Planning in Principle: a streamlined route for housing development projects

Securing planning permission for a housing development is often a slow and complex process that’s full of risk. You need to prepare full drawings and reports before knowing if the site is even acceptable.

Permission in principle provides a simpler and quicker route. You can use it to discover whether the council would back your residential development. And you don’t need to go through the full planning consent route to find out.

In this article, learn what planning in principle is, how it works, who can apply for it and when it’s the right option for your project.

What is Planning in Principle?

Permission in principle (PiP) is an alternative way to obtain planning permission for a housing-led project. PiP assesses the suitability of your idea without addressing the more detailed technical matters. Think of it as the concept stage and full planning permission as the full design.

This principle consent route focuses on three questions:

• Location: Where the site sits in relation to existing settlements, access routes, and services.
• Land use: Whether the site is mainly for housing or a mix of uses with housing as the primary element.
• Development size: How many homes or how much floorspace you plan to deliver on the site (the identified scale).

Your local planning authority uses PiP to decide if the site is suitable in principle for your proposed development.

PiP is primarily for housing-led developments. However, PiP does allow for limited non-residential uses where housing is the majority of floorspace. For example, a small corner shop, café, or workspace within a new housing scheme.

If you secure PiP, the next stage is Technical Details Consent (TDC). This is where you set out much more detailed development proposals. If the council grants PiP and TDC, the council essentially grants planning permission to your project in full.

PiP has proven popular with developers. It’s a way of confirming whether your overall scheme is acceptable before investing in full design work. It’s quick, too, so you don’t have to wait long for answers.

The two-stage Planning in Principle process

Below, find out how each stage in the process works and what the council expects from you.

Stage one: PiP application stage (the principle stage)

Local authorities want information on location, land use type, and development size at this first stage.

The PiP application process is straightforward. Download the application form from your local planning authority or via the Planning Portal. Include with your application form:

• A location plan identifying the site, drawn to a known scale and showing north with a clear red line around the site
• Amount of development (min/max dwellings and any non-residential floorspace)
• The correct fee

For a principle application, the council decides only on issues relevant to location, land use, and the amount of development, like:

• The development plan: Planners take account of the Local Plan and any Neighbourhood Plan.
• National Planning Policy Framework: Planners test whether the proposal fits national policy. They tend to favour projects that fit current policy and show sustainability.
• Material considerations: Planners weigh other matters that affect principle. That includes housing land supply, settlement boundaries, Green Belt, flood risk, and heritage.

Before granting permission, the local planning authority must consult the required statutory bodies. Statutory consultees have 14 days to respond to a PiP application.

The council must tell you their decision within five weeks of receiving your valid application (or a longer period if agreed in writing).

If your proposed residential development is granted permission, you have a time period of three years to submit your TDC.

WindsorPatania note: There is a second route to PiP. If you want to develop on a brown field site, ask your council to add it to Part 2 of the brownfield land register. This automatically confers PiP and you don’t need to go through the PiP process in this article. You also have a five year time period, not three.

Stage two: Technical Details Consent stage

Technical details consent (TDC) is the second stage of the process. The purpose of the TDC is to show how you’ll build the project and how it’ll fit within the surrounding area.

Your technical details consent application must refer directly to your PiP. You must stick within the agreed limits of location, land use, and scale.

Your TDC submission will need to cover the following details:

• Design and appearance: Architectural drawings, materials, height, and local visual impact
• Access arrangements: Vehicle and pedestrian routes, parking, and highway connections
• Drainage and utilities: Surface water systems, foul drainage, and utility service layouts
• Ecological impact: Protected species surveys and biodiversity or habitat improvements
• Landscaping plans: Planting schemes, boundaries, and integration with nearby spaces

As with PiP, the council will assess your TDC against the relevant policies in the development plan and national guidance.

At PiP the council can’t add planning obligations or legal agreements. They set these at the second stage when it grants Technical Details Consent. At that point, you may need a Section 106 agreement (a legal promise to fund things like affordable housing, highways and so on).

If you have PiP and then get TDC, you do not need a separate full planning application. TDC is the point where you gain full planning permission.

Turnaround time on TDC is fast. You’ll wait five weeks for non-major development and ten weeks for major development.

WindsorPatania note: At PiP and TDC stage, the authority has to publicise by a site notice and an online notice, with at least 14 days for comments. It may also send neighb

Eligibility and restrictions

The PiP planning route only applies if your total development meets these criteria:

Certain forms of development cannot use the permission in principle route:

• Major development: Any project with 10 or more homes or a site above 0.5 hectares must apply for full planning application
• Householder applications: Home extensions, alterations, or garden buildings are excluded
• Developments requiring Environmental Impact Assessment: These must follow the standard full planning route
• Habitats development: If your site could have a significant effect on a protected habitat, the council applies the Habitats Regulations at PiP. They need enough ecology evidence to rule out harm to a qualifying European site or a European offshore marine site. The council can grant PiP only if an Appropriate Assessment shows no adverse effect on the integrity of the protected site.

The rule on habitats is strict. If your proposal could adversely affect any protected site, the planning authority cannot issue PiP. They would need to carry out an appropriate assessment. The issue is that this is beyond the fairly limited range of issues considered at PiP. Even with mitigation measures, such development remains ineligible.

Scotland follows a different principle application process. Instead of TDC, Scottish authorities use Approval of Matters Specified in Conditions for the second stage. The planning practice there is broader as PiP covers more than residential development. Check with your local planning team north of the border for exact rules.

Choosing the best route and planning process for your project

PiP is a cost-effective way to test viability at an early stage on small-scale residential developments. There are two alternatives: outline planning permission and full planning permission.

You can use outline planning for any development type, large or small. The outline planning application allows you to reserve some details while fixing others. For example, a non-housing development like a small business park, healthcare facility or local retail centre. It might suit them to secure outline consent for land use and access now and work on building designs later.

Many developers’ planning strategies favour outline permission for these reasons. They suit phased complex larger or mixed-use schemes because you can get infrastructure, access and phasing approved now.

Statutory decision times are typically eight weeks for non-major and 13 weeks for major applications.

Full planning permission remains the main planning route for complete, ready-to-build development. A full planning application includes all design, layout, and technical details from the start.

Decision-makers assess the whole proposal in one stage. This suits projects where developers need total clarity before work begins. For example, a non-residential development like schools, hotels and office space where you have finalised the occupier, design and build specs.

WindsorPatania: proven expertise at securing planning permission nationwide

Planning in principle is a useful tool for developers planning smaller-scale residential projects. It doesn’t provide the certainty of full planning permission or the flexibility of outline planning permission. What it does do is give you confidence to invest in more detailed design and technical work to move the project forward with lower upfront risk.

WindsorPatania has a 97% planning and licensing success rate across over 200 councils in the UK. We can help you with everything including meeting statutory requirements, compiling supporting documents and preparing mitigation measures. Work with us to secure consent smoothly and keep your project on track from concept to approval.

Contact WindsorPatania about or range of end-to-end architecture services, including:

• Architectural consultation: Advice before you purchase and on your project design plans and goals.
• Feasibility studies: New build feasibility, retrofit feasibility, sustainability assessments and private residence design appraisals. [Related article: Retrospective planning permission explained]
• Architectural services: Residential new build, residential retrofit, Grand Design homes, home extensions, commercial architecture, education and retail.
• Project management: Pre-construction project management and construction project management from concept to completion.

To get started, submit a project, email us or call us. Our specialist team looks forward to discussing your idea with you.