What happens after permission is granted
Conditions, time limits, amendments, and what to do when what gets built is not what was approved.
4 min read · Updated Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Permission is not the end
Most permissions come with conditions, details to be submitted and approved before work starts, restrictions on hours, landscaping to be planted and maintained. Each of those generates its own application, which is why registers are full of "discharge of condition" entries.
Permission normally lapses if development has not begun within three years.
Changes after approval
Applicants frequently come back to amend what was approved. A "non-material amendment" is meant to be trivial; a "variation of condition" application can change something substantive and is decided afresh.
A variation of condition application is worth watching. It is the route by which an approved scheme sometimes grows.
When the build does not match the approval
If what is being built differs from the approved drawings, that is a potential breach of planning control. Report it to the council’s planning enforcement team with the reference number and what you have observed.
Enforcement is discretionary and slow, and councils will not act on something they consider trivial. They are far more likely to act on a clear, documented difference from the approved plans than on a general complaint.
Hear about it while you can still act
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