Consent Clock: permissions granted, schemes not built

These are not expired permissions

A permission past its commencement date has not necessarily lapsed. REPD records neither the commencement condition on the decision notice nor whether a material operation has begun — and once development lawfully begins, the permission is implemented and stops expiring. Large schemes are frequently given five years rather than three. DESNZ also records a separate Planning Permission Expired status, so every scheme counted here is one it has not marked expired. Read this as a list of consents worth checking against the decision notice, never as a list of consents that have gone.

How long consents have been sitting

By technology

Where the unbuilt capacity sits

Authorities holding the most consented capacity granted over 3 years ago and still awaiting construction.

Largest consents past the 3-year point

Reaching 3 years within six months

The largest consents now inside the window where a scheme on a standard condition would need to start work, apply to extend, or be sold.

Does a planning permission expire if the developer never starts?

In England, Wales and Scotland a planning permission normally carries a condition requiring development to begin within 3 years. If a material operation has not begun by then, the permission lapses and a fresh application is needed. The period is a default, not a rule: a decision notice can set a longer one, and five years is common on large or phased schemes. Once development has lawfully begun the permission is implemented and no longer expires.

How much consented UK renewable capacity is sitting unbuilt?

139.2 GW across 5,562 schemes is recorded in REPD as consented and awaiting construction. Of that, 39.9 GW across 2,113 schemes was granted more than 3 years ago — 29% of the consented-but-unbuilt pipeline by capacity. A further 9.8 GW reaches the three-year point within six months.

Does this mean those permissions have expired?

No, and this page does not claim it. REPD does not record the commencement condition on a decision notice, and it does not record whether a material operation has begun — so a scheme past three years may have been implemented, may have been given a longer period, or may have had the permission extended. DESNZ separately records a "Planning Permission Expired" status, so everything counted here is a scheme it has not marked expired. Treat the list as consents worth checking, not consents that have lapsed.

Why would a developer hold a consent and not build?

Most commonly the grid connection date sits years beyond the planning consent, so the scheme is consented but cannot physically energise yet. Others are waiting on a power purchase agreement or a CfD allocation round, are being marketed for sale as a consented asset, or were consented speculatively to establish value in the land. A consent nearing its commencement deadline is the point at which the owner has to start work, apply to extend, sell, or lose it.