The Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017

Made: 20th March 2017

Laid before Parliament: 23rd March 2017

Coming into force: 15th April 2017

The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 59, 59A, 61(1), 62, 65, 70(2ZZC), 71, 71A, 74, 78 and 107(4A) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990[^f00001], makes the following Order.

PART 1 — Preliminary

Citation and commencement

1

This Order may be cited as the Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 and comes into force on 15th April 2017.

Interpretation

2

In this Order—

• “the 1990 Act” means the Town and Country Planning Act 1990;

• “brownfield land register” means a register kept under regulation 3 of the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017[^f00002];

• “by site display” means by posting the notice in question by firm fixture to some object so that the notice is displayed in such a way as to be easily visible and legible by members of the public;

• “dwelling” includes a flat contained within a building of one or more flats;

• “electronic communication” has the same meaning as in section 15(1) of the Electronic Communications Act 2000;

• “flat” means a separate and self-contained set of premises constructed or adapted for use for the purpose of a dwelling and forming part of a building from some other part of which it is divided horizontally;

• “housing development” means development for the provision of dwellings[^f00003]; ...

• “infrastructure manager” means any person who, in relation to relevant railway land—is responsible for developing or maintaining the land; ormanages or uses the land, or permits the land to be used for the operation of a railway;

• “non-housing development” means development other than housing development;

• “public holiday” means Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which under the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971 is a bank holiday in England;

• “relevant railway land” means land—forming part of any operational railway; orwhich is authorised to be used for the purposes of an operational railway under—a planning permission granted or deemed to be granted,a development consent granted by an order made under the Planning Act 2008, oran Act of Parliament, including viaducts, tunnels, retaining walls, sidings, shafts, bridges, or other structures used in connection with an operational railway and excluding car parks, offices, shops, hotels or any other land which, by its nature or situation, is comparable with land in general rather than land which is used for the purpose of an operational railway;

• “residential development” means development the main purpose of which is housing development.

PART 2 — Permission in principle: brownfield land register

Prescribed particulars for land allocated in a brownfield land register

3

For the purposes of section 59A(2)(c) of the 1990 Act, to allocate land for development in a brownfield land register an entry in the register for the land (in addition to including an indication that the land is allocated for development for the purposes of section 59A of the 1990 Act) must include the information required by regulation 15 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017.

Permission in principle on allocation of land in a brownfield land register

4

Permission in principle is hereby granted for development of land allocated in Part 2 of a brownfield land register consisting of—

• (a) housing development for the provision of a number of dwellings falling within the range specified in the relevant entry in the brownfield land register; and

• (b) where the relevant entry in the brownfield land register specifies non-housing development of the land, non-housing development of a description falling within the description in that entry.

Direction by local planning authority as to when permission in principle takes effect

5

A local planning authority may direct that permission in principle granted pursuant to article 4 takes effect on a date specified in the direction instead of the date provided for in section 59A(4)(a) or (b) of the 1990 Act.

PART 3 — Permission in principle: general

Planning register: permission in principle

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• (1) The planning register kept by each local planning register authority must also include, as Part 2A, a part relating to permissions in principle.

• (2) Part 2A of the planning register must consist of three sections—

• (a) the first section must contain, in respect of every permission in principle granted pursuant to article 4 (permission in principle on allocation of land in a brownfield land register) in relation to land in the area of the local planning register authority—

• (i) a copy (which may be photographic or in electronic form) of the entry in the brownfield land register which relates to the land;

• (ii) the date the permission in principle takes effect and the date it expires; and

• (iii) the name of the local planning authority which allocated the land in the brownfield land register;

• (b) the second section must contain, in respect of every application for permission in principle relating to land in the area of the local planning register authority made or sent to the authority and not finally disposed of, a copy (which may be photographic or in electronic form) of each application together with any accompanying plan and drawings; and

• (c) the third section must contain, in respect of every application for permission in principle relating to land in the area of the local planning register authority which has been finally disposed of—

• (i) a copy (which may be photographic or in electronic form) of the application and of any plans and drawings submitted in relation to it;

• (ii) particulars of any direction given under the 1990 Act or this Order in respect of the application;

• (iii) the decision, if any, of the local planning authority in respect of the application, the date of such decision and the name of the local planning authority; and

• (iv) the reference number, the date and effect of any decision of the Secretary of State in respect of the application, whether on appeal ... or on a reference under section 77 of the 1990 Act (reference of applications to Secretary of State).

