Understanding Planning Application Results

There does not appear to be a standard issue wording for local authorities to describe a planning decision, as illustrated below our analysis of planning decisions across the country has identified a variety of descriptions for similar results. In order to endeavour to unravel these descriptions, they are grouped together below, and a brief description of each type of decision included.

'Approved'

Approved, Approve, Approval No Conditions, Full Application - Granted, Permitted, Granted, Application Permitted, Approved Unconditional, Unconditional Approval

Permission, Granted Permission, Permit

Consent, Consent Granted, Grant Consent for Works

Refused, Permission Refused, Full Application - Refused, Refuse Permission / Consent

These are the most simple of forms of decisions, where a planning application is either approved or refused, and although there is no mention of conditions, quite often there will be planning conditions attached to the approvals which need to be addressed before work commences. If the decision is a refusal, it will always have conditions attached in order that the applicant understands why it has been refused, and can then try and address these reasons with a revised application, or take the refusal to appeal which will give the Planning Inspectorate the final decision on the application.

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'Approved With Conditions'

Conditional Approval, Approved with Conditions, Conditional Permission/ Consent, Approve Conditionally, No Objection + Conditions, Permitted with Conditions, Full Planning Permission with Conditions, Grant Consent - Subject to Conditions, Permission with Conditions, Grant Consent Subject to Conditions, Approved (Statutory / on condition)

Part Approved / Part Refused, Approval in Part / Refusal in Part, Split Decision - Part Grant Part Refuse, Split Decision, Partial Approval (App of Details (subs))

Conditional Consent

Approve Non Material Amendment

Householder Approval, Householder Refusal

A conditional approval is a planning approval which has conditions attached, these will either need to be addressed and discharged prior to the work commencing, or in some cases, some need to be discharged initially, some can be discharged throughout the project, and some are just conditions which need no further applications, but must be adhered-to.

A Householder approval or refusal relates simply to alterations and extensions to a house, which is a much more simple application designed for householders.

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'Permitted Development'

Grant Certificate Existing Lawfulness, Existing Lawful Development - Permitted

Refused Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development, Lawful Certificate Refused, Lawful DC Refused, Certificate Lawful Proposed Not Agreed, Not Issued Certificate, Refuse Lawful Development Certificate

Part Approved - Part Refused - Proposed Certificate of Law

Was Lawful (lawful certificate exists in same county)

Was Not Lawful, Not Lawful Use

Negative Certificate

Lawful development applications are submitted to request that the Local Authority confirm that the proposed development does not need a formal planning application, and sometimes if the work has already been carried out the applicant needs confirmation that it did not need approval. If this is not granted, then a formal planning application should be submitted, even if the work is already complete.

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'Prior Approval'

Prior Approval Grant, Prior Approval Required and Approved, Prior Approval Required and Granted, Prior Approval Given

Prior Approval Not Required, Prior Notification Not Required

Prior Approval Refused, Prior Approval Required and Not Granted

Consent Not Needed, Permission/Consent Unnecessary

No Objection, No Objections Received, Raise No Objection

Application Required

Was Lawful Use

Split decision/check certificate or file

Response Issued

A prior approval application is similar to Lawful Development, it is an application to the local authority to confirm that what is proposed does not require formal planning approval.

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'Withdrawn'

Withdrawn, Application Withdrawn, Withdrawn by Applicant, Application Finally Disposed, Returned

When an application is withdrawn, it means that the application has decided to withdraw the application, usually because they do not wish to get a refusal, they will then usually think again, make some changes and re-submit the application.

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'Not Determined'

Not Determined, No Decision Issued, No Description

Not determined means that the planning application is still alive but no planning decision has been granted. This can be the case, sometimes for several years where there is a lot of difficult issues to address, the applicants and local planning authorities agree to extend the planning period. Usually this is where there is a will by both parties to get to an approval.

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'Listed Building'

Listed Building - Granted, Listed Building Consent, Listed BC Granted

Grant Consent w Conditions (LBC (listed) & ADV), Listed Build - Prop Lawful Dev Granted

Listed BC Refused, Refused Listed Building Consent

Listed building consents and refusals are sometimes issued in parallel with planning decisions, but sometimes the listed building works do not require a planning permission. Listed building decisions also have conditions which  need to adhered-to and/or discharged before work commences.

