were first used after completion. There is a statutory time limit for claims after the relevant date, after which the right may be lost.
There’s a practical logic to the delay before a claim can be brought at all: a claim reflects how a hypothetical buyer would value the property once the works are up and running and their effects can be properly assessed, not a prediction made before anyone knows how the finished scheme will behave. Compensation also isn’t available for factors caused by accidents involving vehicles or aircraft, and generally only one claim can be made per scheme, regardless of later changes in ownership.
How is this different from compulsory purchase compensation?
Compulsory purchase compensation is paid because land has been acquired. A Part 1 claim is paid because land value has fallen, even though nothing has been acquired at all – the two sit either side of a clear line. It’s entirely possible for one property on a scheme to be subject to a CPO, and its neighbour, unaffected by the CPO but sitting beside the finished road, to have a Part 1 claim instead.
Why does this matter for a transaction?
For most properties, this is background law that never becomes relevant. But for anything near a recently completed or altered road, aerodrome, or comparable public works scheme, it’s worth knowing whether a Part 1 claim has already been made and settled on the property – because that can affect whether a further claim is available, and it’s a piece of history a seller may not think to mention unprompted. A buyer relying on a mortgage valuation is unlikely to have this flagged for them; it’s the kind of thing that surfaces through local knowledge, targeted enquiries, or awareness of a nearby scheme’s timeline rather than a standard search return.
Part 1 of the Land Compensation Act 1973 is a narrow, specific right, one fixed list of physical factors, one class of public works, and a limited window to claim. But where it applies, it’s often the only compensation route available to an owner whose land hasn’t been touched but whose value has been affected regardless.
For any property near a completed or upcoming infrastructure scheme, it’s worth asking the question rather than assuming a clean search means nothing to consider.
Most CON29 questions ask about one thing.
Question 3.7, however, asks about six and the answer often can’t be found on a public register at all. Outstanding Notices is the CON29’s catch-all, and one of its least understood entries.
Here’s what it covers, why it exists, and why answering it sometimes means looking beyond the standard search return.
What is the Outstanding Notices question?
CON29 question 3.7 asks whether any statutory notices subsist in relation to the property – other than those revealed anywhere else on the form – relating to building works, environment, health and safety, housing, highways, public health, or flood and coastal erosion risk management.
That “other than those revealed anywhere else” is the important part. Every other question on the CON29 is defined by what it is: planning decisions, road schemes, conservation areas, contaminated land. Outstanding Notices is defined by what it isn’t. It exists to catch anything statutory and notice-shaped that the rest of the form wasn’t built to ask about.
Why does it span so many different areas?
Because it isn’t really one question – it’s six, folded into a single line. A notice under housing legislation has nothing to do with a notice under the Highways Act, which has nothing to do with one under public health law. The only thing they share is that they are all formal statutory notices affecting the property… and none of them fit anywhere else on the form.
That breadth is exactly why the question matters. A house can pass every other CON29 enquiry cleanly and still be subject to a housing or public health notice that has not been revealed elsewhere on the form.
Why can’t it always be answered from a public register?
Most CON29 questions are answered from a single, well-established local authority register. Outstanding Notices often isn’t, because the underlying notices sit with different departments entirely – building control, environmental health, highways, housing – each keeping its own records for its own statutory purpose, not for conveyancing.
Some councils are explicit that parts of question 3.7 are not held on a public register and may require separate enquiries with the relevant department, at an additional cost and with its own turnaround time. That’s a meaningful practical difference from a question like Conservation Areas, where the answer sits in one place and comes back with everything else.
How is this different from planning enforcement notices?
It’s easy to conflate Outstanding Notices with the CON29’s planning enforcement question, but they’re separate enquiries covering separate legal territory. The planning enforcement question deals specifically with action taken under the Town and Country Planning Act and related legislation – enforcement notices, stop notices, listed building enforcement notices, and similar instruments tied to planning control.
Outstanding Notices doesn’t touch planning enforcement at all. It’s about notices arising under entirely different statutory regimes – housing, public health, highways, building control – that are all created through different pieces of legislation but share the same basic mechanism. Two conveyancers could reasonably describe both as “a notice on the property” and be talking about completely different things.
What does this mean in practice?
Because the question is residual and multi-departmental, the honest, but frustratingly vague and bureaucratic answer to “how long will this take” and “what will it cost” is: it depends on what’s being asked and who holds it. Where the information isn’t on a public register, conveyancers should expect an additional request may be needed, with its own fee and timescale, separate from the standard search return.
For anyone advising a buyer, the practical takeaway is simpler: a notice under one of these six headings won’t necessarily show up anywhere else on a clean-looking search. Where a property’s age, location or recent history raises the possibility of a housing, highways or public health notice, conveyancers may wish to satisfy themselves that question 3.7 has been fully answered – not just assumed clear because nothing else flagged.