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), every entry in Part 2A of the planning register must be made—

• (a) in the case of entries required under paragraph (2)(a), within 14 days of entering the land into Part 2 of the brownfield land register; and

• (b) in the case of entries required under paragraph (2)(b) or (c), within 14 days of the receipt of an application, or of the giving or making of the relevant direction or decision, as the case may be.

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) For the purposes of paragraph (2), an application is not treated as finally disposed of unless and until—

• (a) it has been decided by the authority (or the period specified in article 5S has expired without their giving a decision) and the time limit specified in article 5V has expired without any appeal having been made to the Secretary of State;

• (b) it has been referred to the Secretary of State under section 77 of the 1990 Act (reference of applications to the Secretary of State) or an appeal has been made to the Secretary of State under section 78 of the 1990 Act, the Secretary of State has issued a decision and the period of 6 weeks specified in section 288 of the 1990 Act has expired without any application having been made to the High Court under that section;

• (c) an application has been made to the High Court under section 288 of the 1990 Act and the matter has been finally determined, either by final dismissal of the application by a court or by the quashing of the Secretary of State’s decision and the issue of a fresh decision (without a further application under section 288 of that Act); or

• (d) it has been withdrawn before being decided by the authority or the Secretary of State, as the case may be, or an appeal has been withdrawn before the Secretary of State has issued a decision.

• (6) In this article—

• “local planning register authority” has the same meaning as in article 40 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015; and

• “planning register” means the register kept by a local planning register authority under article 40 of that Order.

Prescribed period for the purposes of section 70(2ZZC) of the 1990 Act

7

For the purposes of section 70(2ZZC) of the 1990 Act the prescribed period for a permission in principle —

• (a) granted pursuant to article 4 is 5 years; and

• (b) granted following an application to the local planning authority is 3 years.

PART 4 — Miscellaneous

Amendments to secondary legislation in relation to permission in principle

8

The Schedule, which contains amendments to secondary legislation, has effect.

Review

9

• (1) The Secretary of State must from time to time—

• (a) carry out a review of the regulatory provisions contained in this Order; and

• (b) publish a report setting out the conclusions of the review.

• (2) The first report must be published by 15th April 2022.

• (3) Subsequent reports must be published at intervals not exceeding 5 years.

• (4) Section 30(4) of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015[^f00005] requires that a report published under this article must, in particular—

• (a) set out the objectives intended to be achieved by the regulatory provision referred to in paragraph (1)(a),

• (b) assess the extent to which those objectives are achieved,

• (c) assess whether those objectives remain appropriate, and

• (d) if those objectives remain appropriate, assess the extent to which they could be achieved in another way which involves less onerous regulatory provision.

• (5) In this article, “regulatory provision” has the same meaning as given by sections 28 to 32 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (see section 32 of that Act).

SCHEDULE 2 — Amendments to secondary legislation

Amendment of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011

1

• (1) The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011[^f00006] are amended as follows.

• (2) In regulation 61 for paragraph (2) substitute—

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), where it falls to an authority to determine an EIA application, articles 27 (applications made under planning condition) and 34 (time periods for decision) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 shall have effect as if for each of the references in article 27(2) and 34(2)(a) and (b) to a period of 8 and 13 weeks respectively there were substituted a reference to a period of 16 weeks. (3) Where it falls to an authority to determine an application for technical details consent for EIA development, article 34 (time periods for decisions) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 shall have effect as if for each reference in article 34(2) to a period of 5 or 10 weeks respectively there were substituted a reference to a period of 16 weeks.

Amendment of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015

2

• (1) The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015[^f00007] is amended as follows.

• (2) In article 15 (publicity for applications for planning permission)—

• (a) after paragraph (4) insert—

(4A) In a case of an application for technical details consent to which neither paragraph (2) nor paragraph (4) applies, the application must be publicised— (a) in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (7), and (b) by giving requisite notice by site display in at least one place on or near the land to which the application relates for not less than 21 days.

