A section 73 planning application asks the authority to grant a new permission with a condition varied or removed, on a scheme that already has permission: the approved drawings condition changed to a revised set, an hours-of-use condition relaxed, a pre-commencement condition reworded. An s73 planning application does not amend the old permission; it creates a new one alongside it with the same description of development, which is why section 73 planning is read against the parent consent's conditions and why an s73 cannot change the description itself. This page sets out what a section 73 can and cannot do, how it is costed and timed, and what the file has to keep so the variation can be read against the permission it varies.
What a section 73 can vary, and what it cannot
A section 73 application varies or removes conditions on a permission, and the authority may grant it unconditionally, with the same conditions, or with different ones, or refuse it. What it cannot do is change the description of the development: a scheme for six houses stays a scheme for six houses, and a variation that would amount to a different development is a fresh application. The commonest section 73 is a change to the approved plans condition, and whether a revised set of drawings is a variation or a new scheme is the question the officer asks first; the guidance cited below is where the line is drawn.
The fee, the clock and the new permission
A section 73 has its own fee, lower than the full application it varies, and its own statutory period, counted from validation like any application; the cost of planning application sheet and the timeline sheet on this site take those figures. The decision is a new permission with its own reference and its own conditions, the parent stays on the register as it was, and the developer chooses which to implement. A site can therefore carry a parent and two or three section 73 permissions, and the file has to say which is the live one.
What the file keeps against the parent
A section 73 read without the parent's conditions beside it is a variation of something nobody can see, and a discharge submitted against the wrong permission is the usual result. Consentvia Pro keeps each section 73 as an application under its parent, with the condition varied, the new reference, the new conditions and the date, so the schedule of conditions the contractor works from is the live permission's. The cost and the clock are read from the sheets and filed with it.
Questions people ask about section 73 planning application
What is the difference between a section 73 and a non-material amendment?
A non-material amendment changes the existing permission in a way too small to matter and keeps the same permission; a section 73 varies a condition and creates a new permission. If the change touches a condition, or is more than trivial, it is a section 73.
Can a section 73 extend the time limit for commencing a permission?
Not any longer in England: the time limit condition cannot be varied by section 73, so a permission that is about to lapse needs a fresh application. The guidance cited below states the position for each nation.
Does a section 73 need all the surveys again?
Usually not: it needs what the varied condition turns on. The cost sheet on this site takes the fee for the type, the agent's fee for it and whatever drawings or reports the variation needs, which is normally a fraction of the parent application's cost.
Sources
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, Flexible options for planning permission: section 73 variations, outline and reserved matters, non-material amendments
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, Determining a planning application: statutory periods, extensions of time, non-determination
- GOV.UK planning practice guidance, Fees for planning applications: how the fee for each type is worked