Planning Process
The application procedure end to end: types, validation, consultation, conditions and decisions.
Latest in Planning Process
156 articlesTransferring a permission and a change of applicant
Section 75 makes a permission a benefit of the land, so a buyer acquires it on completion with no form or fee. The levy paperwork and undischarged conditions are where the risk sits.
Decision notices: conditions, informatives and reasons
The permission is the description, the conditions and the drawings those conditions list. The officer report is not part of it, and a superseded drawing revision in the list is a real problem.
Prior approval: the clock, deemed consent and the risks
Prior approval runs on a hard statutory deadline, and silence from the council can let development begin. The paper trail that silence leaves is rarely good enough for a lender.
Permission time limits and what happens when one lapses
A permission that expires cannot be renewed. Keeping one alive means a material operation within the time limit, with every pre-commencement condition already discharged.
Outline permission: what to fix and what to reserve
Access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale can each be reserved, but reserving everything is rarely the least costly route. This sets out which to fix at outline and what the decision costs you later.
Extensions of time and the eight week deadline
The eight week period is a deadline for the council, not a promise to you. Agreeing an extension helps the authority's performance figures and sometimes helps your application. Knowing when it does which is the useful part.
What happens in the first fortnight after you apply
The two weeks after you press submit decide when your eight week clock starts and who will write the report on your extension. Here is the sequence, and the small number of things worth doing while it runs.
Planning conditions that bite after occupation
A planning permission runs with the land, so continuing conditions on hours, noise, management plans and occupancy pass to each new owner silently on completion.
Advertisement consent and the deemed consent classes
Most shop signs are displayed under deemed consent with no application at all. Here is how the classes work, when express consent is needed, and what illumination arguments turn on.
Parish and town council consultation and its weight
A parish objection is a material consideration rather than a statutory holding objection. Here is what it can address, what weight it gets, and how committee referral actually works.
Calculating the planning fee for a mixed development
For a mixed development you calculate the fee for each category and pay the highest, not the sum. Here is how the bands, floorspace and site area bases work, and which reliefs apply.
Determination periods for EIA development and 16 weeks
Article 34 of the DMPO gives EIA applications 16 weeks rather than 13. Here is what starts the clock, how the 30 day publicity period and regulation 25 requests work, and how to programme backwards from committee.
Hazardous substances consent and the threshold quantities
Consent is needed before a listed substance is present at or above its controlled quantity. It runs with the land, the aggregation rules catch small holdings, and planning permission says nothing about it.
Public rights of way across a site and the diversion order
A right of way across your site needs its own order under section 257 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Here is the procedure, the objection route and the design that gets confirmed.
Regulation 3 applications: a council deciding its own scheme
A council developing its own land applies to itself under the 1992 General Regulations. The process looks ordinary, the permission does not run with the land, and there is no third party appeal.
Committee cycles and your target decision date
The statutory period and the committee calendar do not reconcile themselves. Work from the meeting dates and the report deadline behind them, then set your submission date.
Agricultural holdings notices and who must receive one
An agricultural tenant gets a notice even though they are not an owner. Missing it can invalidate the application or, worse, the permission.
Time limits for implementation and a material start
A permission that is not implemented in time lapses for good. Section 56 sets out what counts as beginning development, and the detail trips people up more often than the deadline does.
Ownership certificates and notices under section 65
Section 65 requires you to certify who owned the application land 21 days before submission. Getting it wrong can unpick a permission years later.
The written agreement rule for conditions before works
A council must give notice and obtain written agreement before imposing a condition that bites before development begins. Silence for ten working days counts as agreement.
Section 96A non-material amendments in practice
A 28 day determination, no publicity and the original permission left intact. The limits are that the change must be non-material and there is no right of appeal.
Determination periods, extensions and the planning guarantee
The clock starts at validation, not submission. Agreeing an extension of time delays your appeal right and can displace the planning guarantee fee refund.
Invalid applications and challenging a local list item
A local validation requirement only bites if it is proportionate, relates to a material consideration and was published within the preceding two years. Here is how to test each limb.
Varying a section 106 agreement after permission
A deed of variation can change a section 106 agreement at any time if the council agrees. The statutory application route under section 106A(3) only opens after five years.
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