Consents reaching their time limit

A planning permission usually has three years to be begun in England and Scotland, five in Wales and Northern Ireland, and an outline three years to apply for its reserved matters. This list is every permitted consent we hold whose limit falls in the window you choose, with the decision date and what has been filed against it since. A start on site needs no paperwork, so "no follow-on recorded" is a prompt to check the site, never a finding that the permission has lapsed.

47,398 consents across the councils we monitor reach their time limit in the next 6 months.

Time limits assume the statutory default; a condition can set a longer or shorter period, which only the decision notice would show. Follow-on activity is what the council register records: discharges of conditions, variations and reserved matters citing the consent.

How time limits work

How long does planning permission last?
A full permission must usually be begun within three years of the decision in England and Scotland, five in Wales and Northern Ireland. An outline permission usually gives three years to apply for reserved matters, then two years from the last reserved-matters approval to begin. The decision notice can set a different period.
What counts as beginning the development?
A material operation carried out lawfully on the site, such as digging foundation trenches or laying out part of a road, with any pre-commencement conditions dealt with first. There is no public register of starts, which is why this list shows what has been filed against a consent rather than whether work began.
Can the time limit be extended?
Not by varying the condition: in England a section 73 application cannot be used to extend a time limit. The usual routes are a lawful start before the limit or a fresh application, which the council decides against current policy.
Does no follow-on activity mean the permission has lapsed?
No. Many developments begin without any further application. Discharges of conditions, variations and reserved matters are signs that a consent is being implemented; their absence is a prompt to check the site, never a finding.