So, you have just got your very own piece of land and along with it came permission to build a house. Alternatively, it could be that you have got planning approval for an extension but are tight on money. This will leave you asking – how long will the planning permission last? You may also have other thoughts like is there a way to prevent it expiring before you have had a chance to start on the work? Well, we have some information on the subject in this article. If you need any more help, we are the architects London clients can always turn to.

So, when does planning permission actually expire?

In most cases, it will be valid for 3 years after the local authority grants it. The exceptions to this are few and rare. If your situation involves one of these, it should state this clearly in the approval letter.

If you only have outline planning permission then you have 3 years to get full approval for the reserved matters.

Keeping planning permission going

It was once the case that there was no time limit with planning permission. However, in the 1960s there were issues with projects not starting. As a result of this the government chose a 5-year cut off in 1968 which was made 3 years in 2009.

The aim of this legislation is to make it so that those with planning permission do indeed use it. This means that if you have outline permission, you will have to work out the details and get your applications in order for approval before you run out of time. Once you get approval for the last reserved matter, you will have 2 years to start construction.

As we said earlier, those with full planning permission have 3 years to start work. If you run out of time, then you will need to reapply.

What about starting work simply to keep planning permission going?

It does not really matter whether you want to start work and keep at it, or if you want to begin in order to prevent the expiry of planning permission. The reason for this is that courts have made the decision that intentions are not relevant. However, you do need to keep some things in mind such as where you start work.

For starters, if you are looking to build a trench, do this where the foundations are located on the submitted drawings and not just anywhere on the site to make it appear as though work has begun.

Secondly, you need to make sure you do more than the bare minimum of work possible. As you might imagine this is subjective to whoever is judging whether what has been done is enough. Therefore, you might want to get the opinion of a professional on how much work you should look to do.

Ensure your project goes swimmingly with renowned architects in London

Most people are unfamiliar with everything involved in building design and organising a project, but we are not. We have shown our calibre in the numerous jobs we have completed successfully and have even won awards for our work. As a result, Coffey is the name you can count on when you are searching for some of the best architects London could hope to have on their team.

Browse through our website to read about our work and past projects. Then, reach out if you have any questions for us.