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'Approved / Refused Conditions'

Condition Refused

Condition Accepted in Part

Discharge of Condition Decision, Full Discharged, Discharge of Condition Approved, Discharge Condition Part Approved, Discharge of Condition Refused

Split Decision Condition Discharge, Discharge of Condition Split Decision

DOC Approved, DOC Part Approved, DOC Refused

Conditions Discharged in Full, Conditions Discharged in Part, Conditions Not Discharged, Conditions Refused

Disch of Cond not all Conditions Agreed

Complied with Condition

Approval of Details for Conditions

Condition Discharge Reply

The majority of planning decisions have conditions attached which must be addressed as part of the approval, if they are not complied-with this can invalidate the decision. Once the conditions are known, then where applicable a further planning application must be submitted to discharge these conditions, but the main thing is that the principal of the permission has been established, and so this is a paperwork exercise. Sometimes, as indicated below, some conditions are approved, and some not, whereby the applicant must submit further or revised details to gain full discharge.

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Other Results:

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Appealed

An appealed decision will be a refusal, or sometimes where the local authority has not made a decision on the application, whereby the applicant appeals to the Planning Inspectorate to make a decision. This takes the decision away from the responsibility of the local planning authority, and also takes it away from the local planning committee when sometimes it can be a political/emotional decision rather than purely planning policy.

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Unknown

This is generally when the information is not available or up to date on the website of that specific local authority.

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Approve with Legal Agreement, App Cond with S106

S52/S106 and Discharge of Condition Apps

Modification to Planning Obligation (this is where the section 106 agreement is modified after granting of permission)

Larger planning applications will often be approved subject to a legal agreement which includes contributions to the wider community, these are called planning obligations and the legal agreement is called a section 106 agreement. The applicant and local authority agree a series of payments to local schools, highways and public space maintenance which are attached to the development going ahead.

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Completed

This is a description on the planning website that the application is completed, but does not indicate what the result is.

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Comments

Indicates that there are comments on the application, but no decision has been made.

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Application with consultation / publicity period, Application Under Consultation, Application within consultation/publicity period, Application under consideration by Officer, Application awaiting key consultation responses

This is a current live application, no decision has been given.

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Determined - DIPS Apps

Detailed Implementation Plan

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Notification Closed, Notification Acknowledged

This is where a local authority has been notified that works are to be carried out, in accordance with planning law after a certain period.

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Closed, Closed - Advice Given

No planning decision has been made.

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Approval of Details - Approved

Another layer of planning is an outline planning application. In this case, the scheme can be approved, but with reserved matters, which need to be discharged. An approval of details can be the description for the approval of the details required for reserved matters under an outline planning permission.

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Advice Given (for pre-apps)

This is a response to a pre-application  submission, whereby an applicant does not submit a formal planning application, but prior to this they seek advice on what will be required, and whether their application is likely to be well-received.

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Case Closed

This means that there may have been questions about the application, but these are now staisfied and the case is closed.

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PP Not Required

This is used when a proposed development falls under 'permitted development' rights or is otherwise exempt from needing planning permission.

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PP Required

This indicates that a proposed development does not fall under permitted development rights or any other exemption, and therefore requires an application for planning permission to be made to the local planning authority.

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Refused Hybrid

Hybrid applications seek outline permission for one part and full permission for another part of the same site. Therefore the local authority has refused to grant planning permission for the proposed development in its current form.

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TPO, Tree Permissions - Planning Permission Required, Decided not to make a TPO (TCA apps), Refused Works to a Protected Tree, Exempt Tree Works, Tree Consent

These applications all refer to trees which are protected under tree preservation orders, and therefore approval is required to trim or remove these trees.

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ES Not Required

This term stands for "Environmental Statement Not Required". It is used when a proposed development has been screened for potential significant environmental effects, and it has been determined that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not necessary. This might be because the development is not of a scale, type, or in a location where significant environmental effects are likely.

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If you have received results that are not mentioned on this list, we recommend you speak with your local planning authority.