Development corporations as your planning authority

In parts of England the body that decides your planning application is not the council whose name is on the recycling bin. Development corporations hold planning powers over defined areas, and in London and some combined authority areas a mayor can direct or take over decisions on larger schemes. Before you fill in a form, confirm which body is the local planning authority for your site and which policies it applies, because getting that wrong costs weeks at validation.

Where development corporations hold planning powers

Several models exist, each created under different legislation and each with its own designation order.

• Urban development corporations, established under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980.
• New town development corporations under the New Towns Act 1981, with the locally led model updated by later reform.
• Mayoral development corporations under the Localism Act 2011, created by a mayor with the necessary powers.

The designation order for each corporation is the document that matters. It states the boundary and it states which planning functions transfer. Some corporations take development management only, leaving plan making with the borough or district. Others take both. A few also hold compulsory purchase, land assembly and infrastructure powers that sit alongside the planning function.

That variation is the whole point of reading the order rather than assuming. Two corporations a few miles apart can operate on different terms.

The plan and policies that apply inside the area

Where a corporation is the plan making authority, it prepares and adopts its own local plan for the designated area, and that plan sits in the development plan alongside any remaining borough policies and, in London, the London Plan.

Where the corporation holds development management powers only, the borough's adopted local plan continues to apply and the corporation determines applications against it. Applicants routinely misread this and cite the wrong plan in their supporting statement, which does not endear them to the case officer.

Check three things before drafting.

1. Which authority adopted the plan currently in force for the site, and on what date.
2. Whether any area action plan, supplementary planning document or design code has been adopted specifically for the corporation area.
3. Whether neighbourhood plan coverage exists, because neighbourhood plans survive the transfer of functions.

The discipline for citing all of that is the same as in our note on local plan policy references for a rear extension: name the plan, the policy number and the adoption date every time.

Referral thresholds and mayoral powers

In Greater London, applications above defined thresholds are referable to the Mayor of London. The categories are set out in the Town and Country Planning (Mayor of London) Order 2008 and cover matters such as larger residential schemes, tall buildings, development on Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land and certain uses. Read the Order for the current thresholds rather than relying on a rule of thumb, because the categories are more detailed than most summaries suggest.

The process runs in two stages. At stage one the borough or corporation consults the Mayor before it makes its decision, and the Greater London Authority issues a report on strategic conformity. At stage two, after a resolution to grant, the Mayor can allow the decision to proceed, direct refusal, or take over the application and determine it. Being taken over adds months, so applicants of referable schemes engage with Greater London Authority officers early as a matter of routine.

Outside London, combined authority mayors have varied powers depending on their devolution deal. Some can create a mayoral development corporation. Some hold strategic plan making functions. Very few determine individual applications. Check the specific devolution arrangement rather than assuming the London model applies.

How consultation and committee work differs

Corporations run planning committees, but they are constituted differently from council committees. Members are appointed rather than directly elected to that role, and the membership often mixes local authority nominees with appointees from government or the mayoralty.

Public consultation still follows the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, so the 21 day publicity period, site notices and neighbour notification work as they do elsewhere. What differs is the local practice around speaking rights, deputations and pre-committee briefings, and those are set out in the corporation's own standing orders rather than a council constitution.

Appeals are unaffected. A refusal by a corporation is appealed to the Planning Inspectorate in the ordinary way, on the same timescales.

Fees, obligations and levies in corporation areas

Application fees are set nationally, so the amount does not change, but the payee does. Fees go to the body determining the application, and paying the wrong authority is a common cause of an invalid application. The structure of the national scale is set out in our note on working out the fee before you submit.

Community Infrastructure Levy is more variable. A corporation may be a charging authority with its own schedule, or the constituent council's schedule may continue to apply, and in London the Mayoral CIL applies across the capital in addition to any local charge. Ask the determining authority which schedules apply to the site and get the answer in writing before you appraise the scheme.

Section 106 obligations are entered into by the body with the relevant land use planning function, and where the corporation also owns land in the area, the negotiation can involve the same organisation in two capacities. That is not improper, but it is worth understanding when you are agreeing heads of terms.

Illustrative example: a developer prepares a 40 home scheme on a site inside a designated corporation area. The corporation determines the application, the borough's adopted local plan supplies the policies, the borough's CIL schedule applies alongside a mayoral charge, and the highway authority is still the county. Four organisations, one application. The scenario is illustrative.

Checking which body determines your application

Do this first, in writing, and keep the answer.

1. Search the site address on the constituent council's planning register and see whether recent applications were transferred.
2. Read the designation order for the corporation, which names the boundary and the transferred functions.
3. Ask the corporation's planning team to confirm in an email that it is the determining authority for the address.
4. Confirm which development plan documents apply and which fee and levy schedules the site falls under.

A five minute check at the start prevents an application being submitted to the wrong body, held at validation and resubmitted a month later.

PlanScope drafts the supporting statements around your project details, flags where policy references still need confirming, and the full list of report types shows which documents a scheme of your scale usually needs. If you are working in a London borough, our note on basement policy across London boroughs shows how much local variation to expect even within one city.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with the determining 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.