Implementing planning permission

Statutory time limits for implementing planning permission

Section 91 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) requires planning permissions to contain a planning condition limiting the time within which the permission can be implemented.

The relevant time limit for beginning the development in the case of a full planning permission is not later than the expiration of three years in England and five years in Wales, beginning with the date on which the permission is granted, or such other period as the local planning authority (LPA) imposes.

In the case of outline planning permissions, applications for any reserved matter must be made within three years of the grant of outline planning permission, and in England, development must be commenced within a further two years of the final approval of the last reserved matter (or, in the case of approval on different dates, the final approval of the last matter to be approved). In Wales, development must be commenced within five years from the date of the grant of outline permission, or if later, the expiration of two years from the final approval of