Change in legislation for Local Planning Authorities
Next week, on 1 October 2018, The Town and Country Planning (Pre-commencement Conditions) Regulations 2018 come into force in England.
The regulatory change means that Local Planning Authorities must seek to obtain the written agreement of the applicant before imposing pre-commencement conditions on a planning permission. Applicants will therefore be notified in writing of an LPAs’ intention to impose a pre-commencement condition.
If the LPA gives notice in writing to the applicant and the applicant does not respond to the notice before the end of the period of 10 working days (beginning with the day after the date on which the notice is given) then it may proceed to impose the pre-commencement condition.
The effects of this should be positive as it will provide more transparency on what an LPA intends to include on a decision notice and give the applicant the opportunity to debate the requirement for a pre-commencement condition or provide greater time to provide the pre-commencement information prior the application being determined.
Ultimately the aim is to reduce the amount of pre-commencement conditions and speed up the development process, which should be of benefit to enabling development to commence at the earliest opportunity.
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