Holding directions in planning and what they stop

A holding direction planning case is one where the Secretary of State has told a local planning authority that it must not grant permission without authorisation. The power sits in article 31 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, and the direction is usually issued while the Secretary of State decides whether to call the application in for their own determination under section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

It is a pause, not a refusal, and it is narrower than most applicants assume. The council keeps almost all of its powers. What it loses is the ability to issue a grant.

What a holding direction does

The direction restricts the grant of planning permission. The authority may continue to process the application, consult, negotiate, take it to committee and resolve to approve it, and then it stops. No decision notice can be issued until the direction is withdrawn or the Secretary of State authorises the grant.

The application remains the council's until it is called in. If the Secretary of State decides not to call it in, the direction is withdrawn and the council issues the decision it had resolved to make.

Directions are served on the authority, not on the applicant, though the applicant is normally informed. The council's committee report will say that a direction is in place, and the decision will be recorded as a resolution to grant subject to the direction being lifted.

Who issues one and why

The Secretary of State issues holding directions, usually through the relevant department, and they arise in a small number of situations.

An application that conflicts with national policy in a way that raises issues beyond the locality. A scheme of more than local importance, whether because of its scale, its effect on a nationally significant asset, or the policy question it raises. A case where a statutory consultee has maintained an objection and a separate consultation direction requires the authority to notify the Secretary of State before granting permission, which applies to defined categories such as certain Green Belt development, playing fields and cases where the Environment Agency maintains a flood risk objection.

Those consultation directions are amended from time to time, so check the current text rather than a summary from a previous case.

In London a separate regime applies through the Mayor's referral powers, under which referable applications go to the Mayor at two stages and the Mayor can direct refusal or take over the application. That is a distinct mechanism from a holding direction, though the practical effect on timing feels similar to an applicant.

What the council can still do

Three things, and the first surprises people.

The authority can refuse the application. A holding direction restricts the grant, not the refusal, so a council that wants to say no is free to do so. That is why a direction is no comfort to an applicant facing a hostile committee.

It can continue to negotiate, request amendments and complete a section 106 agreement. Doing so is sensible, because if the direction is withdrawn the council can issue the decision immediately rather than starting a fresh round of work.

It can also decline to progress the application at all while the direction is in place, which happens where officer resources are stretched. Ask for a timetable in writing.

How long a direction lasts

There is no fixed statutory period. A direction may specify a duration or remain in force until withdrawn, and the length depends on how quickly the Secretary of State reaches a view on call-in.

Some directions are resolved in weeks. Others sit for months, particularly where the department is waiting for further information from the council or where the policy question is being considered alongside other cases.

The uncertainty is the real cost. For a developer with an option agreement or a funding condition tied to a planning decision, an open ended direction is a commercial problem that no amount of planning argument solves, and the contractual documents should have contemplated it.

The relationship with call-in

Call-in is the substantive power. Under section 77 the Secretary of State may direct that an application be referred to them for decision instead of being decided by the authority, and the case is then determined after an inquiry or a hearing, with an inspector reporting and the Secretary of State deciding.

Successive governments have said that this power will be used sparingly and only where planning issues of more than local importance are involved. Published policy sets out the sort of matters that might qualify: conflict with national policy, effects well beyond the immediate locality, substantial regional or national controversy, and novel legal difficulties.

A called in application is not an appeal. The applicant is the promoter of the scheme, the council may support or oppose it, and third parties appear. Evidence is prepared as it would be for an inquiry, with proofs, and the parties are expected to agree the facts in a statement of common ground before the event.

What an applicant can do meanwhile

Five practical steps.

1. Ask the council for confirmation of the direction's date and terms, and keep a copy.
2. Provide the department with the material it needs to make the call-in decision, through the council, rather than lobbying separately.
3. Keep the section 106 negotiation moving so the agreement is ready to complete.
4. Preserve the non-determination position. A direction does not extinguish the right to appeal where the statutory period has expired, though appealing while a direction is in place is rarely a sensible move and should be taken on advice.
5. Update the risk register and any contractual longstop dates.

Above all, keep the planning case documented. If the application is called in, the material in the planning statement and the supporting documents becomes the foundation of the proof of evidence, and gaps that an officer would have overlooked are tested properly at an inquiry.

How often this happens

Rarely. The overwhelming majority of applications are decided by officers under delegated powers, a minority go to committee, and only a small number reach the Secretary of State at all. Most holding directions end with the direction being withdrawn and the council deciding the application itself.

That is worth saying to a client who has just been told a direction has been issued. But it is a step that usually ends without a call-in.

An illustrative example. A scheme on a former playing field is resolved for approval by committee against an objection from a national body. A consultation direction requires notification, a holding direction follows while the department considers the case, and eleven weeks later the direction is withdrawn without call-in. The permission issues on the original resolution, with the obligation completed during the wait.

Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which of the 66 report types a scheme is likely to need, and build the evidence base early enough to survive a referral.

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.