Local Development Order and Neighbourhood Development Order
A local development order is made by the council. A neighbourhood development order is made by a community and needs a referendum. Both grant permission in advance.
A local development order grants planning permission in advance for the development it specifies, within the area it covers, so anyone whose proposal falls inside it can build without making a planning application. A neighbourhood development order does the same thing, but it is made by a parish council or a neighbourhood forum rather than by the council, and it has to pass an examination and a referendum first. Both sit alongside permitted development rights as ways of getting permission without applying for it.
For a business looking at a unit, the practical question is whether an order covers the site, because it changes the answer to what can be done without an application.
What each order grants
Section 61A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allows a local planning authority to make a local development order granting planning permission for development specified in the order, or for development of a class specified in it.
Section 61E allows a neighbourhood development order to do the same for a neighbourhood area, made on the initiative of a parish council or a neighbourhood forum. A community right to build order is a particular form of neighbourhood development order aimed at community-led schemes.
The permission granted is real planning permission. It can be conditional, it can be limited in area and duration, and development outside its terms simply falls back into needing an application.
What neither does is dispense with everything else. Listed building consent, building regulations, highway agreements under the Highways Act 1980, environmental permits and premises licensing all continue to apply. An order that permits a change of use does not authorise the extraction system that comes with it.
Who makes them and how
Local development orders are prepared by the authority, consulted on, and adopted. The process is lighter than a local plan, which is part of the attraction, and the order is published with a statement of reasons.
Neighbourhood development orders follow the neighbourhood planning process. A draft is prepared by the qualifying body, consulted on, submitted to the authority, examined independently, and then put to a referendum of people living in the neighbourhood area. If the referendum passes, the authority is required to make the order, subject to specified exceptions.
That referendum requirement is why neighbourhood development orders are rare. It is also why the ones that exist tend to be narrowly drawn and locally popular.
| Feature | Local development order | Neighbourhood development order |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Local planning authority | Parish council or neighbourhood forum, made by the authority |
| Statutory basis | Section 61A | Section 61E and Schedule 4B |
| Examination | No independent examination required | Independent examination required |
| Referendum | No | Yes |
| Typical use | Employment sites, regeneration areas, town centres | Community-led housing, small local sites |
Conditions and limitations within an order
Read the schedule before assuming a proposal fits. Orders commonly limit floorspace, height, use class, hours of operation, parking provision and external appearance, and they frequently exclude listed buildings and land in conservation areas.
Many also include a notification requirement. The developer tells the authority before starting, providing drawings and details, and the authority checks that the proposal falls within the order. That sounds administrative and it is not, because getting it wrong means building without permission.
Conditions attached to an order are enforceable in the same way as conditions on a permission. Where a condition requires details to be agreed, the discharge process applies, and our note on deemed discharge of conditions covers what happens when the authority does not respond in time.
Checking whether one covers a site
Work through four checks. The authority's planning policy pages, where adopted orders are published. The neighbourhood planning pages for the area, where neighbourhood orders sit with the neighbourhood plan. The policies map, which usually shows the boundary. And a direct question to the authority, in writing.
While you are asking, ask about Article 4 directions too. The two work in opposite directions, one granting permission and the other removing permitted development rights, and both change what can be done without an application.
The other thing to confirm is that the order is still in force. Orders made for a fixed period expire, and authorities can revoke or amend them. Working from a copy downloaded some time ago is a risk that costs nothing to remove.
Duration, revocation and what an order cannot do
Orders state their own duration. Some run indefinitely, some are tied to a programme or a funding period.
Local development orders can be revoked by the authority, and the Secretary of State holds powers in relation to them. Neighbourhood development orders can be revoked or modified through the statutory process.
Limits on scope matter as much as duration. Neighbourhood development orders cannot grant permission for excluded development, a category set out in the legislation that covers county matters, nationally significant infrastructure and development subject to environmental impact assessment. Local development orders are constrained by the same logic, and neither can override the statutory duties that apply to designated heritage assets or European protected sites.
How an order differs from permitted development
Both grant permission without an application, and the differences matter in practice.
Permitted development rights apply nationally, are set out in the GPDO 2015, and can be removed locally by an Article 4 direction or by a condition on a planning permission. An order is local from the start, covers a defined area, and reflects what the authority or the community wanted to enable there.
The second difference is scope. Permitted development classes are drafted for the whole country, so they are cautious and heavily qualified. An order can be far more specific, permitting a particular form of development on a particular estate with a design code attached, because the maker knows the site.
The third is certainty. Where a prior approval procedure applies to a permitted development right, the authority can refuse on the specified matters. An order's notification procedure is normally narrower, checking compliance rather than reopening the merits.
Where they have been used in practice
The pattern is consistent. Local development orders have been used on employment and industrial estates to permit a range of business development without individual applications, in enterprise zones to attract occupiers with certainty about consent, and in town centres to permit shopfront and use changes within a defined design code.
Neighbourhood development orders have been used more narrowly, often for a specific community facility or a small housing scheme that the neighbourhood wanted to enable.
For a commercial occupier the value is time. A fit-out that would otherwise need a change of use application and an eight-week determination can proceed on a notification, which changes the lease negotiation as much as the programme.
Where a proposal sits partly inside and partly outside an order, the part outside needs an application on its own terms, and the Planning Statement should explain the relationship clearly so the officer is not left guessing. Understanding the development plan still matters, because that application is judged against it.
Browse all 66 report types to see the documents a change of use application normally needs where no order applies.
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
How do I find out whether an order covers my site?
Ask the local planning authority and check its planning policy pages. Orders are adopted documents, usually published alongside the local plan and supplementary planning documents, with a map showing the area covered and a schedule of the development permitted. Neighbourhood development orders sit with the neighbourhood plan documents for the area concerned.
Does an order remove the need for other consents?
No. An order grants planning permission and nothing else. Listed building consent, advertisement consent, building regulations approval, highway agreements, environmental permits and licensing all remain. Where the order permits works to a building in a conservation area, the conservation area controls on demolition still apply in their own right.
Can conditions be attached to development under an order?
Yes. Orders normally include conditions and limitations, and development that does not comply with them falls outside the order and needs an application. Some orders require a notification to the authority before work starts, which functions like a prior approval and should be treated with the same care.
How long does an order last?
The order specifies its own duration, and some are made for a fixed period tied to a regeneration programme or a funding window. Authorities can revoke or amend an order, and the Secretary of State has powers in relation to local development orders. Confirm the order is still in force before relying on it rather than working from a copy downloaded two years ago.
Why are these orders not used more often?
Making one takes real work, including consultation, and for a neighbourhood development order a referendum as well. Authorities also lose the fee income and the case-by-case control that applications give them. They tend to be used where there is a clear programme reason, such as an employment site being brought forward or a community wanting to enable a specific type of development.
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.