Maria Fergison of George F White

Maria Ferguson, Head of Planning & Development for George F. White has welcomed news that, in order to hasten economic recovery within the construction industry, the Government is introducing changes to the way existing planning permissions are treated. The new procedure will came into force yesterday 1st October 2009 and could offer considerable financial savings to developers of all sizes.

A previous amendment to the planning system in 2004 [primarily the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004] effectively removed the right to renew consents by extending their period for implementation.  Consequently if developers had not implemented their planning permissions they were required to submit a whole new application, attracting a new fee and requiring significant expense in preparing supporting information.

Since then, there has been a downturn in the take-up of planning permissions resulting in their expiry and the Government fears this will delay economic recovery.  As a result of consultation on ways to address the situation, the government will implement a new and temporary procedure allowing applicants to extend the time period allowable to implement consents.  The new procedure which comes into force on October 1st this year will be extended to all types of development – not just major projects.  

Maria Ferguson, Head of Planning & Development at George F. White says, "This is really good news for our clients who have had difficulty in the present economic climate in selling development sites and who have been forced to either start developments themselves, or submit new and costly planning applications. The alternative would have been to lose their consent."

At present, the new rules will only apply to planning permissions which were still live on 1st October 2009, and on the date the application is made.

Anyone wishing to find out more about how these procedures will affect any new and current property developments should call Maria Ferguson at the Wolsingham office of George F. White on Tel. 01388 527966.