Outstanding Notices isn’t a gap in the CON29 – it’s the form’s safety net, catching six different types of statutory notice that don’t belong anywhere else. It’s also one of the entries most likely to need a separate, additional enquiry before it can be answered with confidence.
A clean result elsewhere doesn’t guarantee Outstanding Notices is clear. That’s exactly why question 3.7 exists.
Most buyers know a local search is happening somewhere in the background of their conveyance.
Far fewer know there’s a second layer of questions their conveyancer can ask – and that those questions can surface some of the most significant risks a property will ever face. The CON29 Optional schedule is one of the most underappreciated tools in the conveyancer’s kit.
Here’s what it is, what it covers, and why it matters.
What is the CON29O?
A standard local search is made up of two distinct parts. The CON29 Required questions are raised with every local authority as a matter of course – they cover the essentials of planning history, road adoption status, enforcement notices, and a range of statutory designations that apply to most properties in most locations.
The CON29O – the Optional schedule – is something different. It’s a separate set of enquiries that must be specifically selected and individually paid for. They don’t go automatically. The conveyancer reviews the property, considers its location and characteristics, and decides which optional questions are worth raising.
The word “optional” can be misleading. It doesn’t mean unimportant – it means targeted. Some of the most consequential information about a property will only appear if the right optional question is asked.
What does the CON29O cover?
The optional schedule spans a wide range of designations, consents and notices that fall outside the scope of the standard search. The full list includes:
- Road proposals by private bodies – schemes being promoted by developers or private interests that haven’t yet been adopted by the highway authority, but which could still affect access or land value
- Public right of way amendments – proposed changes to the definitive map that haven’t been finalised, which could affect access across or around the land
- Pipelines – gas mains, hazardous substance pipelines and other below -ground infrastructure that may cross or run adjacent to the boundary
- Hazardous substance consents – whether planning consent exists to store or handle hazardous materials in the vicinity of the property
- Environmental and pollution notices – formal notices served under environmental protection legislation, which may indicate contamination or regulatory action nearby
- Hedgerow notices – whether hedgerows on or bordering the land carry legal protection and what restrictions that places on removal or alteration
- Scheduled Ancient Monuments – whether the land itself, or land immediately adjacent, has been designated as a scheduled monument and what that means for any works
- World Heritage Sites – whether the property sits within, or on the edge of, a World Heritage Site designation or its associated buffer zone
- Energy infrastructure – the presence of overhead lines, substations, pylons or related apparatus on or near the land, and any rights or restrictions attached to them
- Wind and solar farm proximity – proposed or consented renewable energy installations that may affect outlook, noise levels or land use in the surrounding area
Each of these can have a direct bearing on what the buyer can do with the property, how easily they can develop or alter it, and in some cases whether it can be mortgaged or insured on standard terms.
Why doesn’t the standard search cover all of this?
The CON29 Required questions are designed to capture the designations and notices that are most commonly relevant across the widest range of properties. They work well for the majority of transactions. But the optional schedule exists precisely because property is varied – a rural smallholding near an ancient hillfort raises entirely different due diligence questions to a terraced house in a suburban street.
A standard search can return completely clean while a CON29O question reveals a scheduled monument beneath the garden, a high -voltage transmission line overhead, or a gas pipeline running through the boundary. None of those things will appear unless the question is specifically raised. The standard search isn’t failing – it’s just not designed to go that deep without prompting.
Who decides which optional questions to raise?
The conveyancer makes that judgement call. In practice, good conveyancers consider the type of property, its setting, its planning history, and any obvious features of the surrounding area before deciding which optional questions are worth the additional cost and time.
A property near Stonehenge warrants a World Heritage Site enquiry. A rural property in an area of intensive agriculture may warrant a hedgerow notice check. A house near a former industrial site may warrant an environmental notice search even if contaminated land isn’t flagged on the standard return.
Buyers are entitled to ask their conveyancer which optional questions are being raised – and why. A brief conversation at the start of the transaction can make sure nothing obviously relevant is being missed.
What happens if an optional question reveals something?
The local authority’s response to a CON29O question will either confirm that nothing is recorded, or set out what is. Where something is recorded – a scheduled monument designation, an energy infrastructure right of way, a pipeline easement – the conveyancer will need to consider what it means for the transaction.
In some cases the information is noted and the transaction proceeds without issue. In others it may require further investigation, specialist advice, or an indemnity policy. In rare cases it can affect whether the buyer’s lender is willing to proceed on standard mortgage terms.
The point is that knowing is always better than not knowing. A designation that’s disclosed before exchange is a manageable piece of information. One that surfaces after completion can be significantly more disruptive.
The CON29O isn’t a box-ticking exercise and it isn’t bureaucratic padding. It’s a targeted set of enquiries that can surface risks the standard local search was never designed to catch – risks that are real, that affect real properties, and that can have lasting consequences for buyers who weren’t told about them.
If your conveyancer is raising optional questions, they’re doing their job properly. The answers are worth reading carefully, and if something comes back, it’s worth asking what it means before the keys change hands.