Running with the land

An imminent amendment to regulations will allow local planning authorities to facilitate development, writes Phillip Hopkins.

Local Planning Authorities (“LPAs”) around the country are set to welcome in the Town and Country Planning General (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2018 (the “2018 Regulations”) which come into force on 23 February 2018.

Generally, a planning permission runs with the land. However, Regulation 9 of the Town and Country Planning General Regulations 1992 (the “1992 Regulations”) is an exception to this general principle and states that where a LPA grants itself planning permission for its own development, that permission is only for the benefit of the LPA (or in the case of a joint development, the LPA and other person specified within the planning application) and therefore does not run with the land.

The 2018 Regulations will remove Regulation 9 from the 1992 Regulations with the effect that planning permissions granted by LPAs to themselves will now run with the land. The 2018 Regulations will not affect planning permission granted pre 23 February 2018 but their coming into force will equip LPAs with a further pragmatic means of facilitating development in their areas. LPAs utilising this small but powerful change in the Regulations can plan ahead in terms of development by ensuring their land is sold for a use that benefits the area by virtue of the planning permission that runs with it.

In theory this is a positive change for LPAs, but whether or not they make use of the potential benefits it brings remains to be seen further down the line.

Phillip Hopkins is a Solicitor in the Planning & Environment team at nplaw. He can be contacted on 01603 222965 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..