Planning Performance Agreements: How Developers Speed Up Major Applications

For a large or complex scheme, the standard statutory determination period rarely reflects how long the application will actually take. A Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) is the tool developers use to bring some predictability to that process — a voluntary agreement with the local planning authority that sets out an agreed timetable, the resources each side will commit, and the milestones along the way.

This guide explains what a PPA is, when it is worth entering one, and what a developer or planning consultant should expect from the process.

This covers England only. This is general guidance, not legal advice. Each local planning authority runs its own PPA process and fee structure — check the one that applies to your scheme.

What a Planning Performance Agreement Is

A PPA is a voluntary project-management agreement between an applicant — usually a developer or their planning consultant — and the local planning authority. It is not a planning obligation and it does not bind the outcome of the application. It is a framework for how the application will be handled: the timetable, the actions, the resources, and the engagement with statutory consultees and stakeholders.

GOV.UK Planning Practice Guidance describes a PPA as "a project management tool which the local planning authorities and applicants can use to agree timescales, actions and resources for handling particular applications" — so that the developer, the authority and key stakeholders work together through the planning process.

The two defining features for a developer:

• It is voluntary. Neither side is obliged to enter a PPA. It is used where both parties see value in a managed process.
• It is about process, not outcome. A PPA does not guarantee permission. It sets the timetable and resourcing — the decision is still made on planning merits.

How a PPA Changes the Determination Timetable

This is the part developers care about most. Under the standard rules, a planning authority must determine a major application within a statutory period — generally 13 weeks for major development, or 16 weeks where an Environmental Impact Assessment is required — and there is a 26-week planning guarantee as a backstop.

For a genuinely large or complex scheme, those periods are often unrealistic. A PPA addresses this directly. Per the GOV.UK guidance, where a PPA is in place the statutory time limits no longer apply to the extent the agreement specifies a longer period:

The agreed determination date supersedes the 13- or 16-week statutory time limit, and also supersedes the 26-week planning guarantee.

In other words, the PPA replaces the default clock with a bespoke, agreed timetable that both parties consider reasonable and achievable. The benefit is predictability — a realistic, jointly-owned programme rather than a statutory deadline that everyone knows will be missed and extended by agreement anyway.

When a PPA Is Worth It

PPAs are not for routine applications. They are most useful where:

• The scheme is particularly large or complex to determine — major residential or mixed-use schemes, strategic sites, schemes with significant technical or consultation demands.
• The application will need sustained input from multiple consultees — highways, drainage, heritage, ecology — that benefits from a managed programme.
• The developer values certainty of timetable for funding, board approvals, or land deal conditions tied to the planning programme.

For a straightforward application well within the authority's normal throughput, a PPA adds cost and process without much benefit. The judgement is whether the scheme's complexity justifies the managed approach.

What a PPA Typically Covers

A PPA is usually a written agreement covering:

• The timetable — key dates from pre-application through validation, consultation, committee or delegated decision, and the agreed determination date.
• Resources — the officer time and specialist input the authority will commit, and what the developer will provide (technical reports, design iterations, engagement).
• Milestones and meetings — a schedule of progress reviews and decision points.
• Stakeholder and consultee engagement — how and when statutory consultees and the community will be engaged.

The detail varies by authority. Many publish a PPA framework or template setting out their standard approach.

Fees

Authorities charge for PPAs to recover the additional officer time and resources the managed process requires. There is no national PPA fee scale — each authority sets its own structure, often scaled to the size and complexity of the scheme. Expect to be invoiced for the PPA separately from the statutory application fee.

Factor the PPA fee into the appraisal alongside the statutory application fee, any pre-application advice fees, and the eventual developer contributions — the Community Infrastructure Levy and any Section 106 obligations.

PPAs and Developer Contributions

A PPA is about the application process; the developer contributions — CIL and S106 — are a separate matter, determined on the scheme itself. But the two connect in practice:

• The Section 106 negotiation often runs in parallel with the application, and a well-structured PPA timetable can build in the time needed to negotiate and complete the S106 deed before the determination date — avoiding the common delay where permission is resolved but the S106 is not yet signed.
• The CIL liability is fixed by the charging schedule and is not negotiable, but understanding it early — as part of the managed process — helps the developer model the full cost of the scheme.

For the contribution side, see our developer's guide to the Community Infrastructure Levy and our guide to S106 viability assessments.

What This Means for Tracking

A PPA creates a programme of dates — milestones, the S106 completion target, the agreed determination date — that sit alongside the developer's other obligations on the scheme. For a developer running several major applications, keeping those programme dates and the downstream contribution obligations in one view is what stops a PPA milestone or an S106 completion target slipping unnoticed.

Summary

A Planning Performance Agreement is a voluntary, process-focused agreement between a developer and the local planning authority that replaces the standard statutory determination period with an agreed, realistic timetable for a major or complex application. It does not affect the outcome — only how the application is managed. Authorities charge their own PPA fees, and the agreed timetable supersedes the 13- or 16-week limit and the 26-week planning guarantee. For the right scheme, it buys predictability; for a routine application, it is unnecessary cost.

Sources

• GOV.UK Planning Practice Guidance — Before submitting an application (Planning Performance Agreements)
• GOV.UK — Planning Practice Guidance: Planning Obligations