General Approvals

General approval or general approvals, informally tends to mean a general agreement between a group of persons that something is of benefit and therefore generally accepted within certain defined boundaries. More formally general approvals might be used as a legal phrase within political spheres.

In the UK general approvals have been associated with the Office of Rail and Road as well as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in relation to local housing authorities, in these cases it means the authority for certain approvals has been granted to more local offices, within certain constraints. So in these cases, confirmation from the Secretary of State is no longer required before certain policies can be implemented. Examples of these general approvals and theirb contexts are given below:

• General Approval extension to all rail infrastructure managers,
• Review of General Approval for passenger track access contracts and
• The Housing Act 2004: Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation and Selective Licensing of Other Residential Accommodation (England) General Approval 2024.

By example, the latter of these relating to the Housing Act 2004, describes a new General Approval which came into effect in 23 December 2024 whereby local housing authorities in England are no longer required to obtain confirmation from the Secretary of State before they choose to implement a selective licensing scheme of any size. However, this general approval also comes with certain conditions which include a requirement for the housing authority to satisfy all statutory requirements contained in Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, the expectation of a consultation for at least 10 weeks on a proposed designation.

In order to apply the general approval local authorities are also required to support local accountability and transparency by; including the mayor in the consultation on the proposed designation, provide data at the start and end of their selective licensing scheme(s), along with details of any reviews undertaken (in accordance with legal duties to review the operation of schemes under section 84(3) of the Act) on their website. The local authority is expected to fully comply with all legal requirements of Part 3 of the Housing Act 2004, and the condition set out in the General Approval, whilst the Secretary of State retains the right to change the General Approval arrangement in the future.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• Approve.
• Approval of conditions on a planning permission.
• Building regulations.
• Building Safety Act 2022.
• Commencement.
• Environmental legislation.
• Full plans.
• Licensing.
• Line of junction notice.
• Mobilisation.
• Planning permission.
• Restrictive covenants.
• Rights to light.
• Scheduled monuments.
• Statutory authorities.
• Statutory obligations.
• Statutory undertakers.
• What approvals are needed before construction begins.