Planning application fees: how the national schedule works
Planning fees come from a national schedule, not from your council. Understanding the categories and what each fee is calculated from gets the figure right first time.
The planning application fee in England is not set by your council. It comes from a national schedule in the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended, and every authority charges the same amount for the same application. What varies is how quickly they tell you that you have paid the wrong one.
Because the figures change, the useful thing to understand is the structure. Once you know which category your application falls into and what the fee is calculated from, you can read the current schedule in a minute and get the number right first time.
Where the fee comes from
The Regulations set out a table of application types with a fee against each. Councils have no discretion to raise or lower them, and they cannot waive a fee that is payable or charge one that is not.
Two changes matter to anyone comparing figures. Fees were increased across the board in December 2023, by a larger proportion for major development than for everything else. And the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 introduced annual indexation, which began on 1 April 2025, so the schedule now moves every year rather than every few years.
The practical consequence is that any figure you find in an article, a forum post or an old quotation is probably out of date. Check the current schedule before you pay.
Householder and minor categories
For work to a single existing house, the fee sits in the householder category, which covers alterations and extensions within the curtilage of a dwellinghouse. That includes extensions, loft conversions, dormers, porches, outbuildings, boundary walls, hard surfacing and dropped kerbs.
There are two rates in that part of the schedule. One applies where the application relates to one dwellinghouse. A higher one applies where it relates to two or more dwellinghouses, which is what catches a semi-detached pair applying together or a terrace doing a shared scheme.
Alongside the householder rate sit several smaller fixed fees that householders meet regularly:
- A prior approval notification for a larger single-storey rear extension.
- Other prior approval applications, each with their own fixed fee.
- A non-material amendment under section 96A, at a lower rate for a dwellinghouse than for other development.
- A request to discharge or confirm compliance with conditions, charged per request rather than per condition.
- A lawful development certificate, which for proposed development is charged at the same rate as the application would have been.
That last one surprises people. Asking the council to confirm that your extension is permitted development costs the same as applying for permission for it, which is why the certificate route is worth taking deliberately rather than by default.
Fees calculated from floorspace or site area
Above the householder categories, the schedule stops using flat fees and starts calculating.
| Application type | Fee driven by |
|---|---|
| New dwellings, full application | Number of dwellings created |
| Other buildings, full application | Gross floorspace created, in bands |
| Outline application | Site area, in increments of 0.1 hectare |
| Agricultural buildings | Floorspace, with its own bands |
| Change of use without building work | Flat fee per application in most cases |
| Erection of plant or machinery | Site area |
Three mechanics are worth knowing. The floorspace bands work by a base amount plus an increment for each additional unit of floorspace above a threshold, so the fee rises in steps rather than smoothly. The schedule caps the fee for very large schemes, which is why a 400 dwelling application does not cost 40 times a 10 dwelling one. And floorspace means gross external floorspace created, not the total area of the building, so a conversion that creates no new floorspace is charged differently from an extension that does.
Where an application mixes categories, for example new dwellings plus a commercial unit, the fee is normally the sum of the amounts for each element rather than the highest one. Councils' validation teams calculate this routinely and will tell you if you are short, but the correction costs you days.
Indexation on 1 April
Since 2025, fees are adjusted annually on 1 April. The adjustment is applied by the Regulations themselves rather than by each council, and it uses a published inflation measure.
This has one awkward consequence for anyone programming a submission. An application submitted on 31 March pays the old fee and one submitted on 1 April pays the new one, with validation date rather than payment date generally governing. If you are submitting in the last week of March, submit and pay rather than waiting, and if the council raises a validation query that pushes the valid date into April, expect to be asked for the difference.
For budget purposes, treat the fee as rising each year and build that into cost plans that run across more than one financial year. The same applies to pre-application charges, which councils set themselves and review on their own cycle, and to the costs of the technical reports around the application, including anything that flows from a pre-commencement condition you cannot discharge.
When no fee is payable
The Regulations contain a set of exemptions and concessions rather than a general power to waive. The main ones are works to improve access or provide facilities for a disabled person at a dwelling, a second application for development of the same character on the same site within 12 months of a refusal or withdrawal, alternative applications submitted together by the same applicant, and certain applications by parish and town councils.
Each has conditions attached, and the free resubmission in particular is narrower than most people assume. The detail is set out in planning fee exemptions and the free go, and it is worth reading before relying on it, because an application submitted without a fee that does not qualify is simply invalid.
What does not exist is a hardship exemption, a discount for small builders, or a reduced fee because the council took too long last time.
Paying through the Planning Portal
Most applications are submitted through the national Planning Portal, which calculates the fee for you from the answers you give and takes payment on the council's behalf. The calculator is reliable where your answers are, and it will produce the wrong figure if you describe the development loosely.
Two habits help. Describe the development in the same words you want on the decision notice, because the fee category follows the description. And keep the fee calculation page with your records, since a dispute about the amount is far easier to resolve when you can show what you were quoted and on what basis.
Some councils accept submissions through their own portal or by post, and a few still take cheques. Where you pay directly, pay on the day you submit. An application sitting unpaid is not an application.
What happens if the fee is wrong
An application without the correct fee is invalid. That is the whole of it. The eight or 13 week determination period does not start, the publicity period does not start, and the application does not appear in the weekly list.
If you have underpaid, the council will ask for the balance and validate once it arrives, so the cost is time. If you have overpaid, you are entitled to a refund of the excess, which usually takes a few weeks. If the council has miscategorised your application and charged too much, say so in writing with the relevant line of the schedule quoted, because validation teams correct these regularly.
The expensive version of this mistake is a fee that is right for the development described and wrong for the development drawn. A description saying "single storey rear extension" with drawings showing a two storey side extension as well will be re-categorised, charged again and re-consulted, and you will lose a month.
See PlanScope pricing for the cost of drafting the supporting documents, and browse the 66 report types to work out which ones your application needs before you calculate the fee.
This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the current fee schedule and the position with your local planning authority before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Who sets the planning application fee in England?
A national schedule in the Fees for Applications Regulations 2012, as amended, sets the amount for each application type. Councils cannot raise, lower or waive a fee that the Regulations make payable. Pre-application advice charges are different, because councils set those themselves and review them on their own cycle.
How often do planning fees change?
Annually. Fees were increased across the board in December 2023, with a larger rise for major development, and annual indexation began on 1 April 2025 using a published inflation measure. Any figure quoted in an older article or quotation is likely to be out of date, so check the current schedule before paying.
How is the fee worked out for a larger scheme?
By calculation rather than a flat rate. New dwellings are charged by the number created, other buildings by the gross floorspace created in bands, and outline applications by site area in increments of a tenth of a hectare. The schedule caps the fee for very large schemes, and mixed applications usually pay the sum of each element.
What happens if I pay the wrong planning fee?
The application is invalid, so the determination period and the publicity period do not start and it does not appear on the weekly list. Underpayment costs you time while the balance is requested. Overpayment is refundable. The expensive version is a description that does not match the drawings, which triggers recategorisation and re-consultation.
Does a lawful development certificate cost less than an application?
No. For proposed development the certificate is charged at the same rate as an application for permission for the same works would have been. That makes the certificate route a deliberate choice rather than a lower cost alternative, though it is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.