Planning Permission Time Limits: How to Start Work Legally

The standard time limit is 3 years from the date of the decision notice. This applies to full planning permission, outline planning permission (for reserved matters applications), and listed building consent.

Some older permissions granted before changes to planning legislation had 5-year time limits. Check your specific decision notice to confirm the exact date.

The clock starts from the date printed on the decision notice — not from the date you received it. This matters if there was a postal delay or if the decision was sent to an agent rather than directly to you.

A material start is work that clearly and meaningfully implements the planning permission. Courts and inspectors apply a purposive test: does the work demonstrate a genuine intention to carry out the development?

Work that counts as a material start:

• Excavating foundations (even a small trench)
• Laying drainage (below-ground drainage connected to the development)
• Erecting scaffolding for structural purposes
• Any structural groundwork forming part of the approved development

Work that does not count:

• Site clearance or demolition only
• Tree removal
• Delivery of materials to site
• Setting up a site hut

If you are close to the time limit, even a minimal but genuine material start — excavating a small section of foundation trench, for example — can preserve the permission. Document it with dated photographs.

Planning law does not require a separate ‘commencement notice’ to the LPA for planning purposes (this is different from building regulations — see below).

However, some planning conditions may include a requirement to notify the LPA before work starts. A common example: “The local planning authority shall be notified in writing at least 14 days before work commences.” Check every condition in your decision notice before starting.

If your permission is subject to a S106 agreement (planning obligation), that agreement may also impose notification requirements. Review the S106 document as well as the planning conditions.

If you are approaching the 3-year limit but are not yet ready to build in full — perhaps due to finance, procurement or design — a minimal material start can preserve the permission indefinitely once implemented.

Steps to protect your position:

1. Ensure all pre-commencement conditions are discharged first — making a material start without discharging pre-commencement conditions is still a breach
2. Carry out a genuine piece of work implementing the permission (e.g. excavate for foundations)
3. Photograph and date the work thoroughly
4. Keep records in case the LPA or future buyer questions the commencement date

Be cautious about re-applying if planning policies have changed significantly. National and local policies evolve, and a new application is not guaranteed to receive the same decision.

Building regulations has its own, separate commencement notice requirement. You must notify the building control body (local authority building control or an approved inspector) at least 48 hours before work starts.

This is a legal requirement under the Building Regulations 2010 and is entirely separate from planning. Failure to give a building regs commencement notice means the building control inspector cannot carry out the initial inspection at commencement stage, which can create problems with the completion certificate later.

For Full Plans applications, the commencement notice is given after full plans approval. For Building Notice route, the notice itself effectively serves as the commencement notice — work can start 48 hours after submitting the Building Notice.