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Submit plansMy parents have got planning permission to construct two, four-bed detached houses and to demolish their existing house and build three terrace houses on the site. However, they are now no longer able to do the build. As the planning was all granted on the same submission, if one of the four-bed houses was built will that mean that my parents existing house also needs to be knocked down? Do all the elements in the planning application have to be carried out?
Hi Kellyn,
Thank you for your question.
In principle, you can ‘part implement’ a planning permission, i.e. build one part but not another. Say, for example, you had permission for a front porch extension and a rear conservatory. You could build the conservatory and decide against the porch (or build it later).
However, as always with planning, you need to be careful that you don’t accidentally run into problems. Make sure that building one part on its own does not contravene any planning conditions on the decision notice or any legal agreements signed as part of the planning application.
You must also be sure that the different parts of the permission can be separated without contradicting the council’s reasons for granting permission in the first place. For example, if one of the houses is built but the rest of the development is not, does that have implications in terms of what you had originally intended in terms of parking provision, garden sizes, the appearance of the site, biodiversity, flooding etc. If part implementing the permission means you end up with a very different outcome than the council was expecting, and what they thought they were assessing, it might raise concerns.
To be sure, I would recommend making a new application. It is always safest to have a planning permission that precisely shows what you intended to do and what was permitted – it avoids any disputes in the future
Hope this helps!
Martin Gaine (Planning expert)