Joanna Averley, England’s chief planner has written to local planning authorities to inform them that planning fees will see an increase in price from Wednesday 6 December.
In the letter it was explained that the government welcomes the increase in income for all planning departments, and that it expects the fee increase to “result in increased investment in the planning service and lead to an improved service”.
The increase follows parliamentary debates that led to amendments to the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 that were approved and made on 8 November.
On 6 December, planning application fees will increase by 35 per cent for major developments and by 25 per cent for all other applications.
- The amended regulations will also:
- Introduce an annual indexation of planning applications fees, capped at 10%, from 1 April 2025.
- Remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the ‘free-go’). An applicant will still be able to benefit from a free-go if their application was withdrawn or refused in the preceding 12 months, subject to all other conditions for the free-go being met.
- Reduce the Planning Guarantee for non-major planning applications from 26 to 16 weeks.
- Introduce a new prior approval fee of £120 for applications for prior approval for development by the Crown on closed defence sites.
Averley said that local planning authorities should make arrangements to update websites and other material to reflect the changes to planning fees. The new fees will also be ready to implement on the Planning Portal.
The regulations can be found by clicking here.
And to read the letter on the UK Government website please click here.
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For more information about this increase in planning fees, or for any questions relating to the planning service please contact us for a no obligation consultation on 01332 347371 or enquiries@planningdesign.co.uk
