05/10/2026
Permission in Principles (PiPs)🏡
We’ve been working on a series of PiP applications at Cliveden, exploring the potential of sites containing existing barns and other buildings to deliver new homes
Several of these applications have now been successfully approved, establishing the principle of residential development across the sites. We are now progressing to the next stage, with detailed applications being prepared and submitted in line with those permissions
PiPs can be a particularly useful planning tool. In some respects it performs a similar early-stage role to a pre-application enquiry, helping test whether development is acceptable before committing significant resources to detailed design. The key difference is that a successful PiP does more than provide planning advice; it formally establishes the acceptability of the location, land use and amount of development
It is also a comparatively quick route. A valid PiP application has a statutory determination period of just five weeks, compared with eight weeks for most smaller full planning applications
For the right site, this can provide a proportionate way of establishing development potential, reducing planning uncertainty and creating a firm basis from which the detailed design can develop
At Cliveden, that process has allowed us to move from establishing the principle of development into detailed proposals tailored to each site, while working within the parameters already secured through the PiPs 🌱
