Crown development application: the national importance route

A Crown development application provides a special route for nationally important development by or on behalf of the Crown in England. Under the standard route, the appropriate Crown authority applies through the Planning Inspectorate and the Secretary of State decides whether the proposal qualifies as nationally important.

There is also a separate Urgent Crown Development procedure, requiring both national importance and urgency. The main application steps below describe the standard route; the urgent section explains the important differences.

The standard route was introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 and is contained in sections 293D onwards of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.

It is not a blanket planning exemption for government development, and it is not the same thing as the Crown’s permitted development rights under Part 19 of the GPDO.

Does the Crown normally need planning permission?

Yes. The planning Acts apply to the Crown broadly as they do to other applicants. Crown bodies will normally need planning permission where development is not covered by a permitted development right, and may also need listed building consent, tree consent or other planning-related approvals where relevant.

Operational Crown land does have additional permitted development rights under Part 19 of Schedule 2 to the GPDO. Those rights are separate from the Crown development application route explained on this page.

The practical starting point is therefore the same question as for any other development: does the proposal need express planning permission? If it does, a Crown body may use the ordinary local application route or, where the statutory criteria are met, one of the special Crown routes.

What is nationally important Crown development?

Section 293D of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provides the standard route for nationally important Crown development. Section 293E deals with connected listed building consent applications.

The Government says the Secretary of State will generally regard development as nationally important only where it:

• involves the interests of national security or foreign governments
• contributes towards national public services or infrastructure, such as prisons, defence or border infrastructure
• supports a response to an international, national or regional civil emergency
• has significant economic, social or environmental effects and a strong public interest at regional or national level

These are not ordinary scale thresholds such as a fixed number of homes or square metres. The applicant has to submit a statement explaining why the particular proposal is nationally important, and the Secretary of State decides whether the test is met.

Who can make a Crown development application?

The application must be made by an appropriate authority within section 293 of the 1990 Act.

Where the land belongs to a government department, that department will commonly be the appropriate authority. The legislation also allows an application to be made by or on behalf of the Crown in relation to land the Crown does not yet own, provided the required Crown interest or control in the proposed development can be demonstrated.

Crown land itself includes land in which there is a Crown interest or Duchy interest. The statutory definitions are wider than simply land shown on a title as owned by a government department.

Where is the application submitted?

For the standard Crown development route, the application is submitted electronically to the Planning Inspectorate, with a copy also sent to the Government’s Crown Casework Team.

PINS first checks whether the application is complete. At the same time, the Secretary of State considers whether the proposal is of national importance. The application is accepted into the Crown development process only when both requirements are satisfied.

This is the key procedural difference from an ordinary application. The local planning authority is not the body which determines whether to grant planning permission.

What must be submitted?

A Crown development application is not a stripped-down planning application. The 2025 Procedure Order requires the normal national information needed for the particular application, the correct planning application fee and relevant biodiversity gain information.

The applicant must also provide:

• a statement explaining why the proposal is considered to be of national importance
• the necessary ownership or agricultural-tenant notices and certificate
• authorisation where somebody is making the application on behalf of the appropriate authority
• relevant local-list information where the local planning authority has valid local validation requirements
• any further information PINS reasonably requires to deal with matters raised by the application

Pre-application engagement with the Crown Casework Team is strongly encouraged, and can involve the local planning authority, consultees, local communities and other affected government bodies.

Does the local planning authority still have a role?

Very much so. Direct submission to PINS does not cut the council out of the process.

Once an application is accepted, the relevant local planning authority receives the application and supporting material. It helps publicise the proposal and ensures the application appears on the local planning register. The publicity requirements depend on the application: a site notice is mandatory for the special categories identified in the Order, while other applications allow a site notice or notification of adjoining owners and occupiers.

The council is also asked to provide information such as:

• relevant development-plan policies
• planning history
• whether Community Infrastructure Levy may apply
• local planning considerations relevant to the proposal

The local planning authority can make representations and may be involved in hosting a hearing or inquiry. If representations are sent to the council, they must be forwarded to PINS.

After permission is granted, the local planning authority may also have the practical job of monitoring implementation and compliance with planning conditions.

How is the public consulted?

The standard route has its own publicity requirements for planning permission applications. PINS publishes details online. Newspaper notices are required for major applications and the special categories in the Order, not every non-major proposal. The council arranges a site notice or adjoining-owner and occupier notifications as the Order requires or permits.

For the public website notice, the representation period is at least 21 days. For an EIA application accompanied by an Environmental Statement, it is at least 30 days. Public holidays are disregarded when counting the former period, but not the EIA period. Check the dates in the actual notices.

PINS must also consult the relevant local planning authority and statutory consultees. Depending on the proposal, additional bodies such as the Mayor of London may need to be consulted.

So although the decision sits nationally, local residents are not excluded from the planning process.

Who actually decides the application?

The Planning Inspectorate is responsible for determining applications under the standard route, acting through an appointed Inspector or Inspectors. The Secretary of State can, however, recover an application and determine it personally.

After consultation, PINS decides the appropriate procedure. The options include written representations, a hearing or an inquiry. Government guidance says hearings are expected to be used in the majority of cases, although the appropriate procedure depends on the issues involved.

