Planning and Architecture

The benefits of pre-application discussions and processing agreements

April 24, 2025 by planningarchitecture No Comments | Category Architecture, Housing & Infrastructure, Investing in Planning, Planning, Planning Fees, Stakeholder Engagement

This blog highlights the benefits of collaborative pre-application discussions and processing agreements. Both can help to provide greater clarity and certainty to prospective applicants and make the planning application journey smoother, quicker and potentially cheaper. 

Pre-application discussions 

Pre-application discussions are discussions between a prospective applicant and the relevant planning authority prior to the submission of an application. They can cover, at an early stage, various matters such as: 

• the key planning issues and considerations that the proposals are likely to raise, and the relevant policies to be aware of; 

• the information required to support the proposals, ensuring that the scope and level of information is proportionate, as discussed in our previous blog on proportionality in the planning process; 

• agencies and other bodies likely to be consulted; and 

• mitigation that might be required to address the impacts of the proposals, including potential infrastructure contributions. 

Any initial concerns regarding the emerging development proposals might also be highlighted. This could be in terms of the acceptability or otherwise of the principle of the development or relate to more detailed matters such as the proposed design and layout of a scheme. 

Being aware of those points before an application is submitted has multiple benefits. It helps prospective applicants to make informed decisions about how to proceed. This includes potentially revising their proposals and commissioning or preparing the necessary supporting information, before submitting an application. This can help avoid abortive costs and enable any subsequent application to be dealt with more swiftly. Once an application is submitted to the planning authority, the scope and time available to make significant changes to a development proposal is much more limited. 

Pre-application discussions with the planning authority are different to pre-application consultation with the local community, which is also strongly recommended and, in some cases a statutory requirement as explained in Chapter 2 of Circular 3/2022: Development Management Procedures. 

 A case study illustrating the benefits of collaborative pre-application discussions was published recently by the National Planning Improvement Champion. 

 Processing Agreements 

Processing agreements are a project management tool that sets out an agreed framework for the submission, handling and determination of a planning application, or a group of related applications. Guidance on processing agreements is contained in Chapter 6 of the above circular. 

Processing agreements can provide valuable clarity and greater certainty to the applicant and planning authority. They can cover several key matters: 

•  what information is required, and when it will be submitted and considered; 
• consultation and publicity arrangements; 
• arrangements for discussing draft conditions and drafting and agreeing planning obligations (if relevant); 
• key milestones in relation to the application, including target committee and/or determination dates. 

Some planning authorities charge fees for pre-application discussions and for the preparation of processing agreements. Information on what they charge for, and how the fee is calculated, is available on their respective websites. The ability to set fees means that planning authorities should be better resourced to provide valuable pre-application services. Even where a fee applies, the initial cost to the prospective applicant will in many cases be offset by the longer-term benefits, time and cost savings outlined above.  

It should be remembered that processing agreements do not take away an applicant’s right to appeal (or seek a local review) against non-determination of an application. The three-month window for appealing/seeking a local review will start on the expiry of any agreed extended time frame for determining the application as set out in the processing agreement. 

We are keen to learn about other examples of beneficial pre-application discussions and processing agreements. Please email us at DirectorPAR@gov.scot if you have any case studies or feedback you’d like us to share. 

Tags: Development Management, planning

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