Planning fee exemptions and when you pay nothing

Several planning applications carry no fee at all, and one of them is the resubmission most householders pay for twice without realising they did not have to. Listed building consent is free. Consent for works to a protected tree is free. Works solely to adapt a home for a disabled occupant are free. And where an application is needed only because permitted development rights have been removed, no fee is payable either.

The fees themselves come from the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended. Figures change, and since 2025 they are indexed annually, so take the amount from the current schedule or the national fee calculator rather than from an older note. The exemptions are more stable, and they are worth knowing.

Where the fee schedule comes from

Fees for planning applications in England are set nationally by regulation, not by each council. A council cannot charge more or less than the regulations allow for an application within the schedule, which is why the amount for a rear extension is the same in Cornwall as it is in Cumbria.

Two things sit outside the schedule. Pre application advice is charged locally, at whatever the council publishes, because it is a discretionary service. And building regulations fees are a separate regime entirely.

Fees rose in December 2023 and are now uplifted annually, so check the current figure at the point of submission. A cheque or card payment for last year's amount makes the application invalid, and the determination clock does not start until it is valid.

Works for disabled persons and how the exemption is tested

No fee is payable where the application relates solely to works designed to improve access for a disabled person to a dwelling, or to that person's safety, health or comfort, and the person is living in the dwelling. A parallel exemption covers works to a building or land to which the public has access, where the works are for disabled access or for the safety, health or comfort of disabled people.

The word that does the work is "solely". An application for a ramp and a widened doorway is exempt. An application for a ramp, a widened doorway and a new conservatory is not, because the conservatory is not part of the adaptation. If the household wants both, submit the adaptation as one application and the rest as another, and you keep the exemption on the first.

Authorities normally ask for supporting information: confirmation that the disabled person lives at the property, a short statement of how the works meet their needs, and often a letter from an occupational therapist, a social worker or a GP. Send that with the application rather than waiting to be asked, because the validation team cannot apply the exemption without it and the application sits unvalidated in the meantime.

Note that the exemption removes the planning fee. It does not remove building regulations charges, and it does not by itself mean permission will be granted, although adaptations for a disabled occupant carry real weight as a material consideration.

Consents that carry no fee at all

Four categories worth knowing, because people pay for them by mistake.

• Listed building consent. There is no fee for an application for listed building consent, however extensive the works. A Heritage Statement will still be needed, and that is where the cost lies.
• Consent for works to a tree protected by a Tree Preservation Order, and the six week notice for works to a tree in a conservation area.
• A hedgerow removal notice under the hedgerow regulations.
• Applications required only because of an Article 4 direction, or because a condition on an earlier permission removed permitted development rights, where the works would otherwise have been permitted development.

That last one is the least known and the most valuable in Article 4 areas. If you live in a conservation area with an Article 4 direction removing householder rights, and you apply for something that would be permitted development anywhere else, say so on the form and claim the exemption.

The free resubmission after a refusal

This is the one that saves the most money. Where an application is refused or withdrawn, a further application by or on behalf of the same applicant, for development of the same character or description, on the same site, can be made without a fee if it is submitted within twelve months.

The conditions to watch:

1. Only one free application is allowed in relation to the earlier one. The second attempt is free, the third is not.
2. The earlier application must have been one for which a fee was paid. You cannot chain free applications together.
3. The development has to be of the same character or description, so a redesigned extension qualifies while a change from an extension to a new dwelling does not.
4. The twelve months runs from the decision, or from the withdrawal, so a long appeal deliberation can eat the window.
5. The site has to be the same, and adding land can take you outside the exemption.

There is a related point on withdrawal. If a case officer tells you the application will be refused and invites you to withdraw and resubmit, the free resubmission usually still applies, but confirm it in writing with the validation team before you withdraw.

Applications to remove or vary a condition

An application under section 73 to vary or remove a condition attracts a set fee per application rather than a fee based on floorspace, which makes it one of the cheaper routes to change a scheme after permission. A non material amendment under section 96A carries a smaller fee again.

Neither is free, and the distinction between them matters more than the money: section 96A is for changes that are not material, and an authority that considers your change material will refuse to deal with it, leaving you to apply under section 73 and start again. Where the change is substantial, a fresh application is the honest route, and the free resubmission exemption will not apply because the development is different.

Claiming the exemption on the form

Say it explicitly, in three places if you can: on the fee section of the application form, in the covering letter, and in the description of development where relevant. Name the ground, for example that the application is required only by reason of an Article 4 direction, or that it is a further application within twelve months of the refusal of a stated reference number.

Quote the earlier application reference and the decision date whenever you rely on the resubmission exemption. Validation teams process hundreds of applications and will not search for it.

If you submit through the national planning portal, you will still be asked to calculate a fee. Where an exemption applies, the route is usually to select the exemption and provide the explanation, then let the council confirm. Keep the confirmation email, because it is the evidence that the application was valid from the date of submission.

What happens if the claim is rejected

The application is treated as invalid until the correct fee is paid. It is not refused, and it does not go into the eight week period. That is the real cost of a wrong exemption claim: several weeks lost while correspondence goes back and forth, which is set out in more detail in the note on the real cost of an invalid planning application.

There is no appeal against a decision on whether a fee is payable. In practice the options are to pay under protest and ask the council to review it, to ask the validation team to escalate it to a senior officer with the regulation cited, or, where you think the council has acted improperly rather than merely wrongly, to complain through its own complaints procedure and then to the local government ombudsman.

Pay under protest is usually the right call where the amount is modest and the programme matters. Being right in four months is worth less than being determined in eight weeks.

Finally, keep planning fees separate in your budget from the Community Infrastructure Levy, which has its own exemptions for self build homes and residential extensions and its own forms and deadlines. The two are unrelated, and missing a levy notice costs far more than a planning fee. For a new dwelling the fee itself is calculated differently again, as the note on planning fees for a new dwelling sets out.

Draft the supporting documents for your application on PlanScope, and see pricing for the free report and per report options.

PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval. Fee levels change annually, so check the current schedule. This is general guidance, not legal advice; confirm the position with your local planning authority before relying on an exemption.