Consent types

Application for approval of details reserved by condition following grant of planning permission or a listed building consent

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (section 74A)¹

Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990²

What are planning conditions?

Planning conditions are often applied to the grant of planning permission. These limit and control the way in which the planning permission must be implemented. Aiming to improve the quality of planning applications through the mitigation of any adverse effects.

Conditions may be imposed on the grant of planning permission for regulating development or use of any land. Limiting works on the land to ensure the development can be approved through meeting specified requirements set out by the relevant planning authority. For example, these may specify the nature of the building work, hours of opening, length of time permission is granted for or the necessary assessments which accompany an application. The conditions applied by a Local Planning Authority (LPA) should be kept to a minimum.

Pre-application discussions between the applicant and LPA can help reduce the need for planning conditions to be placed on an application.

Who should apply for approval (discharge) of conditions?

You can apply to have conditions discharged (approved) so that your development can begin. You will be required to detail how you intend to meet the conditions (e.g. the materials you will use) or provide supporting information to demonstrate compliance (e.g. a traffic assessment). This will allow for the planning authority to approve the conditions (this is also known as ‘discharging conditions’). A single application can cover any number of conditions from the permission.

A separate application type is available for the removal or variation of conditions³, this should be used if you believe the conditions are no longer applicable or would be more effective in a modified state.

An application for approval of details reserved by a condition should only follow the previous granting of planning permission or listed building consent. It cannot be used as a ‘standalone’ application for planning permission or listed building consent.

Information required

To gain approval (discharge) of conditions you will be required to provide information concerning the condition itself, and how you intend to meet the condition. You can apply to have part or all of the condition approved, this may be achieved through showing the materials which will be used or the style of work. What you must demonstrate will depend on the conditions which have been previously imposed and you wish to have discharged.

Individual authorities may have ‘local information requirements’ that mandate certain information or supporting documents (such as plans or photographs) to be submitted with the application. These requirements should be available to view on the authority’s website or can be confirmed by contacting the authority directly.

Timeline

The local authority should discharge conditions within 8 weeks. This begins when the Local Planning Authority accepts the application as valid. If no decision is made within 12 weeks, then the local authority must return the fee to the applicant.

Fees

An application for Approval of a Condition will cost:

• For householder development: £43
• Any other development type: £145

This does not apply to conditions on listed building consents, only planning permission. More information can be found on our fee calculator.⁴

What happens next?

Once an application is approved, part or all of your condition(s) will be discharged. Once all pre-commencement conditions are discharged, development can proceed.

If the application is rejected then the conditions and the need to discharge them in the future will remain.

1. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/74A
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/9/contents
3. https://planningportal.pp.tqinfra.co.uk/planning/planning-applications/consent-types/removal-variation-of-conditions
4. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/app/fee-calculator