News 

New rules on pre-commencement conditions to come into force on 1st October

16 May 2018

It has been announced that the new rules requiring local planning authorities to obtain applicants’ agreement to the imposition of pre-commencement conditions will come into force on 1st October 2018, after the changes were signed off by Housing Minister Dominic Raab on 3rd May.

The changes were first announced in the consultation document ‘Improving the Use of Planning Conditions’, released in January this year. Planning Potential submitted representations on behalf of our clients, raising concerns over the 10-day timescale for applicants to provide a ‘substantive’ response to the council once the text of conditions has been provided. Failure to meet this deadline could mean that planning permission will be granted subject to any pre-commencement conditions and without the applicant’s consent. This process raises obvious concerns with regard to the ability for councils to consult applicants within a reasonable timescale (during the planning application process), and any delays that could result from this extra requirement on councils and applicants.

We will continue to monitor the likely impacts of these new rules ahead of their implementation in the Autumn and keep clients updated. If you have any questions in the meantime, get in touch with our team on [email protected]