Costs, Fees and Budgeting – Page 9

Water and drainage connection costs on a small site

A planning drainage condition tells you what to design. The Water Industry Act 1991 decides whether you can connect, what it costs, and who owns the pipes afterwards.

CIL and residential extensions over the threshold

The minor development exemption covers under 100 m2 of new floorspace. Above that, a householder exemption exists, but it must be granted and notified before work starts.

Outline and reserved matters fees on a phased scheme

An outline fee is charged on site area. Reserved matters are charged as if for full permission, until the cumulative total reaches the full application equivalent and a flat fee applies.

Full application fees by floorspace and site area

Full planning application fees in England are charged by category: per dwelling, per 75 m2 of gross floor space created, or per 0.1 hectare of site area. Measure the right thing.

How planning fees are indexed each April

Fees now move on a set date every year rather than whenever a statutory instrument appears. That changes how a practice quotes, how it reconciles, and how it times a submission.

5 October 2026Read article →

Building control charges alongside the planning fee

Planning fees and building control charges come from different legislation and are paid at different points. Here is what each one buys for a householder extension, and how to put both into one budget.

Transport statement or transport assessment: the cost difference

The label matters less than the scope. Here is what each document contains, what actually drives the cost, and the scoping note that turns a variable fee into a fixed one.

Retrospective application or enforcement appeal: the cost

Three routes, very different costs. The arithmetic usually favours applying, unless you have a documented immunity case that only an appeal or a certificate can resolve.

Budgeting the discharge of pre-commencement conditions

Permission is not a start on site. Sort the conditions into three piles, price the ones needing field work, and build the discharge programme backwards from your start date.

Environmental Statement further information and its cost

The consultant's re-drafting fee is the small part. A regulation 25 request brings a fresh 30-day publicity period and often a missed survey season, which is where the money actually goes.

Who carries the professional indemnity risk on a report

The drafter of a planning report carries no professional duty to the council. The professional who signs it does. What that signature covers, and how to scope and price a review.

What drives the cost of an environmental statement

Two documents decide what an environmental statement costs: the screening opinion and the scoping opinion. What drives the spend after that, and the second round nobody budgets for.

Budgeting flood risk work by zone and site size

Two facts set your flood risk budget: the zone and whether the site is a hectare or more. Then the question is whether anyone has to build a hydraulic model.

On-site biodiversity units against buying off-site

Delivering biodiversity units on site costs developable area and a 30-year liability. Buying off site costs cash at a spatial discount. Here is how to run the comparison properly.

What waiting for the bat survey season costs a scheme

The real cost of bat surveys is the season you lose by asking too late. How to price the holding cost, when a condition will not do, and the licensing routes that shorten the wait.

Losing the self-build CIL exemption and the bill after

Lose the self-build exemption and the whole levy charge becomes payable, undiscounted and due at once. The three year occupation period is where most claims fail.

Getting the CIL forms wrong, and what it costs

CIL mistakes are procedural. Miss the commencement notice and you can lose an exemption, lose instalments and pick up a surcharge, with no discretion to put it right.

Planning fee bands for dwellings, and how they are worked out

Residential planning fees run per dwelling to a threshold, then a base plus an incremental rate, then a cap. The structure rarely changes even though the figures do.

Charges for planning history searches and document copies

Register inspection is free by law. Charges begin with copies, archive retrieval and staff time, so the order you search in decides what the history costs you.

Publicity costs: site notices, press notices and who pays

Statutory publicity is the local planning authority duty under Article 15 of the 2015 procedure order, paid for out of the application fee. Here is when an applicant can properly be asked to contribute.

Demolition prior notification and the cost of getting it wrong

Demolition prior approval is quick and inexpensive. A conservation area offence, a late building control counter-notice and a lost levy offset are not.

Trip rate data access and transport evidence costs

The report is rarely the expensive part. Licensed trip rate data, commissioned surveys, junction modelling and a required authority model run are what move a transport budget.

The cost of an aborted application and what is recoverable

There is no statutory refund when you withdraw a planning application, but there is a free second attempt within 12 months and a good deal of professional work that survives. Here is how to tell which parts do.