Consent types

Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission or listed building consent

Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (Section 73)¹

Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990²

What are planning conditions?

Planning conditions are often applied to the grant of planning permission. These limit and control the way in which the planning permission must be implemented. Aiming to improve the quality of planning applications through the mitigation of any adverse effects.

Conditions may be imposed on the grant of planning permission for regulating development or use of any land. Limiting works on the land to ensure the development can be approved through meeting specified requirements set out by the relevant planning authority. For example, these may specify the nature of the building work, hours of opening, length of time permission is granted for or the necessary assessments which accompany an application. The conditions applied by a Local Planning Authority (LPA) should be kept to a minimum.

Pre-application discussions between the applicant and LPA can help reduce the need for planning conditions to be placed on an application.

Changing or removing conditions

Applications for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission may also be referred to as a section 73 application. An application for Removal or Variation of conditions can be used to change or remove conditions which have been previously imposed. Proof will have to be submitted that the conditions are no longer relevant or reasonable. The Local Planning Authority can grant such permission unconditionally or subject to different conditions, or they can refuse the application if they decide that the original condition(s) should continue.

Whatever the result of an application for removal or variation of conditions, the original planning permission will continue.

An application for removal or variation of a condition will not apply if the period in the previous condition limiting the duration within which the development could begin has now expired prior to the development beginning.

A separate application type is available for the Approval of Details Reserved by a condition³ if you wish to demonstrate how you have met a condition(s) placed on development.

Conditions attached to listed building consent

The granting of listed building consent⁴ can be subject to conditions to safeguard the treatment of the building or to require works to be carried out in a certain way. Nevertheless, occasionally it may become clear that a condition is no longer appropriate (e.g. because genuine structural problems arise, or better solutions for the treatment of the building are devised, or other features of interest are revealed once work has started).

You may wish to change the conditions without re-opening the entire question of whether consent should have been granted. In dealing with such an application it is also open to the authority to add consequential new conditions to consent.

Information required

To support your application, you will need to provide a description of the proposal with the condition(s) you wish to remove or modify. Justification for removing or varying the condition should be given to help support your application.

Timeline

The local authority should discharge conditions within 8 weeks. This begins when the Local Planning Authority accepts the application as valid. If no decision is made within 12 weeks, then the local authority must return the fee to the applicant.

Fees

The fee placed on application for removal or variation of a condition(s) is set at £293.

What happens next?

Approval of an application to remove or modify a condition will provide new, independent permission to carry out the same development as previously permitted, subject to the new or amended conditions. The applicant can decide whether to continue with the old conditions or adhere to the new ones.

Useful resources

Use of planning conditions - GOV.UK⁵

Flexible options for planning permissions - GOV.UK⁶

1. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/8/section/73
2. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/9/section/19
3. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/planning/planning-applications/consent-types/removal-variation-of-conditions
4. https://www.planningportal.co.uk/planning/planning-applications/consent-types/listed-building-consent
5. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/use-of-planning-conditions#discharging-and-modifying-conditions-once-planning-permission-is-granted
6. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/flexible-options-for-planning-permissions