The nightmare for every property developer is to receive planning permission from the local planning authority only then to have it challenged in the High Court by way of "judicial review". Challenge involves delay, expense and ultimately the possibility of losing the permission. If the consent is quashed, any work done in the interim that relied on permission will become unlawful. Consequently in many contracts which are conditional on planning consent, that consent is not deemed to exist and the contract cannot be completed until three months have elapsed from grant of consent without proceedings being initiated.
The three month period is significant because the High Court Rules state that any claim form to initiate judicial review proceedings must be filed "promptly; and in any event not later than three months after the grounds to make the first claim arose".
