Non-material amendment: the section 96A power explained
Section 96A lets a council edit a permission you already hold rather than grant a new one. Here is what it can change, how materiality is judged, and the changes it will never cover.
A non-material amendment is a change to an existing planning permission that the local planning authority accepts is not material, granted under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The non material amendment section 96A route does not produce a new permission. It edits the consent you already hold, usually by substituting a drawing number or adjusting the wording of a condition, and councils normally aim to decide within 28 days. There is no statutory definition of "not material" and no right of appeal against a refusal, so the route rewards a modest, well-evidenced ask.
The statutory basis and what it can change
Section 96A was inserted into the 1990 Act by the Planning Act 2008 and has been in use since autumn 2009. It allows an authority to make a change to any planning permission relating to land in its area if it is satisfied that the change is not material. The power goes slightly further than the name suggests: it expressly includes imposing new conditions, and removing or altering existing ones.
The test is set out in section 96A(2) and (3). In deciding whether a change is material, the authority must have regard to the effect of the change, together with any previous changes made under section 96A, on the permission as originally granted.
That last phrase catches people out. Amendments accumulate. Four small window repositionings over two years are judged against the drawings the council originally approved, not against the version you amended last month.
How non-material is judged and by whom
Parliament left the judgement to the authority, and in practice it sits with a case officer under delegated powers. Planning Practice Guidance makes the obvious point that materiality is context-dependent: a 200mm shift in a rear wall is nothing on a two-hectare site and can be the whole argument on a terraced plot where the separation distance was already argued over.
Officers tend to look at a short list of things. Whether the change is visible from any public vantage point or from a neighbouring window. Whether it touches something that was contentious during the original application. Whether it engages a condition imposed for a stated reason, such as a highway visibility splay or an obscure-glazing requirement. And whether a statutory consultee who commented on the original scheme would now want to say something different.
There is no statutory requirement to publicise a section 96A application or to consult neighbours, though a number of councils notify anyway where the change is visible externally. Because there is no appeal, a refusal leaves you with two options: apply again with less in the request, or go to section 73 or a fresh application.
Differences from a section 73 variation
The two powers are often treated as interchangeable. They are not close.
| Section 96A | Section 73 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it produces | An amendment to the existing permission | A separate new permission sitting alongside the original |
| What it can alter | Any non-material change, including conditions | Conditions only, not the description of development |
| Publicity | No statutory requirement | Normal application publicity and consultation |
| Appeal right | None | Full right of appeal against refusal or conditions |
| Target period | 28 days | Eight weeks for most cases |
| Fee | Two flat bands | A flat band lower than a full application |
The Court of Appeal in Finney v Welsh Ministers confirmed that a section 73 permission cannot vary the description of development, which pushed a lot of routine drawing changes back towards section 96A. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 added a further route, section 73B, for changes that are not substantially different from the existing permission. Check whether it is yet in force before you rely on it, because the new sections in that Act have been switched on in stages.
If you are unsure which mechanism fits, the practical question is whether the wording on the front of the decision notice has to change. If it does, neither section 96A nor section 73 will help you.
What cannot be done by this route
Section 96A cannot change the description of development. It cannot extend the time limit for implementation, which was a deliberate policy decision when the power was created. It cannot revive a permission that has already expired, and it cannot be used where the development as amended would need environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment that the original did not.
There is no equivalent power for listed building consent. A change to consented works on a listed building needs a fresh listed building consent application, even where the planning side of the same project can be dealt with under section 96A. That mismatch catches architects working on conversions more often than anything else on this list.
Planning obligations are outside the power too. A section 106 agreement is varied by deed under section 106A, not by an amendment to the permission it was tied to. The same is true of anything recorded on the local land charges register rather than on the permission itself.
Documents and the fee involved
A section 96A application is made on the standard form through the Planning Portal or the council's own system. Submit the existing approved drawing and the proposed replacement at the same scale, with a schedule that pairs each superseded drawing number against its replacement, plus a short covering note explaining why the change is not material against the section 96A(3) test.
The fee sits in the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended. There are two bands: a lower one where the permission relates to a single dwellinghouse, and a higher one for everything else. Planning application fees were uplifted in December 2023 and are subject to annual indexation, so check the current schedule on GOV.UK or the Planning Portal fee calculator rather than quoting a figure from an old file.
One practical note. Several authorities will refuse to validate a section 96A application that bundles a dozen unrelated changes, and will ask you to split it. Group the changes by the condition or drawing they affect.
Effect on the approved drawings schedule
The decision notice on a successful application should list the amended drawing numbers and state that they replace the previously approved numbers under the relevant condition. Ask for that explicitly in the covering note, because a notice that simply says "amendment approved" without a drawing schedule creates an evidential gap at discharge of conditions and again when the building control and compliance file is assembled.
Keep the original permission, every section 96A notice and the final drawing schedule together. Anyone doing due diligence later reads the chain, and a missing link in it costs more to fix than the amendment did. The same discipline applies when you are tracking conditions towards deemed discharge or working through reserved matters on an outline consent.
An illustrative window and materials change
The following example is illustrative only. A two-storey rear extension on a 1930s semi has full permission, with a condition requiring the facing brickwork to match the host dwelling. The specified brick has gone out of production. The client also wants one first-floor rear window narrowed by 300mm to suit a revised bathroom layout, and a rooflight moved 600mm along the flat roof.
A single section 96A application covering all three is reasonable here. The brick substitution is supported by a sample photograph and a note on colour range and texture, and asks the authority to vary the materials condition to name the replacement. The window is smaller than approved and faces the same rear boundary, so the amenity position improves rather than worsens. The rooflight is not visible from the street.
What would change the answer: if the window were being enlarged towards a boundary less than 10m from a neighbouring rear elevation, an officer would reasonably treat that as material and refuse, leaving a section 73 or a householder application as the route. Judge each change against the neighbour it affects, not against the size of the building.
Working out which supporting documents a change needs is easier when you can see the full list in one place. Browse the 66 report types by category or enter a postcode on PlanScope to see what a site is likely to need before you commit to a route.
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
Is there a right of appeal if a section 96A application is refused?
No. Section 96A carries no appeal right, so a refusal ends that particular request. Your options are to resubmit with a smaller change, apply under section 73 to vary the relevant condition, or make a fresh planning application. Because there is no appeal, it pays to sound the change out with the case officer before you submit.
How long does a non-material amendment take to decide?
Councils work to a 28 day period from validation for section 96A applications, which is shorter than the eight weeks for a minor application. Validation can add time if the drawing schedule is incomplete. Submitting paired existing and proposed drawings at the same scale, with matching numbers, is the single best way to keep it to four weeks.
Can section 96A be used to change the description of development?
No. The description on the front of the decision notice is fixed once permission is granted. Section 73 cannot alter it either, following the Court of Appeal decision in Finney v Welsh Ministers. If the wording has to change, you need a fresh planning application for the development as you now intend to build it.
Does a non-material amendment extend the time limit for starting work?
No. Section 96A cannot be used to extend the period within which development must begin, and it cannot revive a permission that has already lapsed. If the deadline for starting work is close, deal with that separately by making a lawful start or by applying afresh before the permission expires.
Do neighbours get consulted on a section 96A application?
There is no statutory requirement to publicise or consult on one, which is part of why the period is short. Some authorities notify neighbours anyway where the change is externally visible, as a matter of local practice. Check the council's own procedure note, because it affects how long the decision realistically takes.
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.