- Plan ItBack
- Design ItBack
- Build ItBack
- Homes
- ProductsBack
- CostsBack
- Self Build Cost Calculator
Estimate your project costs instantly with Build It's interactive self-build cost calculator
Calculate Now - Costs & Finance
- Contracts & Warranties
- Build It Estimating Service
Get an accurate, detailed cost breakdown of your project
Submit plans
- EventsBack
Q&As
Is my Old Planning Permission still Valid?
In 1991 we got planning permission in a conservation area with no finishing 5 or 3 year limit of any type; just that it had to be started within 5 years.
It was one application for a loft, on the main house, a 2 storey extension to the rear, and a 2 storey attached house (it is a single storey annex at the moment.)
At the time we completed the loft and seperated the annex from the main house, and got it seperately rated in 1994. It has been let and seperately taxed since 1994.
We now have the money to finish the works. Is the planning still valid? Should we just put in a building notice and start work, or can the council stop this project going forward?
Denis Walshe
One Answer
When a planning permission has been lawfully implemented, it remain ‘alive’ almost indefinitely. To be lawfully implemented, the works would need to have started within the (then) 5 year time limit, and before that start, all conditions that needed agreeing and clearing with the council would have to have been signed off. Assuming those provisos were met when you started the works on the loft, then the permission was lawfully implemented, and remain alive now. Given the considerable passage of time, it would be prudent to apply to the council for a certificate of lawfulness, to establish they formally agree that if you complete the works, they will be lawful. It’s simply a legal, yes/no question, and the council can’t revisit whether they like the design or think it fits with current policies, which have no doubt moved on a bit since 1994.