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Where do planning delays actually begin?
Planning · Episode 15
Geoff Megarity with Tina Patel & Bart Kolosowski
A delay can begin before your application reaches a planning officer—or after you think permission is safely in hand.
Geoff Megarity maps the points where time is lost, from missing documents and seasonal surveys to conditions that need further work before construction can start.
The survey you discover too late can change the whole programme
Bart recalls a Buckinghamshire project where the need for a bat survey was identified just in time to commission the work. Had the team missed the suitable window, the programme could have faced a much longer wait.
Geoff explains why some specialist investigations cannot simply be ordered whenever the drawings are ready. Their timing belongs in the early project plan, alongside their purpose and cost.
Ask the team to identify the investigations your particular site needs and any seasonal constraints. You do not need every possible survey; you do need to know which one could become the long lead item.
01
Map the risks
Identify the likely obstacles.
02
Plan the evidence
Book reports at the right time.
03
Prepare the submission
Meet validation requirements.
04
Read the conditions
Plan what follows permission.
Submitting the application is not the same as getting it validated
Geoff describes the validation checklist as the gateway to assessment. Sending drawings is only part of the task: the correct application information and payment must reach the authority, and missing material can hold the process at the door.
He starts that checklist early, so the homeowner can understand the reports, appointments and budget implications before the application is ready to submit.
Turn the requirements into a working plan: what is needed, who is producing it and when it will arrive. Distinguish required information from material proposed to strengthen the case, then make any trade-off consciously.
An approval can still leave work to do before the builder starts
The hosts challenge the idea that any piece of paper saying 'permission granted' is a complete result. Geoff explains how the conditions attached to a permission can require further information or approval.
Drainage details and material samples are examples of matters that might be addressed earlier. The point is to review the expected requirements while there is still an opportunity to assemble information or discuss the wording.
Read the decision as part of the programme. Agree which conditions affect starting work, which affect later stages, and who will deal with each. Booking the builder before that is understood can create a second planning delay.
Use red, amber and green to make the risks understandable
Geoff resists giving a homeowner one reassuring percentage for the chance of approval. Instead, he describes a simple way to separate major obstacles from points that may respond to a change.
The hosts connect this to the brief: which features are essential, which can flex, and what additional time or cost are you prepared to accept? That makes a discussion about risk useful rather than abstract.
The episode also explores pre-application advice and planning committees. Each can add value in the right circumstances, but neither removes the need to assess the proposal and the route with your advisers.
Three decisions to take into your project
01 Find the long lead investigations early.
Check which surveys your site needs and when they can be carried out.
02 Track the application requirements.
Give every document, payment and appointment a responsible person and a date.
03 Plan beyond the approval.
Understand the conditions before committing to the construction start.
The full conversation
Geoff Megarity of Bell Cornwell returns to join Tina Patel and Bart Kolosowski for a practical look at planning delays in England.
The full conversation follows preparation, validation, assessment and the conditions attached to permission. It also covers specialist reports, pre-application discussions, committees and ways to explain planning risk to a homeowner.
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Explore a related episode
Episode 4: Planning approved. Ready to build?
Separate planning permission from the other approvals needed before work starts.
Episode 7: RIBA stages: is your project ready to build?
Use the project stages to check what needs to be ready before you build.
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