Planning determination periods by scheme size

The statutory planning determination period is eight weeks for most applications, 13 weeks where the scheme is major development, and 16 weeks where the application is accompanied by an environmental statement. Those periods sit in article 34 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. They are deadlines for the authority, not promises to the applicant, and in practice most authorities ask for an extension of time before the original period runs out.

Knowing which period applies, and when it started, changes how you programme a project. It also decides the date on which a non-determination appeal becomes available.

Three periods and what sets them

Major development is the trigger for the 13-week period. An application is major where it proposes 10 or more dwellings, or the site area is 0.5 hectares or more and the number of dwellings is not known, or the floorspace to be created is 1,000 m² or more, or the site area is one hectare or more. Everything below that is non-major and runs to eight weeks.

The 16-week period applies where the application is accompanied by an environmental statement under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017. That is a separate question from scale. A Schedule 2 project below the indicative thresholds can still be screened in on the basis of its characteristics, location and likely effects, and the moment an Environmental Impact Assessment is submitted the longer period governs.

Householder applications also carry a shorter appeal window, which matters later.

Validation sets the start date

The period runs from the day after the authority receives a valid application, not from the day you pressed submit. An application is valid when it includes the correct form, the certificate of ownership, the fee, the national information requirements and whatever the authority's own published local list demands.

That local list is where programmes slip. Two neighbouring authorities can ask for different things at validation stage: a Transport Assessment at different unit counts, a Statement of Community Involvement where another asks only for a covering note, or an Affordable Housing Statement on any scheme creating a net dwelling. Check the list against the drawing schedule before submission rather than after the invalidation email arrives.

Where an authority holds an application as invalid for weeks, the clock has not started at all. There is a route to challenge validation refusals, but it is slower than fixing the gap.

Extensions of time and when to agree one

An extension of time is a written agreement between the applicant and the authority setting a new date for determination. It is entirely voluntary. Officers ask for one because performance is measured on decisions made within the period or within an agreed extension, and because a refusal issued in haste helps nobody.

Agree an extension where the officer is engaged, the outstanding points are identifiable, and the alternative is a refusal on grounds you could resolve in a fortnight. Refuse one where the file has gone quiet, where the objections are policy objections that further time will not soften, or where you want the appeal clock to start.

Keep extensions short and dated. An open-ended agreement gives away the only pressure the applicant has, and it also removes the fee refund described below.

The planning guarantee

The planning guarantee is the policy that an application fee is refunded where the authority has not determined the application within 26 weeks of validation and no extension of time has been agreed. Its scope has been amended since it was introduced, and it does not apply where you have signed away the deadline. Check the current fees regulations and the authority's own statement before treating a refund as budgeted income.

Refunds are administrative rather than automatic in every case. Ask in writing, quote the validation date, and attach the correspondence showing that no extension was agreed.

Appealing against non-determination

Once the statutory period or any agreed extension expires without a decision, a right of appeal against non-determination arises under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The appeal must be lodged within six months of the expiry date, or 12 weeks for a householder appeal.

Non-determination appeals suit schemes where the policy position is strong and the delay is procedural. They suit them less where the evidence base is still moving, because the Planning Inspectorate decides on the material before it and the authority will file a statement of the reasons it would have refused. You lose the chance to amend.

There is one practical cost. Once the appeal is made, the authority can no longer determine the application, so an officer who was two weeks from a positive recommendation loses the opportunity to give you one.

Amendments, re-consultation and the second clock

Amending drawings mid-application does not restart the statutory period, and it does not extend it either. What it does is force re-consultation where the change is material, and the authority will normally allow a further 14 or 21 days for representations before it can determine.

That is the practical reason officers request an extension of time whenever a revised layout lands after week five. The period no longer contains a lawful consultation window. Plan amendments for weeks two to four if you want them absorbed rather than accommodated.

Re-consultation on statutory consultees runs on its own timetable. The lead local flood authority, National Highways and the Environment Agency each have their own response periods, and a redesigned drainage layout will typically add three weeks whatever the headline deadline says.

Building a programme that survives contact with the council

Work backwards from the decision you need rather than forwards from submission.

1. Fix the validation date you are targeting and add two weeks for a first-attempt validation query.
2. Add the statutory period for the scheme type, using 13 weeks for anything at or over the major thresholds.
3. Add three weeks for one round of amendments and re-consultation on a minor scheme, or six on a major one.
4. Add the committee cycle if the scheme is likely to be determined by members rather than under delegated powers, since a recommendation completed in week 11 can still wait for the next available meeting.
5. Add the section 106 drafting period for anything with obligations, which frequently runs longer than the determination period itself.

Illustrative example: a 24-unit scheme validated on 3 March. Statutory expiry falls in early June. One layout revision in week six triggers re-consultation, the drainage response lands in week 10, and the committee meets on a four-week cycle. A realistic resolution date is late July, with the section 106 completed several weeks after that. Telling a client eight weeks would have been wrong from the first day.

PlanScope drafts the supporting statements for that submission from your postcode, site details and a short set of answers, and flags missing site facts rather than filling them in. Browse the full set of report types to see which ones a scheme of your size is likely to need.

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.