Outline Planning Permission

Outline planning permission answers one question: can this site be developed at all? It settles the principle, and leaves the detail – what it looks like, how it sits, how you get in and out – to be approved later as reserved matters. It is the route for anyone who wants to know whether a scheme will be accepted before spending money designing it in full. It is also the route with the most misunderstood time limits in English planning, and this page explains why.

 

What is outline planning permission?

Section 92 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 defines outline planning permission as permission granted, in accordance with a development order, reserving matters not particularised in the application for subsequent approval. Those held-back matters are the reserved matters.

There are five, and they are defined in the Development Management Procedure Order:

• access – how vehicles and people get to and around the site
• appearance – what the development looks like
• landscaping – the treatment of open space around the buildings
• layout – where buildings and routes sit on the site
• scale – height, width and length of each building

You do not have to reserve all five. You can settle some at outline stage and reserve the rest – access is commonly fixed early, because it is often the thing that decides whether a site works at all.

One limit worth knowing: outline permission is for development consisting of, or including, building or other operations. It is not the route for a bare change of use.

 

Why apply in outline?

The case for outline is straightforward: it puts the expensive question first. Full design work on a site that was never going to be accepted is money burnt. Outline tests the principle for a fraction of the cost.

It also has commercial uses. An outline permission is a saleable asset – it turns a field into a development site with a value to match, without the promoter ever drawing a house. That is why land is so often marketed “with outline consent”.

But be honest about the downside. Outline is two applications, not one, and two sets of fees and two determination periods. If you already know exactly what you want to build and the principle is not seriously in doubt, a full application is quicker and cheaper. Outline earns its keep when the principle is the real question – not as a default.

 

How long does outline planning permission last?

This is where outline is most often got wrong, including by sources that ought to know better. In England, section 92(2)(b) imposes two conditions:

• an application for approval of the reserved matters must be made within three years of the grant of outline permission
• development must be begun within two years of the final approval of the reserved matters – or, where they are approved on different dates, of the last one to be approved

Note what is not there: any outer longstop. In England there is no five-year backstop running from the outline grant. The clock that matters is the three-year reserved matters clock. Miss that, and the outline permission is worthless – you cannot apply for reserved matters late, and an application made after the deadline is treated as not made in accordance with the permission at all.

You will find “five years from the grant of outline, or two years from final approval of reserved matters, whichever is later” quoted widely. That is the Welsh provision – section 92(2)(c), inserted by the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. It has not applied in England for years. If you are working on an English site and someone quotes you five years, check where they got it.

The council can substitute different periods, longer or shorter, having regard to the development plan and other material considerations. So read the conditions on your actual decision notice rather than assuming the statutory default. Phased schemes can also be given separate periods for separate parts of the development.

A reserved matter counts as finally approved when the application is granted – or, if you had to appeal, when the appeal is determined.

 

What if the permission is challenged in court?

Until recently this was a real gap. Where a full permission was challenged, the implementation period was extended; where an outline permission or a reserved matters approval was challenged, there was no extension at all. An objector could effectively run the clock down by litigating.

Section 92A closed that gap on 18th February 2026. Where the grant of outline permission, or the approval of reserved matters, is challenged, the same tiered extensions now apply as for full permission: an extra year for High Court proceedings, a further year if the case reaches the Court of Appeal, and two more at the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal and Supreme Court extensions apply only where the challenge is determined after a full hearing, not where permission or leave is refused. And nothing can revive a period that has already expired.

The extensions cover both the reserved matters deadline and the implementation period.

 

Outline permission or permission in principle?

They sound alike and do different jobs. Permission in principle is a two-stage route too, but it is narrower – it is available only for certain sites, it settles only location, land use and amount of development, and the detail comes later as technical details consent. Outline is available generally, and lets you fix as much or as little detail as you like at stage one.

In broad terms: PiP is a lightweight route for qualifying housing-led sites; outline is the general-purpose way to test a principle. Our guide to permission in principle covers the differences and the technical details consent stage.

 

What does it cost, and how long does it take?

An outline application carries a fee, and the reserved matters application carries another – see our guide to planning fees in England. Two applications means two fees, which is part of the calculation when deciding whether outline is worth it.

Determination periods are the standard ones: 8 weeks for a non-major application, 13 weeks for major development, and 16 weeks where an environmental impact assessment is required – see our guides to planning timescales and EIA screening and scoping. Extensions by written agreement are common.

One EIA point specific to outline: if the environmental effects of the scheme were not fully assessed at the outline stage, the need for assessment has to be revisited when the reserved matters come in. Leaving too much to be reserved on a sensitive site can store up work rather than avoid it.

 

If you are refused

You can appeal a refusal of outline permission under section 78, within six months of the decision notice. You can also appeal a refusal of reserved matters approval, or conditions you object to, or the council’s failure to decide in time.

Two things to weigh. First, for applications submitted on or after 1st April 2026, most appeals – including appeals against refusal of reserved matters approval – follow the expedited procedure, where the Inspector considers only what was already before the council. There is no new evidence. See our guide to planning appeals, and our page on appeal timescales, which sets out the deadline for each type of application.

Second, and specific to outline: an appeal takes time, and your three-year reserved matters clock is still running while it does. A refusal at outline stage is not just a setback – it eats the period you have to get the rest in.

 

Practical points

• diary the three-year reserved matters date the day the outline permission lands – it is the deadline that kills outline permissions
• read the conditions on your decision notice; the council can substitute different periods and often does
• fixing access at outline stage is usually worth it, because it is the matter most likely to sink a scheme late
• on a phased scheme, ask for separate periods for separate parts – section 92(5) allows it
• an outline permission with a lapsed reserved matters deadline is worth nothing, however good the site

See also our guide to the types of planning application.

 

Relevant legislation

Outline permission sits in the duration provisions of the main planning Act – and note that section 92 now says different things for England and for Wales. When checking any provision, use the “Changes to Legislation” panel on legislation.gov.uk, as later amendments are not always shown in the main text.

• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 92: outline permission and its time limits; subsection (2)(b) is the England rule, (2)(c) the Wales rule
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 92A: extension of time where outline permission or reserved matters approval is challenged in the courts, from 18 February 2026
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 93: when a reserved matter counts as finally approved
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 91: the three year rule for full permission, which does not apply to outline
• Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, article 2: the definition of reserved matters
• Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, section 56: inserted section 92A
• Planning (Wales) Act 2015, section 36: created the separate Welsh rule at section 92(2)(c)

Other Planning Application Sections

  

 

Outline Planning Permission Page Updated: 12th August 2026