Major and Minor developments

Find out the difference between a major and minor development

Major developments

A major development is any application that involves:

• the provision of 10 dwellings or more
• a site area of over 0.5 hectare and the number of dwellings is not known
• a floorspace of over 1,000sqm or a site area of one hectare
• mineral extraction
• waste development

Minor developments

A minor development is anything smaller than the criteria for major developments. For example:

• the number of dwellings is between one and nine
• the floorspace is less than 1,000sqm or the site area less than one hectare
• gypsy and traveller sites - up to nine pitches 

There are other types of development also classed as minor, such as:

• householder applications
• change of use
• adverts
• listed building consent

You can find out more about applications types on the Planning Portal