Planning Permission Conditions

1. Planning Permission Conditions

Planning permission is always approved subject to certain conditions being met. If you fail to discharge (meet) any of the conditions it could invalidate your planning approval and risk enforcement action. 

Almost all approvals will have two common conditions;

1. 1. Commencing work within a specified time limit, in most cases this is 3 years from the approval date and completion within 5 years of approval. 

2. 2. Building exactly to the plans you submitted with your application, which means the same dimensions and materials as specified in your application. 

However, there is an almost infinite list of potential conditions that could be imposed. The most common conditions usually relate to materials, paving, parking, drainage and trees. 

Some conditions need to be met before you start work, these are called pre-commencement conditions. Others need to be met during construction or before you occupy the building. There are also conditions that affect how you can use the building or how you can change the building.

2. Can planning conditions be amended or removed?

Yes, it is possible that your planning authority could approve to either amend or remove one or more of your planning conditions. However, bearing in mind the same planning authority imposed the conditions when submitting an application to request a change or removal of a condition a very strong case would need to be put forward to justify them changing their view. 

The good news is that if you do wish to contest one or more of the conditions of your approval you can do so without risking your original planning approval being overturned. This is because your planning authority will only review the contested conditions rather than the whole application. 

The best-case scenario is that they agree to your request however, it is also possible that they refuse and could potentially even add new conditions

3. What if you fail to discharge (meet) a condition?

As an example, if your planning application said you would build with red bricks as the material for the external walls, this could be a condition of your approval. If you subsequently build with rendered walls instead, this would be a breach of one of your conditions which could invalidate your planning approval resulting in enforcement action. 

If you are found to be in breach of one of your conditions you may be able to appeal or submit a new planning application that reflects what you have actually built. However, there is no guarantee that either of these would be successful. If a subsequent appeal or new application is rejected you would need to demolish what you have to put the property back to its original state. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice is a criminal offence risking heavy fines and even imprisonment.

4. Need help with a planning condition?

Studio Charrette who are a partner of the government’s planning portal can conduct a planning appraisal. This involves a chartered planning consultant researching the project to check the relevant planning and design policies, they also check the planning history and look for any hidden constraints. They then compare their findings with what you want to appeal or change. This takes about an hour at which point they can call to advise what would be required and answer any questions. Subsequently we forward the advice in writing.

There are never any guarantees with planning permission or permitted development, because ultimately only your planning authority can make the legal determination. However, with a planning appraisal we can let you know whether removing or changing your planning condition would be feasible, assuming it is what the best route forward would be and the likelihood of success. As part of the planning appraisal, we can also advise you on building regulations, structural engineering calculations and construction.

Assuming the planning appraisal is positive we can then provide a quote for any services you want help with including architectural design, planning permission, building regulations and construction. Should you decide to instruct Studio Charrette can take care of everything for you from start to finish.

If you have any questions or would like to arrange a planning appraisal for your project, contact us today and a member of our team will contact you shortly.

5. Price Match Guarantee

We fully appreciate any unexpected cost is going to be unwelcome, but you will be pleased to know our prices are so competitive, we offer a price match guarantee and in most cases the planning costs are insignificant compared to the development.

If there is a way to help you achieve a positive outcome our chartered planning consultants will give you the best chance of success. Equally if we think it simply isn’t feasible, while it may be bad news, we are obliged to give you frank and honest professional advice.

6. Choose Studio Charrette!

If you choose to instruct Studio Charrette, we will take care of everything for you from this point including preparing all the necessary supporting evidence, architectural drawings, submitting and managing your application throughout the entire process.

We will keep you updated from start to finish until we receive a decision, which thanks to our planning appraisals is usually positive.