Part 6: Planning in England Permission in principle and local registers of land Permission in principle on allocation through plans and registers
Section 59A(1)(a) enables permission in principle to be granted for housing-led development on sites chosen and allocated by local authorities, parish and neighbourhood groups in a qualifying document. Qualifying documents are a register maintained under section 14A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (see commentary on section 151 of this Act), a development plan document within the meaning of Part 2 of the 2004 Act and a neighbourhood development plan (see section 59A(3)).
	The Secretary of State, in a development order, sets out which particular matters can be granted permission in principle. The aim of permission in principle is to give up-front certainty on the core matters underpinning the basic suitability of a site for a particular development and allow matters of detail to be agreed subsequently. The Government’s intention is that the particulars that can be granted permission in principle are limited to the location, the uses (which must be housing-led) and the amount of development. If local authorities, parish and neighbourhood groups choose to allocate land in such a document, the particulars that can be granted permission in principle are set out and the document indicates that the land in question is suitable for permission in principle, the development order will in turn grant the land permission in principle.
	Section 59A(4) provides that permission in principle will be granted at the time when a qualifying document is adopted or made or revised to allocate land with permission in principle by the local authority. Subsection (4) also enables the Secretary of State to set out, in a development order, the circumstances where local authorities can vary the start date of a permission in principle granted through a locally prepared plan and register.
	Section 59A(6) provides that permission in principle is not necessarily brought to end when a qualifying document is reviewed or revised. This allows permission in principle to remain valid, although the plan or register that grants it, is updated or revised.
	Section 59A(7) provides that permission in principle granted on allocation in a development plan document, a neighbourhood plan or register will be valid for 5 years, unless granted for a shorter or longer period by the local planning authority.