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What If My Planning Application is Approved With Conditions?
Most planning permissions are not a clean, unconditional “yes”. For anything more than the simplest scheme, councils will usually approve development subject to conditions.
That isn’t a punishment. National policy positively encourages councils to use conditions to make development acceptable in practice, for example by controlling materials, protecting neighbours, or requiring drainage and ecology details. Your permission is valid, but it comes with an instruction manual attached.
Those instructions are legally binding. Planning conditions sit on the land, not just on you personally. If you don’t follow them, you are technically in breach of planning control, and that can lead to enforcement action or heightened scrutiny from buyers’ solicitors and lenders when you come to sell or remortgage.
Those instructions are legally binding. Planning conditions sit on the land, not just on you personally. If you don’t follow them, you are technically in breach of planning control, and that can lead to enforcement action or heightened scrutiny from buyers’ solicitors and lenders when you come to sell or remortgage.
The main types of conditions
Every council writes conditions in its own way, but most decision notices in England contain some familiar building blocks. You’ll almost always see a time‑limit condition, usually saying development must begin within three years. If you don’t make a meaningful start on site in that time, the permission normally lapses, and you may need to reapply. Next, there is usually an “approved plans” condition, which lists the drawing numbers and documents that form part of the permission. This ties your consent to a specific design. If you later decide you want to move a window, tweak a roof, or resize an extension, you may need a non‑material amendment, a Section 73 application or even a fresh application, depending on how big the change is. The conditions to be most wary of are pre‑commencement conditions. These are the ones that start with “No development shall commence until…”. They might require a construction management plan, a detailed drainage strategy, an ecology or tree report, or a contamination investigation. Until the council has formally approved the details and “discharged” the condition, you should not be breaking ground, digging foundations or demolishing structures.
You might also see pre‑occupation or pre‑use conditions. These kick in later, often requiring things like parking and turning areas, cycle stores, boundary treatments or acoustic fencing to be installed before anybody moves in or the new use starts. You may be allowed to build the structure, but you cannot lawfully use it until those requirements are met. Finally, you’ll usually find a few ongoing conditions that control how the development is used over the long term, for example, restricting opening hours, limiting external lighting, or banning extra windows in a particular elevation. They rarely need a formal discharge application, but they can cause problems in the future if they’re ignored, because they bind future owners too.
Can you start building or do you have to wait?
Whether you can start building depends entirely on the timing requirements set out in your conditions. As soon as you receive the decision notice, you should read it slowly from top to bottom, not just skim for the word “Approved”. Anything that mentions “prior to the commencement of development” or “no development shall take place until…” needs to be dealt with before you do anything that could be considered a start on site. Pre‑occupation conditions give you a little more breathing space, but they shouldn’t be forgotten either. It’s frustrating to finish the building only to realise you can’t lawfully occupy it until you’ve built a bin store, laid out parking or submitted an obscure management plan.
If you are unsure whether a planned activity, for example, clearing vegetation or digging a trial pit, would count as “commencement”, it’s worth checking with a chartered town planner or the case officer and keeping that advice in writing.
Discharging planning conditions: the process in a nutshel
In England, you normally deal with conditions by making an “Approval of details reserved by condition” or “Discharge of conditions” application to your local council, often through the Planning Portal.
The first thing Planning By Design will usually do for a client at this stage is turn the decision notice into a simple condition schedule: a single document that lists each condition, what it actually requires, when it’s triggered, and what information will be needed to address it. It’s much easier to work from a clear schedule than from a dense page of legal wording.
Once you understand the landscape, you can decide what to discharge and when. The critical path is always pre‑commencement conditions, because they can hold up the start on site. You can usually deal with several conditions in a single application, and the key detail is that you pay per application, not per individual condition. Getting the grouping right is one way to keep costs under control.
Next comes the hard work: preparing the right technical information. Depending on the wording of your conditions, you might need updated architectural drawings, drainage calculations, ecology or tree reports, a contamination assessment, or a construction management plan. Councils are allowed to refuse discharge applications that don’t provide enough detail, so vague or half‑complete submissions are a false economy. When the information is ready, the discharge application itself is fairly straightforward: complete the online form, quote the original planning reference, specify which conditions you’re dealing with and attach the supporting documents.
