The Ability to Extend the Life of a Planning Permission removed in England

Whilst not formally announced by the Minister for Planning it has emerged that the greater flexibility that was allowed to extend the life of a planning permission from its current 3 year limit in the UK has not been extended this year.  In effect, if your permission was granted after the 1^st October 2010 you will now not be able to avail of the flexibility to extend your permission.  As a consequence this may lead to a stampede to the local authority planning departments whereby permissions shortly due to expire will prompt a growth in applications to discharge conditions and commence development and so as not to let their permissions expire.

The Planning Partnership is representing a UK Client with such a predicament and has recently lodged applications for the approval of details and variation of some conditions on a mixed use scheme which was granted in December 2010 and whereby the expectation was that the government would extend the current ability to renew permissions.  The measures were introduced as recognition that the economy was failing to a degree and finance to support development was difficult to obtain in a faltering economy.  It may be suggested therefore that the removal of the ability to renew permissions suggests a new found confidence in the development markets and potentially signalling that the recession is over.

The Guidelines as were applicable can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greater-flexibility-for-planning-permissions-guidance