Full planning permission and outline planning permission, what is the difference?

So you have been told that you need planning permission and now somebody has mentioned the words "outline" and "full" and you are sitting there thinking, are these two versions of the same thing or two completely different processes? You are not the first person to ask and you certainly will not be the last.

They are different, and which one makes sense for your project depends on what you are trying to achieve and how far along your design is. We deal with both types regularly from our office in Alfreton, working across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, so here is how it actually works in practice and what you really need to know before you spend any money.

Full planning permission is the one most people mean when they say "planning permission". You submit a complete set of drawings showing exactly what you want to build, the council assesses the whole thing, and if they approve it you can get on with it (subject to conditions and Building Regulations, which are a separate matter entirely).

Say you want to build a new house on a plot. With a full application you would typically submit existing and proposed site plans, floor plans and elevations showing the building heights and roof design, access and parking details, landscaping where it is relevant, and whatever supporting reports the council or the site itself requires. Coal mining risk assessments come up a lot round here, for obvious reasons.

If permission is granted, the approved plans and conditions govern what you can build. You have approval for a specific design rather than just the idea of building a house. That might sound obvious but it is an important distinction because it means the council has looked at your actual proposal, your actual drawings, and said yes to that. Change the design significantly after that and you could find yourself needing a fresh application.

Full applications do take more work upfront. You need your drawings done properly, your site surveys completed, and all of the supporting documents ready before you submit. That costs money and it takes time. But the advantage is that once you have that approval, you know exactly where you stand and you can get your builder lined up with confidence.

Outline planning permission is different. It establishes whether the council will accept the principle of a development on a particular site without you having to finalise every last detail of the design first. Think of it as the council saying "yes, we are happy for something to be built here" without committing to exactly what that something looks like.

Using the same example, an outline application could establish whether a dwelling is acceptable on the plot without you having to commit to exactly what it looks like, how it sits on the site, or what the landscaping around it will be. You are testing the water before you dive in, which can save you a lot of time and money if it turns out the answer is no.

The way this works is through what are called reserved matters. There are five of them and any or all of them can be held back for later approval:

Access: how the site connects to the road network.

Appearance: what the building looks like externally.

Landscaping: planting, trees and treatment of outdoor areas.

Layout: where the buildings, roads and open spaces sit on the site.

Scale: the height, width and length of the buildings.

You can reserve all five or only some of them. The council may still want enough information at the outline stage to satisfy itself that the thing is actually workable, particularly around access or flood risk, but the detailed architectural drawings can wait.

Once outline permission is granted, you come back with a reserved matters application to get the details approved. And this is the important bit that catches people out. Outline permission on its own does not let you start building. You need the reserved matters approved as well before anybody picks up a spade. We have had clients come to us thinking their outline permission meant they could crack on and start work, and that simply is not the case. It is two steps, not one.

It usually comes down to money and timing, and being honest about the risk you are willing to take.

If you own a plot and the first question in your head is "will they even let me build a house here?", outline permission lets you answer that question without spending thousands on detailed architectural drawings for something the council might say no to. You establish the principle first, spend the money on the full design afterwards, and you are not throwing good money after bad if it turns out the answer is no. We have seen people spend a small fortune on detailed plans for a site the council was never going to approve, and that is a painful lesson to learn the expensive way.

It is also useful if you are thinking of selling land. A plot with outline permission for a dwelling is worth considerably more than a plot with nothing, and the buyer can then design whatever suits them within the parameters the outline has set. From an investment point of view, the cost of an outline application can add serious value to a piece of land.

Full planning permission makes more sense when you already have a developed scheme and you want approval for that specific design. It is also the better route when the acceptability of the development depends heavily on the exact design or layout, because in those situations the council will want to see the detail before it commits either way, and an outline application just puts an extra step in the middle without saving you anything. If the council needs to see what the building actually looks like before it can make a decision, there is no point holding that information back.

Not necessarily, and this is worth being clear about because it trips a lot of people up. Some people assume outline is a lighter touch process but that is not always the case. If the council needs detailed information to assess access, the impact on neighbouring properties, flood risk or any other serious planning issue, it will ask for that information before it determines the application regardless of whether you have called it outline or full.

What outline does is separate the question of principle from the question of design. It does not make the principle question any easier to answer. If a site has problems, those problems do not go away just because you have submitted a shorter application. The council still has to satisfy itself that the development is acceptable, and if it cannot do that without seeing detailed drawings then it will either refuse the application or ask you to provide more information. The government's own guidance on making planning applications sets out the minimum information requirements for both types and it is worth having a look at before you decide which route to go down.

The time limits in England are fairly straightforward but you do need to keep an eye on them because they can catch you out if you are not paying attention.

For outline permission, you normally have three years from the date of the outline approval to submit your reserved matters application, unless the decision notice says otherwise. Once the reserved matters are approved, development must begin within two years of that latest approval, or within three years of the original outline permission, whichever is later. It sounds complicated but your decision notice will spell it out for you.

For full permission, development must normally begin within three years of the permission being granted. Again, the decision notice might specify something different so always check what yours actually says rather than assuming the standard applies.

These are the standard time limits and they have not changed recently, but always read your actual decision notice rather than relying on what the internet tells you the standard position is, because conditions can and do vary. We always tell our clients to read that decision notice properly, cover to cover, because the conditions on there are legally binding and missing a deadline can mean starting the whole process again.

If the key question is whether the council will accept residential development on a site at all, outline permission is often the sensible first step. If what you need is approval for a specific building that you have already designed, a full application gets you there without the extra stage.

And there are situations where it is genuinely not obvious which way to go, particularly on sensitive sites, in Conservation Areas, or where the plot has an awkward planning history. That is exactly the sort of thing we look at during a first visit. Every site is different and what works for your neighbour's plot might not work for yours, so it really is worth getting proper advice before you commit to a route. If you want to know more about what actually goes into a planning application once you have decided which route to take, we have covered that separately.

If you are looking at a site in Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire and you are not sure which route makes sense, give us a call on 07773 899597 or contact us through this website.