![]() ![]() Section 62B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) allows the Secretary of State to designate local planning authorities that “are not adequately performing their function of determining applications”, when assessed against published criteria. Revision date: 06 03 2014 What happens if a planning authority fails repeatedly to decide applications on time? A local planning authority will be justified in refusing permission where an applicant causes deliberate delay and has been unwilling to agree an extension of time and such behaviour will be taken into account in determining any claim for costs by the local planning authority if the applicant then goes to appeal. If the applicant has not exercised this right of appeal, and the application remains undetermined after 26 weeks, then the fee paid by the applicant will be refunded to them (unless a longer period for the decision has been agreed).Īpplicants should not attempt to delay a decision on their application simply to obtain a fee refund. Where a valid application has not been determined within the relevant statutory period (or such other period as has been agreed in writing between the local planning authority and the applicant), the applicant has a right to appeal to the Secretary of State against non-determination. Revision date: 06 03 2014 What happens if an application is not dealt with on time? The timetable set out in a planning performance agreement or extension of time may be varied by agreement in writing between the applicant and the local planning authority. Any such agreement must be in writing and set out the timescale within which a decision is expected. If a valid application is already being considered and it becomes clear that more time than the statutory period is genuinely required, then the local planning authority should ask the applicant to consider an agreed extension of time. Where it is clear at the outset that an extended period will be necessary to process an application, the local planning authority and the applicant should consider entering into a planning performance agreement before the application is submitted. Revision date: 06 03 2014 In what ways can a longer time period be agreed? The planning guarantee does not replace the statutory time limits for determining planning applications. In practice this means that planning applications should be decided in no more than 26 weeks, allowing a similar period for any appeal. The planning guarantee is the government’s policy that no application should spend more than a year with decision-makers, including any appeal. Revision date: 24 06 2021 See previous version What is the government’s ‘planning guarantee’? Where a planning application takes longer than the statutory period to decide, and an extended period has not been agreed with the applicant, the government’s policy is that the decision should be made within 26 weeks at most in order to comply with the ‘planning guarantee’. They are 13 weeks for applications for major development,10 weeks for applications for technical details consent, and (from 1 August 2021) applications for public service infrastructure development, and 8 weeks for all other types of development (unless an application is subject to an to an Environmental Impact Assessment, in which case a 16 week limit applies). ![]() The statutory time limits for applications for planning permission are set out in article 34 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure (England) Order 2015 (as amended). Once a planning application has been validated, the local planning authority should make a decision on the proposal as quickly as possible, and in any event within the statutory time limit unless a longer period is agreed in writing with the applicant. What are the time periods for determining a planning application? If you’d like an email alert when changes are made to planning guidance please subscribe. Where plans are being prepared under the transitional arrangements set out in Annex 1 to the revised National Planning Policy Framework, the policies in the previous version of the framework published in 2012 will continue to apply, as will any previous guidance which has been superseded since the new framework was published in July 2018.
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