Recent changes to options for amending planning permissions
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities has recently updated its Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) in relation to the options for amending planning permissions, and further changes may soon be on the way.
Updates to the category of PPG covering ‘flexible options for planning permissions’ were made on 26 July 2023. The revisions provide confirmation that an application made under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 can be used to make a ‘material amendment’ to a planning permission and does not need to be to be restricted to changes of a ‘minor’ nature.
The previous version of the guidance referred only to the submission of applications under section 73 to make ‘minor material amendments’ and provided no indication that the scope of section 73 was broader than this and could also be used to secure approval for more significant amendments to an existing planning permission.
This change to PPG reflects the High Court Judgment made in January this year (Armstrong v Secretary of State) in relation to a proposal for a clifftop house in Cornwall. This ruled that that there is nothing within the legislative wording of section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act which limits its application to a ‘minor material amendment’, or an amendment which would not amount to a substantial or fundamental variation of the originally approved scheme.
This update to the guidance provides helpful clarity and will assist any developers who may be looking to make amendments to an existing planning permission which are deemed by the local planning authority to be of greater than ‘minor’ significance. It remains the case however that you cannot currently deviate from the originally approved description of development through the section 73 process.
The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which is currently passing its way through parliament, proposes the introduction of a new ‘section 73B’ to the Town and Country Planning Act. If this draft legislation receives royal assent in its current form, it will offer a new option for amending an existing planning permission (including making changes to an approved description of development), providing even greater flexibility for developers.
If you are looking to vary an existing planning permission then please get in touch with a member of the Euan Kellie Property Solutions team – we would be delighted to help you.
