How to discharge planning conditions
Discharging a planning condition means the council confirms in writing that the details the condition asked for are acceptable. You apply with the drawings or documents the condition names. The council must decide within 8 weeks, or a longer period agreed in writing, and the fee is £89 for householder development or £309 for any other case.
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What discharge means, and which conditions need it
A planning permission often arrives with conditions attached. Some simply describe how you must build, such as in accordance with the approved plans. Others ask you to submit something first: samples of brick or roof tile, a drainage layout, a landscaping scheme, a construction method statement. It is the second kind that you discharge, by asking the council to approve the details or confirm that you have complied.
So the answer to whether every condition needs an application is no. Read the decision notice line by line and sort the conditions into those that say you must do something and those that say you must submit and have approved. The wording, usually something like before development begins or before first occupation, tells you the deadline for each.
What the application needs
The application asks for approval of the details a particular condition requires, quoting the condition number from the decision notice. Send exactly what the condition names and nothing vaguer. A condition about external materials wants named products or samples; one about drainage wants a drawing.
Drawings go in to the same standard as the original application. Planning practice guidance says plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and that plans must show the direction of north, and the guidance sits on gov.uk. Our planning drawings service prepares the technical drawings a condition calls for.
It is a request to change the permission, and a non-material change to householder development costs £46 from 1 April 2026.
How long it takes
Under article 27(2) of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, the council must give its decision on an application for approval required by a condition within 8 weeks, or a longer period agreed in writing. Many people ask how long discharging conditions takes and are told it depends; this is the statutory answer,.
If the council asks for more information, the clock can be extended only if you agree in writing, so answer queries quickly and say in the email that you are happy to agree a date. The wider timetable for the permission itself is explained in our guide to how long planning permission takes.
Which fee applies: £89 or £309
Discharging conditions on householder development costs £89 in council fees from 1 April 2026. In any other case, it is £309 (MHCLG fee indexation, SI 2012/2920). The fee is paid to the council with the application.
That is the council's charge. Our own fixed fees are on the pricing page and never include it.
When the answer is a change, not a discharge
Sometimes the details you need do not match the permission. A window moves, a flue changes position. That is not a discharge. It is a request to change the permission, and a non-material change to householder development costs £46 from 1 April 2026. Whether a change counts as non-material is the council's judgement, so ask before you assume.
Building before a required condition is discharged puts the permission at risk and can lead to enforcement, which our planning enforcement guide explains. If the property is in a conservation area, conditions on materials tend to draw close attention; see the conservation area extension rules.
Sources
Every figure on this page, where it comes from and a link to the original.
| Figure | Source | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 8 weeks | DMPO 2015 art 27(2): the council must give its decision on an application for approval or confirmation required by a condition within 8 weeks, or a longer period agreed in writing (source wording: "within a period of 8 weeks") | www.legislation.gov.uk |
| £89 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed): discharge of conditions (approval of details or confirmation of compliance) relating to householder development (source wording: £89) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| £309 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed): discharge of conditions in any other (non-householder) case (source wording: £309) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| £46 | Fees for planning applications in England from 1 April 2026 (MHCLG, SI 2012/2920 as annually indexed): non-material change to a planning permission for householder development (source wording: £46) | assets.publishing.service.gov.uk |
| identified scale | Planning practice guidance, Making an application, paragraph 023: plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and plans must show the direction of north (source wording: "must be drawn to an identified scale") | www.gov.uk |