Planning permissions extended in Scotland

The Scottish Government have now announced that they intend to extend the original time periods they had set out in April. The amendments were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 25 August 2020 and will come into force on 5 October 2020.

Adam Henry of Savills Planning Team in Edinburgh said: “These measures are very welcome. They are designed to support the construction and development sector, as well as landowners and planning authorities, in order to regain momentum that was lost over lockdown, and deliver new projects across Scotland.”

The amended Regulations will:

• extend the end date of “emergency period” from the 6 October 2020 until the 31 March 2021; and
• extend the end date of the “extended period” from the 6 April 2021 until the 30 September 20

Put simply, the Regulations enable any Planning Permissions, Listed Building Consents and Conservation Area Consents which are due to expire between 7 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 to remain ‘live’ until 30 September 2021. It remains the case that no amendments to the permissions or consents themselves are necessary and the extensions under the Regulations will apply automatically.

Planning permissions expiring after 31st March 2021 will still need to be renewed or implemented. Applications for the approval of conditions due after that date will also still need to be submitted on time.