Now updated for the new National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026). What changed

Will I Still Have My Say? The New Planning Delegation Rules and Your Objection

4 min read

On 31 October 2026 the way councils in England decide planning applications changed. A new National Scheme of Delegation now sets out, for every council, which applications planning officers decide on their own and which can go to a committee of councillors.

You can still object to any application. What has changed is where your objection gets heard, and what makes it count.

What changed

The rules come from the Town and Country Planning (Discharge of Local Planning Authority Functions) (England) Regulations 2026, made under the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. They apply to every council in England except National Park authorities and the Broads Authority, whether or not the council has updated its own constitution.

Applications now fall into two groups.

Schedule 1: decided by officers, with no route to committee. This covers most of what neighbours object to:

  • householder applications, such as extensions, loft conversions and outbuildings
  • minor residential schemes of 1 to 9 homes on a site under half a hectare
  • minor commercial development
  • prior approvals, discharge of conditions and permission in principle
  • non-material amendments and lawful development certificates

Schedule 2: decided by officers unless both gatekeepers agree to refer it. This covers larger housing schemes, major commercial development, listed building consent, retrospective applications, advertisement consent and tree preservation order consent.

A Schedule 2 application goes to committee only if the council's nominated planning officer and its nominated councillor, usually the chief planner and the committee chair, both agree. They can only refer it if it raises an economic, social or environmental issue of significance to the local area, or a significant planning matter in light of the local plan. Referral is meant to be the exception.

Planning committees are also capped at 13 councillors.

What no longer works

Two routes residents relied on have gone.

Numbers of objections. Many councils used to send an application to committee once it drew a set number of objections, often five or ten. That trigger no longer exists. Fifty objections saying the same thing will not move a householder application out of the officer's hands.

Asking your ward councillor to call it in. Councillors can no longer call in a Schedule 1 application. For a Schedule 2 application, a councillor acting alone cannot get it to committee. Your councillor can still write a representation, and it is still worth asking them to.

There are no transitional arrangements. An application that was submitted before 31 October but not yet decided is now dealt with under the new rules, even if a councillor had already called it in.

What still works

The officer deciding the application must weigh every material planning consideration raised by anyone who comments. That has not changed, and it now matters more than ever, because for most applications the officer's report is the decision.

An officer cannot give weight to a point that is not a planning matter. Loss of property value, a private dispute with the applicant, or a general dislike of change will be noted and set aside. A point tied to the council's own local plan policies, national policy and the facts of the site has to be dealt with in the report.

So the objection that works now is a written one that:

  • names the specific harm, such as overlooking from a named window, loss of light to a named room, or harm to a conservation area
  • quotes the local plan policy and the national policy that the proposal conflicts with
  • answers the applicant's own case, taken from their planning statement or design and access statement
  • arrives before the consultation deadline, which is usually 21 days from the neighbour letter or site notice

For larger schemes, a well-argued objection can also show that the application raises a significant planning matter, which is one of the two tests the gatekeepers must apply before referring it. Councils have to record referral decisions and make them public, so it is worth checking how yours handles them.

What to do now

  1. Find the application on your council's planning portal and note the consultation deadline.
  2. Read the applicant's planning statement and the plans. Most objections miss what the applicant has already argued.
  3. Check whether the site is in a conservation area, near a listed building, in the Green Belt or in a flood zone. Each brings its own legal tests.
  4. Write your objection on planning grounds, citing policy. Keep it to two or three pages.
  5. Send a copy to your ward councillor and your parish or town council, and ask them to comment too.

If you would rather not do the research yourself, we can write the letter for you. We read the application documents, the council's adopted local plan and the national policy, and draft an objection in your name that you can check and edit before you send it.

Sources

This article explains the general position in England. It is not legal advice about a particular application.

Object Now