A significant change to the way planning applications are decided is on its way. From 31 October 2026, a new National Scheme of Delegation will set out clear rules that every local planning authority must follow when deciding whether an application is determined by a planning officer or referred to a planning committee.
The change has been introduced through section 54 of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which adds new sections 319ZZC to 319ZZF to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The government’s aim is greater clarity and consistency, so that committees focus on the proposals that genuinely matter to an area, while more minor and technical decisions are made by professional planning officers.
For most of our clients, the headline is simple. Many minor developments will no longer have the opportunity to go to a planning committee at all.
The most important change: schemes of up to nine homes
The single biggest change for many of our clients concerns minor residential development, which must now be decided by a planning officer. The new rules define minor residential development as nine or fewer dwellings on a site of 0.5 hectares or less. In other words, a housing scheme of anything up to nine homes now falls into the category that can no longer be referred to a planning committee. Householder applications and minor commercial development sit in the same category.
In practice this means a development of up to nine new homes could be approved, or refused, by a single planning officer under delegated powers, without the application ever being considered by a committee of elected members. For applicants, this can bring a more consistent and often quicker route to a decision, with the case judged against policy by an experienced officer rather than being subject to the timing and debate of a committee cycle. It also places even greater weight on getting the planning submission right first time, because the professional assessment of the evidence becomes the decision.
How the new system sorts applications
The scheme divides planning functions into two schedules.
Schedule 1 sets out the applications that must be delegated to officers for a decision. This includes householder development, minor commercial development and minor residential development of up to nine dwellings, along with a range of other consents such as applications to vary conditions, the discharge of conditions, prior approval, permission in principle, non-material amendments and certificates of lawfulness.
Schedule 2 covers the larger and more sensitive applications, and these are the only types that can still be considered at a planning committee. They include:
- applications that are not householder, minor commercial or minor residential development, such as larger or major schemes
- applications for listed building consent
- applications for advertisement consent
- applications for tree preservation order consent
- reserved matters relating to large outline approvals
- applications for development already carried out, and applications that would otherwise be minor but are connected to a listed building consent
Even for these, there is a presumption that decisions are still made by officers. An application can only be referred to committee where a nominated senior officer and a nominated committee member both agree to the referral, and where the application meets at least one of two tests: that it raises an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area, or that it raises a significant planning matter when judged against the development plan and other material considerations.
What changes for councils
The new scheme also removes some long-standing local practices. Arrangements that currently allow ward councillors to call an application in for committee will no longer be possible, and local authorities will need to amend their constitutions so that their decision making aligns with the national scheme.
There is a clear incentive to get this right. Where a council does not follow the regulations and its committee decides an application that should have been delegated, that decision could be challenged by judicial review and potentially quashed. The effect is to push authorities towards consistent, rules-based delegation from the date the scheme takes effect.
What it means in practice
For homeowners, the change should bring more certainty. Householder applications and other minor proposals will be decided by planning officers against national and local policy, which makes a well-prepared, policy-compliant application more important than ever.
For developers and landowners, the line between an officer decision and a committee decision now matters a great deal to programme and risk. Knowing early whether a scheme is likely to sit in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2, and if Schedule 2, whether it is likely to be referred to committee, helps with planning the route to a decision and preparing the right evidence to support it.
As with any change of this kind, the detail will matter, and the way individual authorities apply the scheme will become clearer over time. If you have an application in progress, or one you are planning to submit around or after 31 October 2026, it is worth understanding which route it is likely to follow.
How Planning and Design Practice can help
Planning and Design Practice is a multi disciplinary team of chartered town planners, architects, architectural assistants and heritage specialists. We help homeowners, developers and landowners prepare clear, policy-led planning applications and understand how changes like the National Scheme of Delegation affect the route to a decision.
If you would like to talk through what the changes mean for a current or planned application, contact Planning and Design Practice on 01332 347371 or enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk.