Planning
Householder planning applications
From 1st June 2026 the Council will no longer accept amendments to householder planning applications after an application is valid.
In accordance with national planning policy, South Derbyshire District Council seeks to approach development proposals positively, make timely decisions, and maximise early engagement.
National policy emphasises the importance of early engagement to achieve well‑designed, sustainable development. Pre‑application discussions help establish key principles and identify issues before an application is submitted, avoiding delay and reducing the need for later amendments.
The Council offers a pre‑application advice service, and all prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to use it before submitting a planning application.
While negotiation can assist the planning process, it cannot replace submitting a clear, complete and well‑prepared application. The Council clearly sets out what is required to make an application valid and this provides a framework for the level of detail required when submitting an application. This is to ensure that the council has sufficient, clear and well presented information to support your planning application.
Issues that should have been resolved through pre‑application engagement will not be revisited once an application is under consideration, nor will we enter extensive discussions on proposals that are fundamentally unacceptable.
The Council aims to issue decisions promptly and within statutory timescales. Government guidance confirms that accepting amendments or additional information during an application is at the discretion of the local planning authority, Householder applications will therefore be determined as submitted and any amended plans received once an application is made valid in attempts to address issues will be returned without consideration.
Where it is clear at the outset that an extended period will be necessary to process an application, the applicant should consider entering into a planning performance agreement (PPA) before the application is submitted. These need to be agreed prior to submission, so prospective applicants are encouraged to make early enquiries if it is considered that a PPA would be helpful.
The Local Planning Authority must balance fairness with timely decision-making and therefore we will not agree to repeated extensions or to negotiations on householder application as set out above, as this would negatively affect the Service's ability to deliver timely decisions overall.
The planning application search page was updated on Tuesday 22 October to include enhanced search features. These include a map search, ability to export results, and additional search functions to search by ward, parish and postcode. It is also possible to generate a ‘weekly list’ by area using the search fields. The search page address has remained the same and can be found here Planning Applications, Decisions and Appeals (southderbyshire.gov.uk).
From 2 January 2025, the Council offers a chargeable pre-application service. This service includes a written response from a planning officer who will give an informal view on matters such as whether planning permission would be required, and the likelihood of planning permission being granted. The fee schedule sets out the cost for pre-application advice depending on the type of proposal and site size. A householder pre-application enquiry is £100.00
To find out more, please visit Pre-application advice service | South Derbyshire District Council.
To assist you in preparing your planning application the council’s planning policies and constraints can be viewed on the website. The ‘Apply for planning permission’ page of the website will also assist you in understanding the types of documents required to be submitted with your application to ensure that it is valid.
The planning portal offers an interactive house feature which provides details of permitted development rights for householders. The Technical Guidance for permitted development is also a useful tool to help you understand if planning permission would be required for your proposed development.
If you have a planning query, please either email planning@southderbyshire.gov.uk or contact our planning team on 01283 228706, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8.45am and 5pm, Wednesdays between 9.30am and 5pm and Fridays between 8.45am and 4.30pm.
If your enquiry relates to a current application, we will book you an appointment with your case officer. If you reach our voicemail, please leave a message and we will aim to call you back on the same/next working day.