The planning merits are still assessed in the familiar way. A Crown development application is determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

What is Urgent Crown Development?

Standard Crown Development needs national importance. Urgent Crown Development needs national importance and urgency. An applicant calling a scheme urgent is not enough: the Secretary of State must accept both statutory tests before agreeing to determine it.

The urgent application is made directly to the Secretary of State through MHCLG’s Crown Casework Team under section 293B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The decision to grant permission, impose conditions or refuse is then made under section 293C. This is not the ordinary PINS application and Inspector decision process described above.

Accepting the national-importance and urgency tests is not planning permission. The planning merits still need to be considered. A nationally important prison, defence facility or government project does not automatically qualify for the urgent procedure.

The local planning authority must be consulted and has planning-register and representation-handling duties, but it does not decide the application. Residents and other interested people can make representations under the urgent procedure’s publicity arrangements.

The 2025 Urgent Applications Procedure Order provides a more flexible timetable. Do not assume the standard route’s 21-day representation period applies: check the dates advertised for the particular case. Special minimum periods still apply where Environmental Impact Assessment is required.

Does biodiversity net gain apply?

For standard Crown Development, yes, unless a statutory exemption applies. That route does not provide a general exemption from biodiversity net gain. Where BNG applies, the decision notice identifies the planning authority responsible for the Biodiversity Gain Plan.

Urgent Crown Development is different. Paragraph 17(a)(ii) of Schedule 7A to the 1990 Act excludes permission granted under section 293C from the statutory biodiversity gain condition. The reference was updated from the former section 293A by regulation 13(14)(b) of SI 2025/418.

That specific exemption does not switch off other ecological requirements or mean biodiversity effects can be ignored in the planning decision.

Does CIL apply?

Potentially. Development through the Crown route is liable to Community Infrastructure Levy where the normal charging conditions are met and the relevant charging authority has a charging schedule in force.

The fact that the applicant is a Crown body, or that permission is granted through a national Crown development route rather than by the local council, does not in itself remove CIL liability.

What about Environmental Impact Assessment?

The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017 can apply to Crown development in the same way as other qualifying development. Our guide to EIA screening and scoping explains the wider process.

If the proposal is EIA development and no applicable exemption has been granted, an Environmental Statement is required and the longer publicity requirements apply. Screening and scoping direction requests can be made to the Secretary of State.

Can sensitive national-security information be withheld?

The legislation contains specific arrangements for genuinely sensitive information. For the standard route these are in section 293H; the urgent route has separate provisions in section 293B(11) and article 12 of the Urgent Applications Procedure Order. They concern national security or security measures where public disclosure would be contrary to the national interest.

That is a controlled statutory process, not a general ability to mark inconvenient planning evidence confidential. Applicants dealing with potentially sensitive material are encouraged to engage with the Crown Casework Team before submission.

Can listed building consent be dealt with at the same time?

Under the standard route, yes. A connected listed building consent application can be submitted alongside the Crown development application. Submitting them together helps avoid a very short separate deadline.

Article 28 of the 2025 Procedure Order requires the listed building application to be made before the end of five working days beginning with the day the applicant is informed that the Crown proposal is considered nationally important. This is not a five-calendar-day period running from a later planning decision.

Article 32 also requires the listed building application to satisfy the completeness requirements within ten working days beginning with the day the article 11(4) notice was sent for it to be valid under this connected procedure.

This can be particularly important for government estates where operational development affects listed buildings or their fabric.

Can a Crown development decision be appealed?

For the standard route, there is no ordinary applicant appeal to another Inspector after the Crown development application has been determined. A legal challenge is made to the High Court under section 288 and is subject to a six-week time limit beginning with the day after the decision is issued.

As with other High Court planning challenges, the court is concerned with whether the decision was lawfully made rather than rehearing the planning merits.

Two examples: standard and urgent Crown development

Standard route: the Planning Inspectorate approved application CROWN/2026/0000003 in August 2026 for works to take down Grenfell Tower to ground level. The application was determined by written representations. Our Grenfell Crown development report explains the Inspector’s decision.

Urgent route: the Home Office’s MOD Bicester Site A application, validated in September 2026, sought a temporary ten-year use and associated development for non-detained asylum accommodation for up to 1,256 people. The Secretary of State had accepted national importance and urgency before validation. That procedural acceptance did not grant planning permission: the urgent application still required a planning decision. Our Bicester Urgent Crown Development report explains the procedure in more detail.

The useful distinction is the procedure, not the type of project: national importance opens the standard route, while the urgent route requires a separate urgency test as well.

Relevant legislation and guidance

Section 293 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 contains the Crown land and appropriate-authority definitions.

Sections 293D onwards of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 contain the nationally important Crown development provisions.

The Town and Country Planning (Crown Development Applications) (Procedure and Written Representations) Order 2025 sets out the application, publicity, consultation and written-representations procedure.

The Government’s Crown Development and Urgent Crown Development guidance explains the current process and national-importance criteria.

Other Planning Application Sections

Created: 29th August 2026 | Updated: 7th September 2026 | Crown development application