Your planning decision notice: what actually binds you
Only two parts of a decision notice bind you: the conditions and the approved plans list. Here is how to read the rest, and what to do in the first hour.
Your planning decision notice is the permission. Not the officer's email, not the phone call, not the drawing the builder has on site. Two parts of it bind you legally: the conditions, and the list of approved plans that one of those conditions refers to. Everything else on the page, including the paragraphs headed informatives or notes to the applicant, is advice. Read the notice properly on the day it arrives, because the most expensive mistakes on small building projects come from someone assuming a condition said what they expected it to say.
What the notice contains
A grant of permission runs to two or three pages and follows a set order.
At the top sit the application reference number, the applicant's name, the site address and the description of development. That description matters. It is the thing you have permission for, so a description reading "single storey rear extension" does not permit the rooflights that appeared on a later drawing.
Then comes the decision itself, then the conditions, each with a reason underneath it. Article 35 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 requires the authority to give a reason for every condition, and those reasons are useful when you later want to argue that a condition has been satisfied or is no longer necessary.
Informatives follow, then the date of the decision and the notice of your appeal rights.
Conditions, and the three kinds you will meet
Sort your conditions into three piles before you do anything else.
Pre-commencement conditions have to be discharged before any work starts. Typical examples are materials samples, a tree protection plan, a drainage scheme or a contamination investigation. These are the ones that matter most, because starting work before they are discharged can mean the development was never lawfully begun.
Pre-occupation conditions have to be discharged before anyone moves in or the use starts. Parking spaces laid out, landscaping planted, obscure glazing installed, a bin store built.
Compliance conditions bind for the life of the development. Windows to remain obscure glazed and fixed shut below 1.7m, no external lighting without approval, hours of use restricted, and, quite often, a condition removing permitted development rights so that any future extension or outbuilding needs a fresh application.
That last one catches householders repeatedly. If your notice removes rights under Schedule 2 Part 1 of the General Permitted Development Order, the outbuilding you assumed you could build later now needs permission.
The approved plans list is a condition too
Almost every decision notice includes a condition requiring the development to be carried out in accordance with a numbered list of drawings. Check that list against the drawings your builder is working from, including the revision letters.
Mismatches happen constantly. A drawing gets revised during the application, the council lists the earlier revision, and nobody notices until a neighbour complains and an enforcement officer arrives with the approved set. Building something different from the approved plans is a breach of condition even when the difference improves the scheme.
Where the change is small, a non-material amendment under section 96A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 will usually fix it, and the fee is low. Where it is more than small, you need an application under section 73 to vary the plans condition, or a fresh application. Ask the case officer which route they will accept before you submit, since the boundary between the two is a matter of judgement.
Informatives do not bind you
Informatives are the council telling you about other legal requirements it does not control. They are not enforceable as planning conditions and there is no procedure for discharging them.
They still matter. A typical set will remind you that building regulations approval is a separate consent, that work affecting a shared wall may fall under the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, that a licence is needed to place a skip or scaffold on the highway, and that all bat species are protected by law so work must stop if bats are found in a roof. Ignoring an informative will not breach your planning permission. It may still leave you in breach of something else, and the bat point is a criminal matter rather than a planning one.
Read them, act on the ones that apply, and do not confuse them with conditions when you are budgeting.
What happens if you breach a condition
Local authorities have two routes. A breach of condition notice under section 187A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires compliance and carries no right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. An enforcement notice under section 172 is the broader tool and does carry appeal rights.
Enforcement is discretionary rather than automatic. Councils are expected to act proportionately, and the Planning Practice Guidance on enforcement says formal action should be commensurate with the breach. In practice a first step is usually a letter asking you to submit a retrospective application or put the work back.
Time limits changed. The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 moved the four-year immunity periods in England to ten years, bringing them into line with the period for other breaches. The date from which the longer period applies depends on when the breach occurred, so check the current position rather than relying on an older summary.
The clock on the permission
A full or householder permission normally has to be begun within three years of the date of the decision, under section 91 of the 1990 Act. Beginning means carrying out a material operation as defined in section 56, such as digging foundation trenches, and it must be lawful, which brings you back to the pre-commencement conditions.
Outline permissions work differently. Reserved matters must usually be applied for within three years, and the development begun within two years of the final approval of reserved matters.
If the permission is going to lapse, a fresh application is the only route. There is no mechanism to extend a permission that has expired.
The first hour after the notice arrives
Do this on the day, while the project is fresh.
- Save the PDF somewhere permanent and send a copy to your builder and your designer.
- Highlight every pre-commencement condition and put the discharge submissions in the programme.
- Check the approved plans list against the drawing revisions on site.
- Note whether permitted development rights have been removed.
- Diary the three-year expiry date.
If the notice is a refusal rather than a grant, the appeal deadline is 12 weeks from the date of the decision for householder appeals and six months for most other applications. Before appealing, read the reasons for refusal against your supporting documents, because a refusal that turns on missing evidence is often better answered by a fresh application with a proper Planning Statement and the technical reports the officer said were absent.
This is general guidance rather than legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
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Frequently asked questions
Are informatives on a decision notice enforceable?
No. Informatives are advisory notes about other legal requirements the council does not control, such as building regulations, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996, highway licences and wildlife law. There is no procedure for discharging them and breaching one does not breach your permission, but it may leave you in breach of some other law.
What happens if I build something different from the approved plans?
It is a breach of the condition requiring development in accordance with the listed drawings, even where the change is an improvement. Small differences can usually be regularised by a non-material amendment under section 96A, and larger ones need a section 73 application to vary the plans condition or a fresh application.
How long do I have to start work?
Full and householder permissions normally have to be begun within three years of the decision date under section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. Beginning means a material operation as defined in section 56, and it must be lawful, so any pre-commencement condition has to be discharged first.
Can a condition take away my permitted development rights?
Yes. Conditions commonly remove rights under Schedule 2 Part 1 of the General Permitted Development Order, so a later extension, outbuilding or roof alteration needs a full application rather than being permitted development. Check the notice for wording of that kind before assuming any future work is covered.
What is the deadline for appealing a refusal?
Householder appeals must be lodged within 12 weeks of the date of the decision. Most other appeals allow six months. Before appealing, read the reasons for refusal against your supporting documents, because a refusal caused by missing technical evidence is often better answered by a fresh application than by an appeal.
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.