• (b) in paragraph (5) for “neither paragraph (2) nor paragraph (4) applies” substitute “paragraphs (2), (4) or (4A) do not apply”; and

• (c) in paragraph (6) after “paragraph (3)(a), (4)(a)(i)” insert “, (4A)(b)”.

• (3) In article 18 (consultations before grant of permission)—

• (a) in paragraph (1) at the beginning insert “Subject to paragraph (1A),”;

• (b) after paragraph (1) insert—

(1A) Paragraph (1) does not apply in relation to an application for technical details consent unless the authority or person mentioned in relation to a category in the Table in Schedule 4 has advised the local planning authority by a valid notice that they wish to be consulted in relation to the development. (1B) For the purposes of paragraph (1A) a notice is valid if it specifies a particular site and it was given in writing to the local planning authority before the date on which the permission in principle to which the application for technical details consent relates was granted.

• (4) In article 34 (time period for decisions)—

• (a) in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2), at the beginning insert “subject to sub-paragraph (aa),”;

• (b) after sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph (2) insert—

(aa) in relation to an application for technical details consent for major development, 10 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority;

• (c) in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2), at the beginning insert “subject to sub-paragraph (bb),”; and

• (d) after sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (2) insert—

(bb) in relation to an application for technical details consent which is not major development, 5 weeks beginning with the day immediately following that on which the application is received by the local planning authority;

• (5) In article 37(3) (appeals) after paragraph (iii) of sub-paragraph (b) insert—

(iiia) where the application was an application for technical details consent, details of the relevant permission in principle;

• (6) In Schedule 1 (letter to be sent to an applicant on receipt of application) for “in case of applications for major development, 13 weeks, or in all other cases, 8 weeks,”, in both places, substitute—

in the case of applications for technical details consent for major development, 10 weeks, in the case of other applications for major development, 13 weeks, in the case of applications for technical details consent which is not major development, 5 weeks, in the case of any other applications, 8 weeks,

• (7) In Schedule 3 (requisite notice) at the end insert the notice set out below—

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Amendment of the Town and Country Planning (Compensation) (England) Regulations 2015

3

• (1) The Town and Country Planning (Compensation) (England) Regulations 2015[^f00008] are amended as follows.

• (2) After regulation 1 insert—

(1A) (1) Paragraph (2) applies where, in relation to development on particular land— (a) permission in principle granted by a development order is revoked or modified pursuant to section 97(1)(b) of the 1990 Act (including section 97 as applied by section 100 of the Act), and (b) on an application made under Part 3 of the 1990 Act before the end of the period of 12 months beginning with the date on which the revocation or modification takes effect, outline planning permission (within the meaning in section 92 of the 1990 Act) is refused for development of a description that is the same as, or falls within, the development described in the permission in principle (before it was revoked or modified). (2) Subject to paragraph (3), where paragraph (1) applies section 107 of the 1990 Act shall apply as if the permission in principle granted by the development order had been granted by the local planning authority under Part 3 of the 1990 Act, and had been revoked or modified by an order under section 97(1)(a) of the 1990 Act. (3) Paragraph (2) does not apply if the order under section 97 of the 1990 Act to revoke or modify the permission in principle is made at least 12 months and not more than 5 years before the revocation or modification takes effect.

Signed

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Gavin Barwell — Minister of State — Department for Communities and Local Government — 20th March 2017

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This Order, which applies in England only, makes provisions in relation to permission in principle. Permission in principle and its effect are described in sections 58A, 59A and 70(2ZZA) to (2ZZC) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the 1990 Act”) (those provisions were inserted by section 150 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (c. 22)).

Article 3 prescribes the particulars which a register under section 14A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (“brownfield land register”) must contain if the land in question is to be granted permission in principle as land allocated in that qualifying document.

Article 4 grants permission in principle to any land entered in Part 2 of the brownfield land register. The Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 ([S.I. 2017/403](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/403)) provide that local planning authorities must enter land in Part 2 of the brownfield land register where they allocate land for residential development (which is defined in those Regulations as development the main purpose of which is housing development). The permission granted by article 4 of this Order is an ‘in principle’ permission for development of land. Planning permission, in the form of technical details consent, would still be needed before development of the land could begin.