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

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

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) 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.

Article 5 provides that a local planning authority may, by direction, set the date when permission in principle in relation to a particular allocation comes into force.

Article 6 requires that each local planning register authority, as Part 2A of their planning register, must keep a register of any permission in principle, and sets out what each entry for permission in principle must contain and the date by which the entry must be made.

Article 7 prescribes the period of 5 years as the period during which a technical details application must be determined in accordance with the permission in principle.

Article 8 and the Schedule set out a number of amendments to secondary legislation relating to permission in principle and technical details consent. In particular the amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/595) make a number of changes to the application procedure for planning permission in the form of technical details consent. The Schedule also inserts into the Town and Country Planning (Compensation) (England) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/598) a new provision (regulation 1A) for compensation in relation to the modification or revocation of permission in principle granted under article 4 of this Order. This provides that where such permission in principle for development is modified or revoked by an order under section 97 of the 1990 Act and subsequent to that modification or revocation (but within 12 months) an application for outline planning permission is refused for that development then compensation is payable under section 107 of the 1990 Act in the same way as for the modification or revocation of a planning permission. Paragraph (3) of new regulation 1A provides that compensation is not payable if at least 12 months’ notice of the revocation or modification is given (but the notice may not be given more than 5 years before the revocation or modification is to take effect).

Article 9 provides for a review of the Order by 15th April 2022.

An Impact Assessment was prepared in relation to section 150 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 and can be found at www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA16-002C.pdf and a further Impact Assessment is being prepared in relation to the policies in this Order and will be published at www.legislation.gov.uk. Copies may be obtained from the Planning Directorate, Department for Communities and Local Government, Fry Building, 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF.