A new process will be coming into effect on 1 October 2018 in relation to the imposition of pre-commencement planning conditions on the grant of a full permission. This has been largely driven by the view held by Government that the implementation of planning permissions, particularly to meet the demand for new housing, is  being hampered by a myriad of time-consuming and costly pre-commencement conditions being imposed by local planning authorities (LPAs).

From October LPAs will need to obtain the consent of the applicant to such condition, with some exceptions. The LPA may also give 10 days notice of intention to impose a pre-commencement condition and if the applicant does not respond within that period then the applicant will be deemed to have consented to the condition.

In practice there is likely to be a tactical dialogue between applicants and the planning officers and for applicants to decide on the merits of accepting such conditions. If applicants are not willing to accept such conditions where there are valid planning reasons for them, the LPA may refuse the application. The applicant will then have to decide whether to appeal the refusal in order to test validity of the conditions. It may also be possible to circumvent the requirement for consent if the LPA decides to grant a permission that allows basic implementation of the permission but requires other conditions to be discharged early on in the life of the permission.