The Planning Inspectorate has approved a Crown development application for the works to take down Grenfell Tower to ground level.
The decision, issued on 25th August 2026, is significant in planning terms because it provides a high-profile example of the new route allowing nationally important Crown development to be submitted directly to the Planning Inspectorate rather than determined in the first instance by the local planning authority.
The application, reference CROWN/2026/0000003, was made by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and approved with conditions following a written representations procedure.
What has been approved?
The application describes the development simply as “the works to take down Grenfell Tower”. The Planning Inspectorate records the site as Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Road, North Kensington, London and the relevant local planning authority as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The Government’s announcement says the works involve taking the tower to ground level from its original 24 storeys. Work began in September 2025 under permitted development rights.
The Crown development application was accepted on 27th May 2026. The formal representation period ran from 15th June to 6th July and the case proceeded by written representations. The Inspectorate issued its decision on 25th August, granting permission subject to conditions.
Why did this application go to the Planning Inspectorate?
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduced a new route for nationally important Crown development. Sections 293D and 293E of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 allow an appropriate Crown authority to seek planning permission through the Secretary of State where the development is considered to be of national importance.
For the standard, non-urgent route the application is made via the Planning Inspectorate. The Inspectorate checks whether it is complete while the Secretary of State decides whether the national-importance test is met. If accepted, the application then goes through consultation and one of the available determination procedures.
This is separate from the Crown’s permitted development rights under Part 19 of the GPDO. A Crown body does not have to use the new route every time it wants to develop Crown land, and the existence of Crown permitted development rights does not remove the need for planning permission where those rights do not cover the works.
The local council still has a role
Direct submission to PINS does not mean local planning disappears from the process. The relevant local planning authority is notified, helps publicise the application, supplies planning history and policy information and can make representations. Statutory consultees and members of the public can also respond.
Once permission is granted, the local planning authority is responsible for monitoring implementation and compliance with the approved plans and conditions.
That makes the route different from a simple ministerial approval. It remains a planning application, assessed against the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
Grenfell was determined by written representations
Five published representations are currently shown on the Inspectorate’s project page, including responses from Kensington and Chelsea, the Mayor of London, Transport for London, the Ministry of Defence and the Environment Agency.
The appointed Inspector determined the case on written evidence. The Crown development procedure can also use a hearing or inquiry, depending on the issues involved, and the Secretary of State may recover an application for their own determination.
A High Court challenge has a six-week limit
The Inspectorate’s project page confirms that a challenge to a Crown development decision must be made to the High Court within six weeks beginning with the day after the decision is issued.
This is therefore not an ordinary planning appeal route. The applicant has already received the planning decision from the national process. Any challenge is a legal challenge to the lawfulness of that decision rather than a fresh assessment of the planning merits.
Why this matters beyond Grenfell Tower
The planning significance of this decision is the procedure rather than the circumstances that made this particular site nationally important.
The Government says the Crown development route will generally be considered where a proposal involves national security or foreign governments, national public services or infrastructure such as prisons, defence or border infrastructure, a response to a civil emergency, or other development with significant effects and a strong regional or national public interest.
As the new system begins to be used more frequently, planners, councils and communities will increasingly encounter a national application process which looks familiar in many respects but has the Planning Inspectorate rather than the LPA at its centre.
Primary sources
The Planning Inspectorate’s Crown development register contains the application details, representations and decision documents for CROWN/2026/0000003. The Inspectorate also published its Grenfell Tower decision announcement on 25th August 2026.
Created: 29th August 2026 | Crown development application
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