Extended Life of Planning Permissions
Life of a Planning Permission
Planning permissions are granted for a specific period. If the development permitted by the planning permission is not begun in accordance with the permission before the end of the period specified in the permission then the permission expires. This is to ensure that development is commenced in a timely fashion so that new planning permissions must be sought and therefore determined in accordance with the circumstances that apply at the time.
Until the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the life of a planning permission was five years unless the permission specifically stated otherwise. Section 51 of the PCPA 2004 reduced the standard life of a planning permission to three years. In the current economic climate, developers are finding it harder to guarantee that they will be able to start work on a project within three years of obtaining planning permission, partly as a result of the increased difficulty in obtaining funding for the construction of the scheme and partly as a result of the increased difficulty in finding a purchaser or occupier once the scheme is built out.
It has always been possible under section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for a Council to grant a planning permission for a different period of time but in reality this is usually only done in special circumstances, for example a longer period may be granted for large, complex development projects which will be built out in phases.
Now however, the Chief Planner at the Department of Communities and Local Government has written to all local authorities reminding them of their discretion under section 91 to grant permissions for different periods of time when they consider it to be appropriate to do so taking into account the development plan and any other material considerations. The letter suggests that “in current conditions, local planning authorities may wish to consider the advisability, in individual cases, of granting permissions with a longer duration”.
Westminster City Council has already indicated that it will consider granting five year permissions to applicants depending on the specific circumstances of their case if they alert the planning officer dealing with the application to their desire for a longer permission.
This article was first published in the Property Law Journal on 13 June 2009.
