Build out and the transparency duties on developers
The 2023 Act framework asks developers to notify commencement, report progress and accept that implementation history counts. The detail sits in regulations, so check what has taken effect.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduced a set of duties intended to make build out visible: a notice telling the authority when development will start, periodic reports on how delivery is progressing, and a power for authorities to take an applicant's record of implementing earlier permissions into account. Taken together these are the build out transparency duty, and they shift part of the reporting burden from the council's monitoring team onto the developer.
As at October 2026 the detail of the reporting obligations depends on regulations and on the form the Secretary of State prescribes, and commencement has been staged rather than immediate. Check the current position before assuming a duty applies to a particular permission, because the Act created the framework and the regulations fill it in.
What the duties are intended to address
The policy problem is the gap between permissions granted and homes completed. Authorities grant consent for a number of dwellings, report that number in their housing land supply, and then find that the trajectory does not materialise. Without data on why, the argument stays anecdotal.
Three answers are built into the 2023 Act framework. Tell the authority when you start. Report annually on what you have delivered. And accept that a poor record of implementing earlier permissions may count against a future application for the same land.
Whether that changes delivery rates is a different question. Reporting makes slow build out visible rather than faster, and the market conditions that drive the rate are mostly outside the planning system. The honest assessment is that these duties improve monitoring data and give authorities an argument, not that they will accelerate construction on their own.
Information to be provided with an application
For major residential schemes, the direction of travel is towards submitting information about expected delivery with the application: an anticipated commencement date, an expected build out rate, the number of outlets, and the assumptions behind the programme.
Where that information is required, write it as a document you would be content to be measured against. A trajectory that assumes 80 completions a year from one outlet will be quoted back at you in three years' time, and a trajectory that is deliberately conservative weakens the housing land supply case the scheme may rely on.
What to include:
- Anticipated commencement date, with the conditions that have to be discharged first
- Phasing plan with the physical constraints that dictate it: spine road, drainage, substation, remediation
- Number of sales outlets and the point at which a second one opens
- Assumed annual completions by phase, with the basis stated
- Infrastructure triggers from the section 106 agreement and their effect on the programme
A Planning Statement that carries this as a labelled section keeps it in one place, which matters when the reporting duty bites later and somebody has to find what was originally said.
Reporting during construction
The commencement notice is the first duty and the simplest: notify the authority of the date development is to begin. It overlaps with the existing requirement to serve a notice of chargeable development for levy purposes, and the two are separate documents with separate consequences. The interaction between commencement notices and the levy regulations is set out in the note on commencement notices and the CIL amendment regulations.
The development progress report is the substantive one. The expectation is a periodic return, for qualifying permissions, stating completions to date against the programme and explaining material divergence. Prepare for it by keeping the data in a form that can be reported rather than reconstructing it annually from sales records.
| Duty | When it bites | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Commencement notice | Before development begins | The date of commencement, served on the authority |
| Development progress report | Periodically after commencement, for qualifying permissions | Completions against programme, with explanation of divergence |
| Record of earlier implementation | At application stage | The applicant's history of building out earlier permissions |
Consequences of slow delivery
The sanction regime is lighter than the rhetoric around it suggests. Failure to serve a notice or submit a report attracts a penalty rather than affecting the permission, and slow delivery itself is not a breach of planning control.
Where it does matter is in later decisions. An authority considering a fresh application on land where an earlier permission was granted and not implemented may take that history into account, and the power to decline to determine certain repeat applications has been part of the planning system for longer than the 2023 Act. Combine the two and a developer with a poor record on a site has a harder conversation about a new consent on it.
The second consequence is evidential. A published progress report is a document the authority can quote in a housing land supply argument, in a local plan examination, or in resisting a trajectory the developer later puts forward. That cuts both ways: a report showing delivery blocked by an infrastructure trigger outside the developer's control is useful evidence for the developer too.
How authorities may use the information
Four uses, in descending order of likelihood.
- Housing land supply monitoring, where real completions replace assumed ones in the annual position statement
- Local plan evidence, where delivery data informs allocation and trajectory assumptions
- Decision-making on later applications, where implementation history is a consideration
- Public reporting, where the authority publishes delivery against permission
The first is the one that will produce arguments. A developer who tells the authority one thing in a progress report and another in a five year supply critique will be asked to reconcile them, and inspectors notice. Keep the two documents consistent, and where the position has changed, say what changed and when.
Status of the regulations
This is the part to verify rather than assume. The 2023 Act set the framework and much of the operational detail, including which permissions qualify, what the reports must contain and the form they take, sits in secondary legislation and prescribed forms.
So before relying on any of it: check whether the relevant provisions have been brought into force, whether regulations have been made, and whether transitional arrangements exclude permissions granted before a given date. Reform in this area has been announced, consulted on and amended more than once, and plan-making changes under the same Act have followed their own timetable, as set out in the note on plan making reform and emerging plans. The planning law timeline is the place to follow what has taken effect.
Illustrative example. A 220 dwelling outline permission with reserved matters approved in phases. The developer's application-stage trajectory assumed commencement within six months and 55 completions a year from two outlets. The actual position was commencement at 14 months, delayed by a substation connection, and 30 completions in the first year from one outlet. A progress report that stated the connection delay with dates was more useful to both sides than one that reported the shortfall without explanation. Figures are illustrative.
Practical record keeping
Set this up at the start of the project rather than when the first report is due.
- A dated register of commencement, with the evidence of what constituted the start
- Completions by plot and by month, reconciled to building control completion certificates
- A log of condition discharge applications with submission and decision dates
- A log of infrastructure triggers and the dates they were satisfied
- A note of each material programme change, with its cause and date
That register answers the reporting duty in an afternoon and gives you the evidence base for any housing land supply argument you later want to run. It also protects the position where an authority asserts that a site has stalled when the cause was a statutory undertaker's connection queue.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
What are the build out transparency duties?
A framework introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 covering a notice of commencement served on the authority, periodic development progress reports for qualifying permissions, and the ability for an authority to take an applicant's record of implementing earlier permissions into account.
Are these duties in force?
The Act created the framework and much of the operational detail sits in regulations and prescribed forms, with staged commencement. As at October 2026 the position should be checked against current regulations, including which permissions qualify and whether transitional arrangements exclude older consents.
What happens if a report is not submitted?
The sanction attaches to the failure to report rather than to the permission, so a penalty applies rather than any effect on the consent. Slow delivery itself is not a breach of planning control. The real consequence is evidential, in later applications and in housing land supply arguments.
Does a commencement notice replace the levy notice?
No. A notice of commencement for build out purposes and a notice of chargeable development or commencement notice under the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations are separate documents with separate consequences. Missing the levy notice can cost reliefs and attract surcharges, so serve both.
How should the application-stage trajectory be written?
As a document you are content to be measured against. State the anticipated commencement date, the conditions to be discharged first, the phasing constraints, the number of sales outlets and the assumed annual completions with the basis for each. Over-optimism and deliberate conservatism both cause problems later.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.