Once construction of a new home is underway, it is common to identify the need for changes to the approved design. These might relate to layout, appearance or practical issues that only become apparent once work has started.
Where changes are genuinely minor, they may be dealt with through a non-material amendment. However, anything more than a very small change requires a minor material amendment, usually made under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act.
In this case, our client wished to make a number of relatively modest changes to the design of a new house he was building for his family. We worked closely with the architect to prepare a revised drawings package and submitted a detailed supporting statement explaining why the proposed changes were acceptable in planning terms.
The council agreed that the amendments would not result in any harm and granted permission under section 73, allowing the revised scheme to proceed.
This case shows how section 73 applications can be used to resolve design changes efficiently, without the delay and uncertainty of submitting a wholly new planning application.
