Using the NMA Process to remove or modify a condition

2014-06-25T08:29:33Z

We were asked a question recently from an agent who wanted to remove a condition from a Householder permission , and was surprised by the £195 fee which exceeded the original application fee. The route they opted for was to make a free resubmission, where we could issue a new consent without the said condition.

But, this was an expensive route for us, i.e. repeat the application process and with no fee, and not a quick option for the agent and applicant.

This raised the question that there must be a better way of doing this, and we have been looking at the Non-Material amendment option (under s96A) where the Householder fee is £28 and with a 28 day time period..

The Planning Practice Guidance on flexible options for planning permissions has 2 options identified, one is the Non-Material Amendment route, and the other the amendment to conditions – the Section 73 route.

This seems to imply that removing a condition should mean the S 73 option, and thats what I always thought, but does not rule out the s96A route.. Plus the s96A wording says that the power to make non-material changes to planning permissions:-
‘..includes power –

(a) To impose new conditions
(b) To remove or alter existing conditions

So, and setting aside for the moment the question of why a condition was imposed that is not now material, I wondered whether others have used this approach to remove or alter planning conditions on householder planning permissions?