Request for confirmation of compliance with planning conditions - new fee charges

As from 6 April 2008, Local Planning Authorities are now entitled to charge developers for confirmation that conditions on planning or related permissions have been dealt with. This came into effect for this authority on 1 October 2008.

The fee for a single request which can cover all or just one of the conditions is £85 for non-householder development and £25 for a householder development.  Please note no fee is required when discharging conditions on listed building applications.

The legislation relating to this requires that Local Planning Authorities deal with such requests within 8 weeks of their receipt. If the request is not dealt with in that timescale the applicant has a right of appeal to the Secretary of State (unless a longer period has been agreed). If the request is not dealt with in 12 weeks the applicant is entitled to a full refund of the fee submitted.

It is therefore in the applicant's interest to submit all details (including samples of materials and all necessary plans) which relate to all conditions on a planning or related permission in one go. Otherwise a separate fee has to be charged for each request made.

Given the time needed to deal with such requests, which have to be balanced with dealing with planning applications etc, the Council strongly suggests that requests are made in plenty of time before a start on site is made or anticipated. If conditions are to be agreed before work commences the developer runs the risk of invalidating the planning permission should work start on site before all the conditions have been dealt with.

The Government, through their 1APP initiative, have provided a standard application form for this process. Applicants are advised to use the form below:

Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission (521Kb) (link opens in a new window)

Guidance notes (18.5KB) (link opens in a new window) are provided to assist with the completion of this form

Application for approval of details reserved by condition Town & Country Planning Act 1990 (482KB) (link opens in a new window)

Guidance notes (18.94 KB) (link opens in a new window) are provided to assist with the completion of this form