Calculating the planning fee for a mixed development

The planning fee for a mixed development is calculated by working out the fee for each element separately and then paying the highest single figure, not the sum of them. That is the rule most people get wrong, and getting it wrong is one of the top reasons an application is returned as invalid. Where a scheme combines dwellings with commercial floorspace, or buildings with a change of use, the arithmetic has to be shown.

The regulations behind it are the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended many times since. Any figure you remember from two years ago is probably no longer the figure.

How the fee regulations are structured

The regulations work through a schedule of categories. Each category defines a type of development, states the basis of calculation, and gives the rate and any maximum.

The basis differs by category. Dwellings are charged per unit, in bands, so the first tranche of units attracts one rate per dwelling and additional units above a threshold attract a lower rate, subject to an overall cap. Buildings other than dwellings are charged by gross floorspace created, again in bands with a cap. Some categories are charged on site area, in hectares. A few are flat fees regardless of scale, including change of use, advertisement consent and certificates of lawfulness.

Two features catch people out. The bands are cumulative within a category, so a scheme of 60 dwellings pays the first band rate on the units up to the threshold and the second band rate on the rest. And several categories have a maximum fee, so very large schemes stop increasing at a point.

Fees by category and by floorspace

Floorspace for fee purposes means the gross amount of additional floorspace created, measured externally, not the internal area and not the total area of the building after works. Demolished floorspace is not deducted.

Three measurement errors recur:

• Using gross internal area from the cost plan rather than gross external area.
• Omitting plant rooms, enclosed stair cores and covered parking from the calculation, where the regulations count them.
• Charging a mezzanine as nothing because it sits inside an existing envelope, when the regulations treat the floorspace created as additional.

Where no floorspace is created, several categories still carry a fee on another basis. Operational development such as hardstanding, access works or engineering operations is charged on site area. Erection of plant and machinery has its own category. Works to a single dwellinghouse sit in the householder category at a flat rate regardless of size, which is why a modest porch and a large wraparound extension cost the same to apply for.

Mixed development and the highest fee rule

For a scheme that falls within more than one category, calculate the fee for each applicable category on its own basis and pay the highest.

An illustrative worked example, with the method shown rather than current rates, since the rates are indexed. Take a scheme of 12 flats over 800 m² of ground floor commercial space. Calculate the dwelling fee as 12 units at the per dwelling rate for the first band. Calculate the non-residential fee on 800 m² at the floorspace rate for the applicable band. Compare the two figures. Pay whichever is larger, and submit the arithmetic for both so the validation officer can follow it.

Two refinements matter in practice. Where the categories are separate rather than overlapping, for example a dwelling scheme on one part of the red line and an unrelated engineering operation on another, authorities may treat them as separate applications or require the fee for each. Ask rather than assume. And where the application is in outline with the number of dwellings unknown, the site area basis applies instead, which usually produces a different answer from the unit basis.

Set the calculation out in a short covering note with the application. It takes five minutes and removes the commonest cause of a returned submission, and how the fee schedule is applied and indexed covers the wider picture.

Site area based fees

Site area fees apply to outline applications where the number of dwellings is not given, to some operational development, and to mineral and waste categories.

Measure the area of the application site as enclosed by the red line, in hectares, and apply the rate per hectare or part hectare with the relevant cap. Two points to watch. The red line usually has to include the access and any works outside the main site, which increases the area and therefore the fee. And where land is included only for the purposes of access or visibility splays, that land still counts, so a tight red line drawn thoughtlessly can be both a fee problem and a planning problem if the access works then fall outside the application.

Round up, not down. A part hectare counts as a hectare for fee purposes in the categories that use that basis.

Exemptions and reduced fees

Several reliefs exist and are regularly missed.

There is no fee for an application required solely because permitted development rights have been removed by an Article 4 direction or by a condition, where the development would otherwise have been permitted development. There is no fee for works to improve access to a dwelling for a disabled occupant, or for works to a building to provide access for disabled people where the building is open to the public. Listed building consent and conservation area consent applications carry no fee. A parish or community council pays a reduced fee in defined circumstances.

The free further application is the relief with the most value and the most conditions. Where an application has been refused, withdrawn after validation, or granted, one further application for development of the same character or description on the same site by the same applicant may be made without a fee within 12 months of the earlier decision or withdrawal. The earlier application must have been valid, and the circumstances are defined tightly, so read the current regulations rather than relying on a summary. Prior approval applications and how the clock works covers the separate fee position for prior approval routes.

Indexation and where to check the current figure

Planning fees in England are subject to annual indexation, so the schedule changes on a fixed date each year and published figures date quickly. Check the current amount on the Planning Portal fee calculator or in the amended regulations before you submit, and check again if a submission slips across the indexation date.

One consequence of indexation is worth planning for. An application prepared in March and submitted in April may attract a higher fee than the quote given to the client, so either submit before the change or quote the fee as subject to the schedule in force on the date of submission.

Pre-application charges are set by each authority separately and are not covered by the national regulations. They are published on the authority's own website and revised on its own cycle.

Getting the fee wrong and the effect on validation

An incorrect fee makes the application invalid, and invalid means the determination period has not started. The authority will normally ask for the difference, and the valid date becomes the date the correct fee is received.

The consequences compound on larger schemes. A fee query that takes ten days to resolve can push a major application past a committee report deadline, which means a cycle lost. Underpayment also removes the free further application entitlement if the first submission was never valid.

Three habits prevent nearly all of it. Calculate the fee from the regulations or the official calculator rather than from a previous application on a similar scheme. Show the calculation in the submission, including the comparison for a mixed scheme. And have someone other than the person who prepared the forms check the arithmetic against the drawing schedule, because fee errors follow floorspace errors. Where the development description changes during the process, the fee basis can change too, and amending the description of development explains how that is handled.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional 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. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports your site is likely to need.