It is very common for changes to arise once construction of a new house is underway.
Even with a well-prepared set of drawings, practical issues only become apparent on site. Clients refine layouts, builders suggest adjustments and small design changes are made as the project evolves.
The difficulty is that any change from the approved plans can give rise to a planning issue.
Very minor changes can sometimes be dealt with through a non-material amendment. Anything more than that requires a fresh planning permission, usually obtained through a Section 73 application.
In this case, our client wished to make a number of modest changes to the design of a new house he was building for his family. These were not fundamental alterations, but they went beyond what could reasonably be described as non-material.
We worked closely with the architect to prepare a revised set of drawings and submitted an application under Section 73, supported by a planning statement explaining why the changes were acceptable.
The key point was that the amended scheme remained consistent with the overall design and did not give rise to any additional impact on neighbouring properties or the character of the area.
The council agreed and granted planning permission for the revised scheme.
This allowed the client to proceed with the build as intended, without the delay and uncertainty of submitting a completely new application.
We explain how this process works in more detail in our guide to Section 73 and minor material amendments.
