OPP Some or All Matters Reserved?

StrangelyCurious

Can somebody please explain what the difference is between "Outline Planning Consent With Some Matters Reserved" and "Outline Planning Consent with All Matters Reserved", and which one would best apply to me if I'm applying to demolish my current property and build another slightly larger one further back into the plot? Thanks in advance...

mutter

"All matters reserved" is usually used to test the willingness of the council to approve the principle of an application on a specific site, and is most often used for larger scale developments.
ie A developer might apply for "All Matters Reserved" permission to put four tower blocks, an abbatoir and a primary school on their plot, and have it refused, but a subsequent application for six semis on the same site will be granted - at which point he'd then have to provide details of the exact proposal - size, position, design, access etc etc.

In your case, there's no need to discuss whether the site is suitable for one house in principle, becuse there's already a house there.
So you should apply for "Some matters reserved" with the size and new position of the house being the main subject for discussion.

Most councils are more than happy for a planning officer to hold a pre-application discussion and site visit with a prospective applicant so they can have an informal chat about your options and advise on what they'd be prepared to recommend to the committee, and this can save you (and them) an awful lot of time, hassle and money once the application goes in, and hopefully with a much better chance of being approved.

planning_officer

There are two types of planning permission that you can get for a development - full planning permission and outline planning permission. Basically, full planning permission includes an assessment of everything and if granted, allows you to then implement the permission and build whatever it is that has been granted permission. Outline permission only includes an assessment of some aspects of the proposal - there are five detailed matters (layout, scale, appearance, landscaping and access) and under an application for outline permission, you can indicate which of the five detailed matters you want to be assessed (can be any number - none, one, four etc). Most people include access and layout under an outline application, so the Council is just assessing the principle of the proposal, and including the layout of the development and the access point(s). Any detailed matters not considered at the outline stage are then 'reserved matters' which need to form another application later on.

To be honest, if you're proposing one replacement dwelling then it's probably best just to apply for full planning permission, as going down the outline route will take a lot longer, as it need at least two separate applications. I would imagine there would be no objection in principle anyway to replacing an existing house, unless you live in a particularly sensitive area, so to unnecessarily reserve matters for a subsequent application seems a bit of a waste of time, when you could get them all considered under a full application.