Next comes the hard work: preparing the right technical information. Depending on the wording of your conditions, you might need updated architectural drawings, drainage calculations, ecology or tree reports, a contamination assessment, or a construction management plan. Councils are allowed to refuse discharge applications that don’t provide enough detail, so vague or half‑complete submissions are a false economy. When the information is ready, the discharge application itself is fairly straightforward: complete the online form, quote the original planning reference, specify which conditions you’re dealing with and attach the supporting documents.
From April 2025 in England, the standard national fees are £86 per request for householder development (such as domestic extensions) and £298 per request for other types of development. Councils usually reproduce these fees on their own websites. Local authorities are expected to decide discharge applications in around eight weeks. If they don’t make a decision within twelve weeks, the fee should be refunded, even if they still need more information. Some more complex or consultee‑heavy conditions may take longer in practice, which is why it pays to build some slack into your programme. There is also a mechanism called “deemed discharge” for certain types of condition. In simple terms, if you’ve submitted a valid discharge application, a set period has passed, and the condition is eligible, you can serve notice that it will be treated as discharged if no decision is made by a particular date. Not every condition qualifies, and the timing rules are strict, so this is something to use only with professional guidance.
What happens if you ignore planning conditions?
It’s easy to see an approval as a box ticked and conditions as a footnote. Unfortunately, ignoring them can create significant risks and complications for your project.If you breach or simply never discharge conditions, the council can serve a breach of condition notice or other enforcement notice requiring you to stop, undo, or alter work. You might be forced into a retrospective application with no guarantee it will be approved. And even if the council never takes action, the issue may resurface years later when you try to sell or refinance and the buyer’s solicitor asks for evidence that key conditions were properly discharged.
You can also run into issues with Building Control, insurers or future lenders if there’s doubt about whether the development has been lawfully implemented. In short, conditions are not optional extras; they’re part of making your permission “real”.
Can you change or challenge conditions?
Sometimes you’ll read a condition and feel that it’s too vague, too onerous or simply doesn’t fit how the project has evolved. In those situations, you are not always stuck with it.
One option is a Section 73 application, which allows you to vary or remove conditions and, if successful, gives you a new permission with a different set of conditions. Another is to appeal against the conditions to the Planning Inspectorate within the normal appeal period, arguing that they fail the usual tests of necessity, relevance, precision or reasonableness.
Both routes are technical and time‑sensitive. They can be powerful tools, but they also carry risk if handled badly, so it’s important to take proper advice before going down that path.
One option is a Section 73 application, which allows you to vary or remove conditions and, if successful, gives you a new permission with a different set of conditions. Another is to appeal against the conditions to the Planning Inspectorate within the normal appeal period, arguing that they fail the usual tests of necessity, relevance, precision or reasonableness.
Both routes are technical and time‑sensitive. They can be powerful tools, but they also carry risk if handled badly, so it’s important to take proper advice before going down that path.
Why bring in professionals like Planning By Design?
Dealing with conditions sounds simple until you actually sit down with the wording. It’s part planning law, part engineering, part project management and it can become time‑consuming fast. If your planning permission has been approved with conditions and you’re not sure what to do next, Planning By Design provides the following support:
- Review your decision notice and produce a clear condition schedule
- Advise which conditions need to be discharged, and in what order
- Produce drawings and coordinate reports you’ll need
- Prepare and submit discharge applications and manage the dialogue with the council
- Help you explore variations or appeals where conditions look unreasonable
Most clients focus on getting the ‘yes’, but conditions are where projects often get delayed. If you plan your discharge strategy early, and put in complete, well‑evidenced submissions, you can keep your build moving and avoid unforeseen issues at the end of the project.
Not sure where to start with discharging your planning conditions? Contact Planning By Design for a free, no‑obligation consultation. Our award‑winning team will review your decision notice, outline the key conditions and next steps, and help you navigate the discharge process efficiently and compliantly.
A versatile and resilient Chartered MRTPI Town Planner with private and public sector experience. Aaron has a deep understanding of the planning process as both the applicant and local planning authority. Whether small scale residential or large scale commercial developments his expertise ensures the best advice and robust planning applications.
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