Costs, Fees and Budgeting – Page 4
What planning applications, reports, surveys and appeals cost, with published fee schedules.
Costs, Fees and Budgeting articles – page 4
353 articlesCIL relief for a residential extension
The minor development exemption removes CIL from extensions below 100 square metres. Larger extensions and annexes need relief claimed and granted before any work begins.
Planning fees for new dwellings and the per unit bands
The fee for creating dwellings is charged per unit to a band boundary, then at a lower rate with an overall cap. Outline applications are charged on site area instead.
Phasing consultant spend across a planning programme
Money is rarely wasted on the wrong consultants. It is wasted on the right consultants appointed in the wrong order, so that bad news arrives after the design is paid for.
Appraising a site before you pay for any planning reports
Most sites that fail do so because of something visible on a free public map. Here is the order to check them in, and the findings that should stop a purchase outright.
Monitoring and maintenance liabilities after consent
A permission can create obligations running five years on travel plans, thirty on biodiversity and indefinitely on common areas. They carry fees, and they survive the sale of the site.
VAT on new builds, conversions and listed work
New dwellings are zero rated, conversions reduced rated, and listed alterations standard rated since 2012. A condition prohibiting separate disposal can remove the relief entirely.
Utility connection costs and when to apply for them
Connection charges sit outside the planning fee structure and only become real when each undertaker quotes on your site. Apply when the planning application goes in, not when the slab is poured.
Budgeting the validation pack for a small housing site
The local validation list sets the bill, not the plot count. How to read it before you commission anything, where one document can serve two requirements, and what an invalid submission costs.
What a Transport Assessment costs and why it varies
Two quotes for the same 60 unit scheme can differ by a multiple because nobody agreed a scope. Here is what actually sets a Transport Assessment fee, and how to get comparable prices.
What drives the price of a bat survey
The preliminary roost assessment decides your whole ecology budget. Here is how suitability categories translate into survey nights, surveyors and licence costs.
Budgeting a survey season into a planning programme
The survey fee is rarely the expensive part. Missing a bat or newt window by a fortnight can add eight months of interest, fees and option payments to a scheme.
Extending a consultation period: when it is worth the delay
An extension of time is a commercial judgement, not a courtesy. What it does to the fee refund, the appeal right and survey validity, and when to decline one.
Topographic surveys: what to specify and what it costs
Surveyors price what you ask for, so the specification controls the cost. What to capture inside and outside the boundary, which deliverables to name, and the omissions that force a second visit.
What appeal statements of case and proofs of evidence cost
There is no fee to appeal, so the budget is drafting, evidence and advocacy. How the document requirements and effort differ between householder, written representations, hearing and inquiry.
The cost of re-consultation after a design change
Amending a live application can add six to fourteen weeks and a missed committee. Which changes trigger re-notification, and when withdrawal is the better route.
Independent design review: who pays and what it delivers
A design review report is expert advice, not a decision, and it becomes public once an application is submitted. What panels look for and when a review is worth the programme time.
Unilateral undertaking or bilateral agreement: cost compared
A unilateral undertaking is signed by the landowner alone and cuts out a negotiation cycle. Where councils accept one, where they insist on an agreement, and how the costs compare.
Wayleaves and easements for services crossing other land
A connection crossing someone else's land needs a legal right. A wayleave can be terminated; an easement binds successors. Knowing where a statutory route exists changes the negotiation.
Lighting assessment costs and the modelling behind them
Lighting assessment fees are driven by the number of windows modelled, whether a night survey is needed, and how often the layout changes after the model is built.
Costing an invasive species management plan
Herbicide treatment is the least expensive route and the slowest. Excavation to landfill is the fastest and dearest. The programme, not the plant, decides which you can afford.
Fees for an application to remove a condition set at appeal
A section 73 application to vary an inspector's condition goes to the local planning authority at the flat fee in the regulations. The fee is the easy part; the decision letter is not.
Measured building surveys for a conversion scheme
A measured survey is priced by detail and access, not floor area. Here is how to specify one so the quotes are comparable and the assumptions list stays short.
Hedgerow removal notices and the cost of getting it wrong
A hedgerow removal notice costs nothing and takes 42 days. Removing an important hedgerow without one is a criminal offence with an unlimited fine and replanting.
Flood modelling where no model exists for your river
No hydraulic model for your watercourse turns a desk assessment into a commission. Here is the cost structure, the survey traps, and why scoping first saves a rerun.
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