Non-material amendment: what it means in planning

A non-material amendment is a change to an existing planning permission that the council accepts is not material, made under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It amends the permission you already have. It does not create a new one, it is normally determined within 28 days, and there is no right of appeal if the council says no.

Those three features make it the quickest way to correct a permission and the riskiest to rely on, because a refusal leaves you with nowhere to go except a full application.

Where it comes from

Section 96A was added to the 1990 Act by the Planning Act 2008 and came into force in 2009. It allows a local planning 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 section says nothing about what "not material" means. There is no statutory definition, no threshold and no list. What it does say is that in deciding the question the authority must have regard to the effect of the change, together with any previous changes made under the section, on the permission as originally granted.

That cumulative wording matters. Four small amendments that would each pass on their own can fail collectively, because the fourth is assessed against the permission as granted rather than against the permission as last amended.

The authority may also impose new conditions, and may remove or alter existing ones, when it makes the change.

How councils decide

The assessment is one of fact and degree, carried out by the case officer, and different authorities draw the line in different places.

The questions officers actually ask are practical. Would anyone who commented on the original application want to comment on this? Does the change affect the appearance of the building as seen from public views or from neighbouring windows? Does it alter the floor area, the number of units, the height or the position of the building? Does it affect anything a condition was imposed to control? And does it change anything a consultee relied on when it withdrew an objection?

If the answer to all of those is no, the change is usually accepted. If the answer to any is yes, expect a refusal or an invitation to apply under section 73 instead.

Some authorities publish their own guidance on what they will accept, with worked examples. Read it before applying, because it is a better predictor than any general rule.

An illustrative example

This example is illustrative rather than a real case. A permission for a rear extension is granted showing a 1.2 metre wide window on the rear elevation. During construction the client decides to move that window 400 millimetres towards the centre of the elevation and to change the rooflight from one 600 by 900 unit to two smaller ones.

Neither change alters the footprint, the height, the ridge line or the relationship to the boundary. Neither is visible from the street. Neither affects the separation distance to the neighbour's window. A section 96A application with revised drawings and a short covering note is the right route, and a council would normally accept it.

Move the same window 400 millimetres and enlarge it to 2.4 metres so that it now overlooks the neighbouring garden directly, and the answer changes. The effect on neighbouring amenity is exactly what a neighbour would have commented on.

What it cannot do

Three limits are worth knowing.

It cannot be used for anything material, which is circular but important: the assessment is the council's, and its view of materiality is what governs.

Councils generally decline to alter the description of development through this route, treating any change to the description as material by definition. A change from four houses to five will not be accepted, and neither will a change of use.

And it cannot extend the time limit for implementation. A permission running out of time cannot be saved this way.

There is also no statutory requirement to consult neighbours or publicise the application, although some councils notify as a matter of local practice. That absence of consultation is one reason officers apply the materiality test conservatively, since nobody else gets the chance to comment.

Fees, forms and what to submit

The application is made on the standard form for a non-material amendment through the usual submission route, with a fee set by the national fees regulations. The fee is modest compared with a full application and is indexed periodically, so take the current figure from the published schedule rather than from an older article.

The submission itself should be short and precise. Councils refuse applications that are vague about what is changing more often than they refuse applications for changes that sit close to the line.

Include a drawing schedule that lists the approved drawing numbers, the proposed replacement numbers and which supersedes which. Officers process the amendment by updating the list of approved plans in the decision, so a clear schedule is doing their work for them.

Where the change affects something a condition controls, say so and explain how the condition will still be met. A rooflight change that affects an approved materials schedule needs the materials position addressed, not left for the officer to notice.

One practical warning. An amendment granted under section 96A takes effect from the date it is issued, and works carried out before that date are not authorised by it. On a live site, that gap between deciding to change something and receiving the amended approval is a real compliance risk, and the honest answer is usually to pause that element of the works rather than to proceed and regularise later.

Related routes and how they differ

Section 96A has one clear advantage over section 73 beyond speed. Because the permission is the same permission, any section 106 agreement attached to it continues to apply without a deed of variation, and approvals already given under conditions remain valid. A section 73 application creates a new permission and both of those have to be dealt with again.

The trade-off is scope. Section 73 can handle changes that section 96A cannot, and it carries a right of appeal if refused.

What to do if it applies to your site

Start by asking whether the change is one a reasonable neighbour would notice or care about. If you find yourself constructing an argument for why they would not, it is probably material.

Then work through the application itself.

1. Identify the original permission by reference number and date, and list every previous amendment made under section 96A.
2. Prepare drawings showing the approved scheme and the proposed change, clearly marked as superseding specific drawing numbers.
3. Write a short covering note explaining what changes, what does not, and why the change has no material effect on anything the original decision turned on.
4. Check the current fee for this type of application against the published fee schedule.
5. Ask the case officer informally first if the change is anywhere near the line. A two minute conversation saves a refused application and a full resubmission.

If the council refuses, remember there is no appeal. The routes that remain are a section 73 application if the change can be expressed as a variation of a condition, or a fresh planning application. Where a fresh application follows, a short Planning Statement explaining the relationship to the existing permission, alongside an updated Design and Access Statement where one was required originally, keeps the history clear. The full set of supporting documents is on our report index.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

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