Prior approval deemed consent (the 56‑day rule)

Some permitted development rights come with a catch: before you can start, you have to apply to the council for prior approval of certain specified matters, such as the impact on neighbours, flooding, highways or noise. What many people do not realise is what happens when the council simply misses its deadline. For most of these rights, if the local planning authority does not notify you of its decision within the set period, prior approval deemed consent applies, and you may lawfully begin the development in line with your application. This is what people mean when they talk about the “56‑day rule”, although, as we will see, 56 days is not the only period that matters.

This page explains how prior approval deemed consent works, why it is a trap as often as it is a gift, and the single point that catches people out: a missed council deadline never turns an ineligible scheme into a lawful one.

What “prior approval” actually is

Prior approval sits between full permitted development and a full planning application. The General Permitted Development Order grants the right to develop, but attaches a condition: before you begin, the council must sign off a short, defined list of matters for that particular class. It is not a full planning permission, and it does not weigh your proposal against the whole development plan. It only decides the specific issues the legislation lists for that right.

That distinction has teeth. A prior approval decision binds only the matters the legislation lists for the class in question. It is not a general planning permission, and it is not a lawful development certificate. It confirms one gate within a permitted development right, nothing more.

How prior approval deemed consent works

The time limits come from article 7 of the General Permitted Development Order. The council must make its decision within the period specified for the relevant class in Schedule 2; where no period is specified, within eight weeks; or within such longer period as the applicant and the authority agree in writing. If the council does not notify you of its decision within that period, you have deemed consent and may proceed in accordance with your application.

The operative word is notify. What matters is the council getting its decision to you in time, not when it was signed off internally or posted. So the practical advice is simple: work out the exact expiry date, diarise it, and keep proof of what landed in your inbox and when. Do not treat ordinary council delay as automatic permission until you have checked the date carefully.

The deadline is not always 56 days

“56‑day rule” is a useful shorthand, but the period genuinely varies by class. Getting this wrong is one of the most common and expensive mistakes:

• 56 days for most changes of use under Part 3, including Class MA and the barn conversions under Class Q

• 42 days for a larger home extension under Part 1, Class A, the “neighbour consultation scheme”
• 28 days for the first stage of agricultural development under Part 6, Class A, where the council decides whether prior approval is required at all; if it says approval IS required, it then has a further period ending 56 days after that notification to decide the approval itself
• 8 weeks as the default where the relevant class specifies no period of its own

Because the trigger and the length differ from class to class, always read the specific class page and the relevant Schedule 2 paragraph before counting days. Our guide to article 7 of the GPDO sets out the statutory wording in full.

The trap: deemed consent does not cure an ineligible scheme

This is the point that catches people out, and it is worth reading twice. Deemed consent relates only to the prior approval matters the council was assessing. It does not certify that your development qualified for the permitted development right in the first place. If the scheme does not actually meet the eligibility criteria of the relevant class, for example a floorspace limit, a use‑class history, an exclusion zone or a minimum vacancy period, the development is not lawful, no matter how many days have passed without a decision.

The courts have made this plain. In Murrell v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2010] EWCA Civ 1367 the Court of Appeal explained that the prior approval question only arises within the statutory permitted-development regime. The point was put particularly clearly in Keenan v Woking Borough Council [2017] EWCA Civ 438: expiry of the prior-approval period may allow the developer to proceed without a further determination, but it does not create planning permission for development which falls outside the relevant permitted-development class.

So a missed deadline gives you a procedural benefit, not a licence to build something that was never eligible. If in doubt about eligibility, the safest course is often a certificate of lawfulness of proposed use, which puts the question of lawfulness beyond argument before you start.

Can the deadline be extended?

Yes. Article 7 allows the applicant and the council to agree a longer determination period, including where the relevant class itself specifies a fixed period such as 56 days.

The Court of Appeal confirmed this in Gluck v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2020] EWCA Civ 1756. Importantly, the court did not require the agreement itself to be created as a formal written contract. An extension can be agreed orally and then evidenced in writing. On the facts of Gluck, the agreement and the new deadline had been sufficiently recorded in the parties’ emails, so the council’s later decisions were still within time.

There was some difference between the judges about exactly what written evidence article 7 requires in every possible case, but that did not affect the result. The sensible planning practice is much simpler: if more time is agreed, both applicant and authority should promptly confirm in writing that an extension has been agreed and state the exact new determination date. An informal request for more information, or a vague “we’ll get back to you”, should not be treated as an agreed extension.

What it costs, and what to do if approval is refused

Prior approval applications do carry a fee, normally lower than a full planning application fee, and like all planning fees it is set nationally rather than by your council. We deal with this on our planning fees page rather than quoting a figure that may be out of date.

If the council refuses prior approval within time, you can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. You can also appeal for non‑determination where the council has neither decided nor obtained a written extension, although in practice, if deemed consent has already accrued, an appeal may be unnecessary; the better step is often to confirm your position rather than appeal. Either way, our planning appeals page sets out the routes and deadlines. Note that the application submission date, not the appeal date, determines which appeal regime applies following the 1 April 2026 changes.

Should you rely on deemed consent at all?

Deemed consent is a genuine right, but relying on it is riskier than getting a positive decision on paper. If your scheme’s eligibility is at all arguable, a deemed consent leaves you exposed: a neighbour, a buyer’s solicitor or the council itself may later question whether the right ever applied, and you will be defending that after you have built. Where the stakes are high, it is usually worth pressing for a written decision, or securing a certificate of lawfulness, rather than building on the strength of the council’s silence. Silence is a fallback, not a plan.

Note that the rules here are for England. The permitted development regimes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.

See also our guide to the types of planning application.

Prior approval deemed consent relevant legislation

The provisions below govern prior approval deemed consent. Check the “Changes to Legislation” panel on each page on legislation.gov.uk, as permitted development is amended frequently.

• GPDO 2015, article 7: prior approval applications, time periods for decision
• GPDO 2015, Schedule 2: the permitted development classes and their prior approval periods
• Town and Country Planning Act 1990, section 69A: the planning register, which must record prior approval applications and how the council dealt with them, including where it did not respond

Prior approval deemed consent Page Updated: 30th August 2026