Revocation and modification orders explained

A local planning authority can revoke or modify a planning permission it has already granted, using the power in section 97 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, where it appears expedient to do so having regard to the development plan and other material considerations. The power is real and it is almost never used, because section 107 makes the authority pay compensation for abortive expenditure and other loss directly attributable to the order. A single order on a consented residential site can cost an authority more than its annual planning budget.

If you have received notice of a proposed order, the first question is not whether the authority is right. It is what you have already spent and what you have already built.

What the power allows

An order under section 97 can revoke a permission outright or modify it to any extent the authority considers expedient. It can be made at any time before the permission is implemented, and in the case of a permission for building or other operations, at any time before those operations are completed.

An order is not an enforcement tool. It does not deal with development carried out without permission, and it does not remove an existing lawful use. The powers for those sit elsewhere: enforcement for unauthorised development, and a discontinuance order under section 102 for an existing use the authority wants to stop, which carries its own compensation liability.

Authorities most often reach for section 97 after a mistake: a permission granted contrary to a development plan policy nobody spotted, a condition omitted in error, or a consultation step missed. Even then, a negotiated route is usually preferred.

Limits once development has begun

The timing limits are the practical protection for a developer.

So a part-built scheme can be stopped going forward while what stands remains lawful, and that partial position is usually worse for everyone than either outcome. The compensation bill for a half-built scheme includes the works, the fees, the finance and the loss attributable to the order.

A developer who has begun work in good faith should record the position carefully: dated photographs, the notice of initiation of works, invoices, the construction programme. Those documents set the boundary of what the order can touch and they quantify the claim.

Confirmation and objection procedure

An order made under section 97 has no effect until it is confirmed. Where anyone affected objects, confirmation falls to the Secretary of State under section 98, and the authority must serve notice on the owner, the occupier and any other person it considers affected, each of whom may require an opportunity to be heard before a person appointed by the Secretary of State.

That hearing is the moment to put the case. Expect to argue two things: that the planning justification for the order is inadequate, and that the consequences for your interest in the land are disproportionate to whatever the authority is trying to achieve. The compensation liability is not strictly a planning consideration, but it is the practical context everyone in the room understands.

Keep the correspondence tidy from the first letter. A clear record of what was granted, when, and what you did in reliance on it, is the backbone of both the objection and the later claim.

Compensation for abortive expenditure

Section 107 entitles a person with an interest in the land to compensation for expenditure on work rendered abortive by the order, and for other loss or damage directly attributable to the revocation or modification. Expenditure on preparing plans and similar matters preparatory to the work counts.

Two boundaries matter. Compensation is not paid for loss of hope value or for a notional profit the scheme might have produced beyond what the law allows as loss directly attributable to the order. And a claim must be made within the period set by the General Regulations, so diarise the deadline the moment the order is confirmed rather than waiting for the valuation to be ready.

Quantify carefully with a valuer and a quantity surveyor working together. Professional fees, site investigation, planning and technical reports, finance costs, abnormal works already carried out, and the difference in land value where the modification reduces what can be built are all heads to consider. Where the land is left incapable of reasonable beneficial use, the separate route explained in purchase notices where land cannot be reasonably used may be relevant alongside the compensation claim.

Unopposed orders and the shorter route

Section 99 provides a shorter path where nobody objects. The authority advertises the order and serves notice on the people affected, and if no objection is made within the period stated, the authority may confirm the order itself without reference to the Secretary of State.

That route is used where the landowner actually wants the change. A developer who wishes to shed an unwanted permission, or to remove a condition that a section 73 application cannot reach, may be content for an unopposed modification order to do the work. It is unusual, and it only functions because the compensation right can be dealt with by agreement.

If you receive an advertised order and do nothing, you lose the hearing. Respond within the stated period even if your position is still forming.

Alternatives the authority may prefer

Before reaching for section 97, authorities normally test the alternatives, and so should an applicant facing the threat of an order.

1. A fresh application or a section 73 application to vary conditions, agreed between the parties, which avoids compensation entirely.
2. A deed of variation to an existing section 106 agreement where the problem lies in the obligations rather than the permission.
3. A non-material amendment under section 96A where the issue is small and technical.
4. Allowing the permission to lapse, where the time limit for implementation is close and the authority can simply decline to renew.
5. An Article 4 direction, where the concern is about permitted development rights rather than the permission itself.

The fifth of those carries its own compensation exposure under section 108, which is why directions are usually made with a long lead-in.

Effect on related consents

A revocation does not automatically unwind everything around it. A section 106 agreement binds the land and continues unless it is varied or discharged, which can leave obligations attached to a site with no permission to trigger them. Listed building consent is revoked or modified under the separate power in the Listed Buildings Act, so a site with both consents needs both addressed.

Conditions fall with the permission they were attached to, which can matter where a Planning Statement and technical reports were prepared to satisfy them. Community Infrastructure Levy liability follows the chargeable development, so a revocation before works begin generally removes the liability while a revocation afterwards does not. Take advice on that specifically, because the levy regulations work on their own definitions.

Where the order modifies rather than revokes, check whether what remains is still a workable permission. A modification that removes an access, or cuts the unit numbers below the point at which the scheme was viable, leaves a consent nobody can build. The question of whether the remaining use would amount to a material change from what was approved is then live, and the analysis in intensification and material change of use becomes relevant.

What an owner should do on receiving notice

Check the dates first: what has been started, what has been completed, and whether a change of use has already happened. Those facts decide what the order can reach. Then preserve the evidence, respond within the stated period, require an opportunity to be heard if the order is opposed, and open a parallel conversation about a negotiated variation.

And instruct the compensation advice early. The claim is easier to build while the files are open than two years later. This is general guidance, not legal advice, and an order of this kind warrants a planning solicitor from the first letter.

If you are reassembling the evidence base for a revised application, enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports the site is likely to need.

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