Prior approval and the 56 day rule explained

Under most prior approval classes in the General Permitted Development Order 2015, development can begin once the council has given prior approval, once it has confirmed that prior approval is not required, or once 56 days have passed from receipt of a valid application without the council notifying a decision. That third route is where the prior approval 56 days rule gets its reputation, and it is also where applicants come unstuck, because the clock only runs on an application that was valid when it arrived.

Prior approval is not a shortcut version of planning permission. The principle of development is already granted by the Order, and the council can only consider the specific matters that class lists.

What prior approval actually is

A permitted development right in the Order grants planning permission for a described class of development, subject to limitations and conditions. Several classes attach a condition requiring the developer to apply to the local planning authority for a determination as to whether its prior approval is required for named matters, such as transport and highways impacts, contamination, flooding or external appearance.

The consequence is a narrow decision. An officer cannot refuse prior approval because the design is unremarkable, because a neighbour objects on principle, or because the local plan would prefer something else on the site. They can refuse on the listed matters, and the courts have been clear that the list is the list.

The authority must have regard to the National Planning Policy Framework so far as it is relevant to the subject matter of the prior approval, which lets policy in through the listed matters rather than around them.

Which classes run to 56 days

Check the period in the class you are relying on rather than working from the table. The Order has been amended repeatedly and the procedural paragraph, for example paragraph W of Part 3, is where the detail sits.

When the clock starts

The period runs from the date the authority receives a valid application. Valid means the application, the fee and all the information the class requires.

That last part does the damage. Each class specifies what must accompany the application, and it varies: a written description, a plan showing the site, elevations, a statement on each prior approval matter, a contact address, and the developer's email address where correspondence is to be sent. Omit one item and the authority can treat the application as invalid, in which case no 56 day period has begun and any development carried out in reliance on expiry is unauthorised.

Two habits protect you. Send a covering schedule listing every item the class requires against the document supplied, so that the file shows completeness on the day it arrived. And get a dated acknowledgement of receipt, because the start date is a question of fact you may later need to prove.

The period can be extended by written agreement between the applicant and the authority. Councils ask for this often, and agreeing is usually better than a refusal issued on day 55 for lack of information.

Deemed approval and its limits

Where the authority does not notify the applicant of its determination within the period, the development may proceed. Three limits apply and each is regularly overlooked.

The development must be carried out in accordance with the details submitted, unless the authority agrees otherwise in writing. A scheme built to a revised layout is not covered.

All the limitations and conditions in the class still apply. Completion periods, space standards for new dwellings, restrictions on article 2(3) land and the rest continue to bite, and breaching one takes the development outside the permitted development right altogether.

And the application must have been valid. Deemed approval on an invalid application is no approval at all.

Where the timing matters commercially, consider applying for a lawful development certificate under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 once the position is established. A certificate is the only formal way to confirm that the works are lawful, and it is far cheaper than arguing the point with a purchaser's solicitor.

Publicity and consultation inside the period

The 56 days include everything the authority has to do, which is why officers push back when information arrives late.

Depending on the class, the authority must display a site notice for 21 days or serve notice on adjoining owners and occupiers, and it must consult specified bodies where relevant, such as the local highway authority for a site near a classified road or the Environment Agency where flood risk is engaged.

Representations received have to be taken into account, so far as they relate to the prior approval matters. Objections about matters outside the list are not a lawful reason to refuse, though in practice they generate correspondence that eats the period.

Anticipate the consultation. Where highways is a listed matter, submit a proportionate Transport Statement at the outset rather than waiting for the highway officer to ask. Where flooding is listed and the site is in Flood Zone 2 or 3, a Flood Risk Assessment has to be there on day one.

Refusal and appeal

A refusal of prior approval carries a right of appeal to the Planning Inspectorate under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

Read the refusal carefully before appealing. Where the authority has refused on a matter outside the listed ones, the appeal is straightforward. Where it has refused for lack of information on a listed matter, a fresh application with the missing evidence is usually faster and cheaper than an appeal, and there is no fee penalty comparable to a refused full application.

Check the appeal deadline for the route that applies to your case, since the period differs between householder appeals and the general section 78 timescale, and it runs from the date of the decision notice.

Records to keep afterwards

The point of prior approval is speed, and the cost of that speed is that nobody issues you a comfortable decision notice with conditions listed on it.

1. The full application as submitted, with the date-stamped acknowledgement of receipt.
2. The completeness schedule showing every required item was included.
3. Any written agreement extending the period.
4. The decision notice, or, where the period expired, evidence that no notification was received and that the period elapsed.
5. Photographs of the site notice with dates, where one was required of you.
6. A note of the conditions in the class that continue to apply, including any completion period.

A Planning Statement structured against the class limitations and the prior approval matters is the document that makes the application easy to validate and easy to approve, and it becomes the record of the case if anyone questions the position later.

This is general guidance, not legal advice, and a Lawful Development Certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.

To see which supporting reports a prior approval application is likely to need, browse the PlanScope report types.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.