How Long Does Planning Permission Last?

The three-year default for full planning permission

Section 91 of the Act puts a time limit on almost every planning permission. The development must be begun before "the applicable period" ends. In England that period is three years from the date of the grant. In Wales it is five years.

The council can set a longer or a shorter period in the decision, if it has a planning reason. The 2026 NPPF lets officers consider a shorter time limit on housing schemes, under policy HO13. If the decision notice forgets the condition altogether, the Act adds the three years anyway.

Three points catch owners out:

1. The clock starts on the decision date. It runs from the date the permission is granted, not from the day the conditions are discharged.
2. You can start on day one. Nothing in the Act stops work from the date of the grant, once any conditions allow it.
3. A court challenge adds time. Since 18 February 2026, permission from a court to bring a challenge extends the period by one year in England. Further appeals can add more.

How long a decision takes to arrive is a separate clock. Our guide to how long planning permission takes covers the statutory periods for a decision and what happens in practice.

Outline permission and reserved matters

An outline permission settles the principle and leaves "reserved matters" for later approval. Under the procedure order, they are access, appearance, landscaping, layout and scale. Section 92 gives outline consent two clocks, not one.

1. Apply for every reserved matter. Each application must be made within three years of the date of the outline grant.
2. Begin the development. In England, work must start within two years of the final approval of the reserved matters. If they are approved on different dates, the clock runs from the last approval.

Here is how the two clocks fit together. Take an outline permission granted in March 2026. Every reserved matters application must be in by March 2029. If the last one is approved in September 2029, work must begin by September 2031.

The first clock is about making the application, not getting the approval. A reserved matter submitted in time can still be approved after the three years. A matter left out cannot be added once the period has passed.

The council can set longer or shorter periods for both clocks. On a phased scheme, it can also set separate periods for separate parts, and the start clock then follows each part. Wales uses a different rule: five years from the outline, or two years from the last approval if that is later.

Lawful commencement: what counts as a start on site

Section 56 decides when a development has begun. It is the earliest date on which any "material operation" that is part of the approved development begins. The work has to belong to the consented scheme, on the consented footprint.

The Act lists what counts as a material operation:

• Any work of construction in the course of erecting a building.
• Any work of demolition of a building.
• Digging a trench that will contain the foundations, or part of them.
• Laying an underground main or pipe to the foundations, or to that trench.
• Any operation in laying out or constructing a road, or part of a road.
• A change of use that is itself material development.

A short length of foundation trench in the right place can be enough. Surveys, site clearance and a new hoarding are not on the list. Do not rely on them alone.

The conditions matter as much as the digger. Many permissions include conditions that must be met "before development begins". Read each one and get the discharge in writing first. Government guidance says work in breach of a pre-commencement condition is unlawful and may lead to enforcement action. The council may argue that such work was not a lawful start.

Renewal and section 73: what each route can do

There is no simple renewal of a planning permission in England. Owners often expect to extend the date with a Section 73 application. The Act now rules that out.

Section 73 lets you apply to build a scheme without complying with some of its conditions. The council looks only at the conditions. But two limits apply to time:

1. No extension of time. In England, a Section 73 permission must not extend the time to start the development, or to apply for reserved matters.
2. No use after expiry. Section 73 is not available at all once the time to begin has passed without a start.

Section 73 still has a place. Before the date, it can change a condition on design, hours or phasing, and the new permission keeps the original deadline. A small change can go through a non-material amendment under section 96A instead. Our guide to Section 73 and non-material amendments compares the two routes.

A fresh application is the honest renewal. It carries a new fee and a new decision, and the policy may have moved since the first consent. The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 explained shows how sections 57, 73 and 91 fit together.

Other consents and their time limits

Section 91 does not apply to every kind of permission. The Act lists the exceptions, and each one works on its own clock.

1. Permitted development. Rights granted by a development order are outside section 91. A prior approval for commercial space to homes under Class MA must be completed within three years of the prior approval date.
2. Retrospective permission. A permission for work already carried out has no start clock, because the work exists.
3. Temporary permission. A permission granted for a limited period ends on the date set in its condition.
4. Outline permission. It follows section 92, not section 91, as set out above.

Class MA is the one that catches developers out. Its clock is a completion date, not a start date. An office-to-homes scheme that starts late can run out of time before the last flat is finished.

A permission that has been lawfully begun has met its time limit. The Act still lets a council act on a scheme that stalls. If it thinks the work will not be completed within a reasonable period, it can serve a completion notice. The permission then ends on a deadline at least 12 months after the notice is served.

These rules apply in England. Wales shares the 1990 Act but uses longer periods, and Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own planning law.

Expiry risk when you buy a site with planning

A planning permission runs with the land. Section 75 says it benefits the land and everyone with an interest in it, so it passes to a buyer. The clock passes with it. A new owner does not get a fresh three years.

A site sold "with planning" can be close to its date, or past it. A consent that has lapsed adds nothing a buyer can build. Before you exchange, check these points against the council's records:

If the deadline falls before completion of the purchase, agree in the contract who makes the start and when. A lawful start by the seller on the right footprint keeps the consent alive for the buyer.

The safest purchase is one costed before exchange. At Allitsen Road in St John's Wood, a derelict club bought at auction became four costed schemes with a planning strategy in four weeks. Our Development Director, Rob Barton, took 10,000+ homes through planning in his previous roles.

Is the deadline on your consent, or on the site you want to buy, getting close? Send us the address and get a free site appraisal. We read the decision notice, the pre-start conditions and any evidence of a start. You will know if the permission is alive and what it needs.

For a fuller view of the land, see our development feasibility and site appraisal service.