After your application has been determined

Once you have received your decision, please read the information below to ascertain if there is anything else you must do before proceeding with your development. If you have had your application refused, the information under Refusals and Appeals may be of interest.

Approval of details reserved by condition

Most planning approvals contain some planning conditions. Conditions are used to ensure that development that may not be considered acceptable, can be approved subject to certain criteria. These criteria are detailed in conditions. Some conditions require you to submit details about particular aspects of the development and others restrict certain things you can do as part of the development. The approval of details reserved by conditions is also known as 'discharging conditions.'

A typical condition requiring the submission of further details may read

'Details of the glazing to be used on the ground floor rear window should be submitted to and approved in writing by the Executive Director, Planning and Borough Development prior to the commencement of the development'.

A typical condition restricting things you can do as part of the development may read

'The roof of the rear extension hereby approved shall not be used at any time as a roof terrace without the prior approval of the Executive Director, Planning and Borough Development'.

Any condition that requires the submission of details must be 'discharged' in accordance with the wording of the condition. In most cases this is before any works starting on site. Occasionally, some conditions can be discharged prior to the relevant part of the development taking place. Please consult your decision notice for the exact wording of your conditions.

In order to discharge a planning condition, you must submit the details, along with a completed application form and the appropriate fee to the planning department. All approval of details applications incur a fee with the exception of conditions imposed on listed building consents and conservation area consent applications. It may take up to 8 weeks to receive a decision on a discharge of condition application.

You can discharge more than one planning condition at a time as long as you make it clear on your application form which conditions you are discharging. In addition, you must provide the relevant details required for each condition. A fee is payable per discharge of condition application. Therefore, if you put all the conditions that need to be discharged on one application, you only need to pay one fee. However, if you choose to discharge the conditions at different times then you must pay for each request.

Construction Traffic Management Plans (CTMPs)

If you have a condition on your planning approval requesting a Construction Traffic Management Plan, the Council has developed a pro-forma to help you with discharging the condition. It asks specific questions in order that the correct level of detail is provided to allow us to consider the request.

The advantages of using this pro-forma are;

  • developers will know exactly what is expected of them and will not need to provide unnecessary lengthy introductions or explanations
  • information requested/provided will be consistent for all private developments within the borough
  • we will be able to review and process each CTMP in a more efficient manner
  • the pro-forma contains useful guidance notes for the developer

See the Construction Traffic Management Plans webpage.

Amendments to an application

If once your application has been approved, you decide to make changes to the scheme, you can apply for amendments to the development. If the changes you wish to make are considered to be very minor, or non-material, you can submit an application for non-material amendments. Applications for non-material amendments will not be the subject of publicity.

There is no set definition of non-material and ultimately it is for the Council to decide whether you require a new application. We may well reject an application for a non-material amendment if your proposal involves any of the following (this list is not exhaustive):

  • alteration(s) which would need to be the subject of consultation with neighbours, technical groups, consultees or others before we can reach an informed decision or to avoid prejudicing that party
  • reinstating any feature objected to as part of the original permission
  • removing any revision negotiated when the application was first considered
  • conflicting with the requirements of a condition on the original permission
  • moving any building
  • significantly increasing the volume of a building
  • significantly increasing the internal content of a building, even if the overall size is not significantly larger
  • increasing the height of a building
  • adding equipment or other structure to a roof
  • adding a window that may cause overlooking
  • amending the site area
  • altering any ground level
  • amending the description of the development or introducing new element(s) which were not part of the original scheme
  • significantly altering the external appearance of the permitted proposal
  • amending the external materials or finishes in a way that would have a significant impact on the appearance of the development
  • amending the proposal in a way which reduces the design quality of the development originally permitted
  • alteration(s) which, when taken with previously approved non-material amendments, would amount to a material change; and Alteration(s) which make the development conflict with the Development Plan or national guidance

Minor material amendments

If minor changes to an application cannot be considered to be non-material then you may need to apply for minor material amendments, otherwise know as a Section 73 application (S.73) or a variation of planning condition.

A S.73 application allows you to substitute revised plans for those that have already been approved.

Post application advice

For some applications, particularly the larger, more complex ones, we offer advice post determination on how to meet imposed conditions. Please see the planning advice page for further information.

Planning Enforcement

If you think a development may not be being constructed in accordance with the approved plans, you can refer the matter to our planning enforcement team. This team will investigate possible breaches of planning control.

Obtaining copies of determined plans and decision notices

Plans and decision notices from 1947 up until 1995 are available on Microfiche records at the Town Hall. These can be viewed during normal office hours. There is no need for an appointment.

Plans and decision notices from 1995 until 1999 inclusive are available as scanned files at the Town Hall. These can be viewed during normal office hours. There is no need for an appointment.

Plans and decision notices from 2000 to present day are available on the Council’s website. Please click on the link below to search for an application.

Alternatively, you can request copies of decision notices and plans from the Council. These requests should be made in writing to the address below or emailed to planning@rbkc.gov.uk. There is a charge for the Council providing this information. Please see our Schedule of Charges for up to date charges. You will be invoiced for the documents provided.

  • Schedule of Charges 2012/13 [PDF] (file size 76.8kb)
  • Postal address: Records department, Planning and Borough Development, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Town Hall, Hornton Street, London, W8 7NX

Plans, drawings and other material submitted to the Council are protected by the Copyright Acts (Section 47, 1988 Act). You may only use material which is downloaded and/or printed for consultation purposes, to compare current applications with previous schemes and to check whether developments have been completed in accordance with approved plans. Further copies must not be made without the prior permission of the copyright owner.

Please be aware that the planning department will only have copies of plans if a planning application has been submitted. The Planning department does not hold plans for every property in the borough.