Whether you are applying for planning permission on a development site or have purchased/looking to purchase a site that already has planning permission granted, one of the first steps of the process should be to review the conditions associated with the decision notice.
So, you have planning permission – great news! However, you won’t necessarily be able to get straight on to the site. You need to look very carefully for any pre-commencement conditions which will need discharging before you start work.
Then there can be post-commencement conditions. These can also have a time restraint on them, for example one-three months from commencement on site. These can be as equally as important as the pre-commencement. We would look to discharge any post-commencement conditions at the earliest opportunity and ideally along with our pre-commencement application.
Discharging any condition is not just an agreement between yourselves and the planning officer; you must submit this is an application. Once submitted, the council should get back to you for straightforward discharges without delay and within 21 days even if consultees’ involvement is required. The council must give you notice of the decision within a period of eight weeks and must get an agreement with you if they require longer. If no extension is agreed or the condition has not been discharged after 12 weeks, the council must return the fee alongside a decision.
There is a cost to this. A fee is made payable at the time of the application of £116 per request. You are able to discharge more than one condition in one application though. You will get confirmation in writing that the condition has been discharged.
There are conditions that do not require discharging but are a stipulation for the development. These come in the form of pre-occupancy conditions and life-time conditions. You, as a developer, need to be assured that the proposal for the site can achieve these conditions.
It is really important to note that if you cannot comply with a planning condition, i.e. it is not achievable, the planning could be affected.
If you have a lifetime condition regarding visibility splays which are not achievable and there are no other options, or you cannot achieve the pre-commencement Sustainable Drainage System condition, your permission may become invalid!
We have seen things like this causing major issues for some of our clients. Luckily though, with our support, we were able to alleviate the problems through discussions with the planning officers and by creating new solutions which meant the developments could continue. Please be aware, sometimes these solutions can be costly.
If you are unable to achieve the condition, another option could be to apply for a variation of the condition. Again, this requires an application and is subject to a £234 fee. There is no guarantee however that the council will agree with any proposals.
Dealing with discharging conditions is a key area that your Project Manager should be dealing with in the Pre-Construction phase. At PDAppraisals, we have a lot of experience in successfully supporting our clients through this crucial stage.
For more information on our services, please get in touch.