Section 73 Application or Non-Material Amendment: How to Change a Consent You Hold

Three ways to change a planning permission

Every change to a consented scheme goes down one of three routes. The council decides which one fits, so the first job is to describe the change precisely and honestly.

A non-material amendment does not create a new permission. The council simply changes the one you hold. A Section 73 application creates a second permission that sits alongside the original. You then choose which one to build out.

Which route a change fits is the council's judgement, not yours. The same window change can be non-material on a warehouse and material on a listed terrace. If you need the decision by a date, read our guide to how long planning permission takes first.

What counts as a non-material amendment

There is no statutory definition of "non-material". Section 96A says the council must be satisfied the change is not material, taking account of every earlier change made under the same section. So three small amendments can add up to a material one.

In practice councils accept changes that nobody outside the site would notice. Typical examples we see approved this way:

• A window or door moved a short distance on an elevation that faces nobody
• A change of brick or cladding to a near match
• Internal layout changes that leave the external envelope as approved
• A small plant enclosure or rooflight that does not change the roof profile
• Correcting a drawing error between plan and elevation

What usually fails as non-material: extra floorspace, extra units, a higher ridge, a bigger footprint, or anything that would have drawn an objection. The procedure cannot be used to amend a listed building consent, and there is no right of appeal if the council refuses.

The fee since 1 April 2026 is £46 for a householder scheme and £309 for any other. It is the cheapest route by far. So ask the case officer informally whether a change would pass before you pay for a Section 73.

What a Section 73 application can and cannot change

Section 73 applies to conditions. The council considers only the conditions, and then either grants a new permission with different ones or refuses. Since 2023 the guidance has been explicit: there is no statutory limit on how far a condition can be changed.

That is why a Section 73 application is the route for a minor material amendment. The permission almost always carries a condition listing the approved drawings. Vary that condition with a revised set and the scheme changes with it. If your permission has no approved-plans condition, a Section 96A application can add one first.

Three things Section 73 cannot do

1. Change the description of the development. In Finney v Welsh Ministers (2019) the Court of Appeal quashed a decision that turned "up to 100m" turbines into 125 m ones. The scheme must stay the one the permission describes. More units, a different use or a taller building needs a new application.
2. Extend the time limit. Section 73(5) stops the council extending the date by which you must start, or apply for reserved matters. If the permission has already expired without a start, Section 73 does not apply at all.
3. Escape the original obligations. The new permission sits beside the old one, the time-limit condition carries over, and a Section 106 agreement usually needs a deed of variation. For major schemes the application is treated as a new one for environmental impact assessment.

Our guide to CIL and Section 106 explains what happens to both when the permission changes. A Section 73 refusal can be appealed; see the planning appeal guide for the six-month deadline and what an appeal costs you in time.

Fees and timescales in 2026

The council fee is set nationally in England and rose on 1 April 2026. A further rise is proposed for 8 December 2026 and takes effect only if Parliament approves the draft regulations.

Every period can be extended by agreement in writing. In London most Section 73 applications on major schemes run on an agreed extension, because the amended scheme goes back to consultees. The fee is the smallest cost; the weeks are the expensive part. For the full fee schedule see planning application fees 2026.

Pre-commencement conditions and how to discharge them

A pre-commencement condition says no development shall take place until something is approved. Since 1 October 2018 a council in England cannot impose one without your written agreement, except on an outline permission. So read the draft conditions before the decision is issued, not after.

The conditions you most often have to clear before a London start are these:

• Construction management plan, including hours, deliveries and dust
• Materials samples or a sample panel
• Drainage and sustainable drainage details
• Contamination assessment and remediation strategy
• Archaeological evaluation or watching brief
• Tree protection and landscaping details
• Site-wide levels and finished floor levels

Discharging a condition

To discharge a condition you apply in writing, identify the permission, attach the details the condition asks for and pay the fee. The council has 8 weeks to decide, or longer by agreement. If it has not decided after 12 weeks, the guidance says the fee must be returned.

Submit the discharge applications as a package, not one at a time. Each one is a separate 8-week clock. A scheme with seven pre-commencement conditions submitted in series can lose a year before a digger arrives.

The cost of getting it wrong

Three mistakes turn a small change into an expensive one.

1. Starting before discharge. A pre-commencement condition is a bar on starting. Work carried out in breach of it may not count as lawfully beginning the development. If the time limit then passes, the permission can lapse while the site is half dug. Since 25 April 2024 the council has ten years to take enforcement action on any breach in England.
2. Building the amended scheme before it is approved. Deviate from the approved drawings on site and you are building without permission for the part that changed. A buyer's or lender's solicitor compares the drawings with the decision notice and the discharge letters at exchange. Gaps there stop a sale or a drawdown. Our guide to retrospective planning permission covers what happens when the work is already built.
3. Asking for the wrong route. A Section 73 that tries to change the description is unlawful even if the council grants it, so the permission is open to challenge. A non-material amendment that was really material gives you a permission no one can rely on. The council's judgement matters, but so does yours before you apply.

If the council refuses a Section 73, the original permission still stands and you can appeal. If it refuses a Section 96A, there is no appeal, only a fresh application. Build that into the programme before you choose.

How a builder helps before you vary a consent

Most changes to a consent come from the build, not the design. The steel scheme does not fit the approved floor-to-floor heights. The approved brick is on a 40-week lead. The basement is cheaper one metre shallower. A planning consultant alone cannot see these; the contractor can.

That is why we run a buildability review before any variation is drawn. We read the decision notice, the approved plans and every condition. Then we price the scheme as approved and the scheme as you want it.

At Allitsen Road in St John's Wood, a vacant corner building became four costed schemes in four weeks. Each came with a planning strategy. The same method applies to a consent you already hold: options, each priced, each with its planning route.

Our Development Director has taken more than 10,000 homes through planning and delivered more than 4,000. We have built every project since 2016 ahead of programme and on budget, with about 60% of our labour in-house. We take on construction projects from £100,000.

One team from the variation to the site

The change is made once, by the people who will build it. Then the discharge package goes in as one set, and the scheme goes to site under one contract with our commercial construction team. The planning consultancy and planning permission page sets out how the planning and construction sides work together.

Holding a permission that no longer matches the scheme you want to build? Send us your consent and the change you need. We will tell you the route, the fee, the weeks and the cost of the difference before you spend anything on drawings.