Written Question·Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government·UIN 91185
Planning Permission
Tabled: 14 November 2025
Answered: 24 November 2025
Question
Lewis Cocking
Conservative — Broxbourne
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to make it easier for local planning authorities to decline repeat applications for development that has already been refused.
Answer
Matthew PennycookUnder Sections 70A and 70B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities already have powers to decline to determine applications if they have previously refused permission for two or more substantially similar applications on the same site, or if a substantially similar application has been rejected by the Secretary of State on appeal or following call-in, within the past two years.