Planning fees: working out what you owe before you submit
Councils cannot vary the national fee schedule, but the category, the measurement basis and the date of the schedule all change what you pay. Here is how to work it out before you submit.
Planning application fees in England are set nationally, in regulations, and a council cannot charge you more or less than the figure the schedule produces. That is the useful half of the answer. The unhelpful half is that the fee calculation depends on which category your application falls into, how the floorspace or site area is measured, and which version of the schedule is in force on the day you submit, and those three things trip up more self-builders than the arithmetic ever does.
Work the category out first. The number follows.
Where the fee schedule comes from
Fees are governed by the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended several times since. Because the amounts sit in a statutory instrument rather than in council policy, they are the same in every English authority, and a council has no discretion to waive, discount or add to them.
Two things councils do set themselves. Pre-application advice charges are discretionary and vary widely, so a scheme that costs one figure to advise on in one district may cost something quite different next door. Planning performance agreements for larger schemes are negotiated case by case. Neither is a planning application fee, and neither is covered by the national schedule.
An application is not valid until the correct fee has been paid. Underpay and the clock does not start, which matters when you are working to a deadline for a permission that is about to lapse.
The categories, and how the measurement works
The schedule works by category rather than by effort. The ones that come up on small and medium schemes are these.
Householder applications, for extensions and works within the curtilage of a single dwelling, carry a flat fee.
Full applications for new dwellings are charged per dwelling, in bands, with a cap once the scheme gets large. Outline applications are charged by site area, in units of 0.1 hectare, with a different rate above a threshold, so the red line boundary you draw has a direct effect on the fee. Draw it around what you are actually applying for.
Non-residential development is charged on the floorspace created, in bands, again with a cap. Measure it the way the regulations define it rather than the way your architect's schedule of areas happens to present it, because gross external, gross internal and net internal produce three different numbers and only one of them is the fee basis.
Changes of use, advertisement consent and various other consents each have their own entry. Listed building consent carries no fee at all, which surprises people, though the application still has to be made and validated. Works solely to improve access for disabled people are also exempt.
Indexation, and why last year's figure is probably wrong
The fee amounts were increased in December 2023 and the regulations now provide for annual indexation, with uplifts applying from 1 April. That means a figure you noted last spring, or found in a forum post, or copied from an older guide, is likely to be out of date.
Do not take a fee figure from any secondary source, including this article. Use the fee calculator on the Planning Portal or the council's own published fee page on the day you submit, and check that the page carries the current date. Where a council's page has not been updated since the last uplift, the regulations still govern, and the council will ask for the difference.
The free repeat application
The regulations contain an exemption from a further fee where a second application of the same character and description is made on the same site, by the same applicant, within a set period after the first was decided or withdrawn. It is meant to let you respond to a refusal without paying twice.
The conditions are strict. The same applicant, the same site, the same description of development, within the time limit, and only one such application. It has been narrowed by amendment, and it does not apply to every application type, so read the current regulation rather than relying on a summary.
Where you are relying on it, say so in the covering letter and quote the previous reference number. Validation teams process hundreds of applications a week, and an unexplained nil payment is treated as an underpayment.
Prior approvals, certificates, section 73 and condition discharge
These are the entries people miss when budgeting.
- Prior approval applications under the General Permitted Development Order carry their own fees, which differ between classes and are generally lower than a full application.
- A Lawful Development Certificate for an existing use is charged at the same rate as an application for the development in question. A certificate for proposed development is charged at half that rate, which is one reason to apply before you build rather than after.
- Applications under section 73 to vary or remove a condition carry a flat fee, charged per application rather than per condition.
- Non-material amendments under section 96A carry a lower flat fee, with a reduced rate for householder cases.
- Discharge of conditions requests carry a fee per request, again with a lower householder rate. Submitting conditions in three separate batches means paying three times, so group them where the information is ready.
That last point is worth planning around. On a small housing scheme with eight pre-commencement conditions, the difference between one submission and four is real money and several weeks of officer time.
Paying, and what the payment does not cover
Most applications go through the national portal, which collects the planning fee and passes it to the council. Some authorities accept direct submission through their own system. Either way, check whether the submission route adds a service charge on top of the statutory fee, because that charge is separate from the fee schedule and is not refundable if the application is withdrawn.
The fee buys determination of the application. It does not buy pre-application advice, a site meeting, a fast-track service, or the discharge of conditions later. Nor does it cover the technical documents you have to submit with it, which for anything beyond a householder scheme are usually the larger part of the budget. Reading the council's validation checklist before you commit tells you which reports are required locally, and that list drives the cost far more than the fee does.
Illustrative example of how the budget usually splits on a single new dwelling on a windfall plot: the application fee is a fixed and modest figure from the schedule, while the supporting documents, which might include a design and access statement, a flood risk assessment, an ecology appraisal and a tree survey, are the substantial part. Actual figures depend on the site and the current schedule.
A working sequence before you submit
- Decide the application type: householder, full, outline, prior approval, certificate, section 73.
- Measure the fee basis correctly, whether that is the number of dwellings, the site area in hectares or the floorspace created.
- Check the current fee on the Planning Portal calculator or the council's fee page on the day of submission.
- Check whether an exemption applies, including the free repeat application and the disabled access exemption.
- Add the discharge of conditions fees you will pay later to the project budget rather than discovering them after permission.
- Confirm the payment reached the council, because a delayed payment delays validation.
Fees change every April, and the categories are amended more often than people expect, so treat any figure you were given more than a few months ago as a starting point rather than a quote.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the current fee schedule and the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.
To see which supporting documents your scheme is likely to need, browse the 66 PlanScope report types, or see PlanScope pricing for what a draft report costs. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Can a council charge a different planning application fee?
No. Fees are set by the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended, so the amount is the same in every English authority. Councils do set their own pre-application advice charges and negotiate planning performance agreements, but neither is a planning application fee.
When do planning fees go up?
The amounts were increased in December 2023 and the regulations now provide for annual indexation, with uplifts applying from 1 April. Any figure taken from a guide, a forum or an older council page may be out of date, so check the Planning Portal fee calculator or the council's own fee page on the day you submit.
Is there a free second planning application after a refusal?
The regulations exempt a further application of the same character and description, on the same site, by the same applicant, made within a set period after the first was decided or withdrawn. The conditions are strict and have been narrowed by amendment, so read the current regulation. Quote the earlier reference number in your covering letter.
How much does it cost to discharge planning conditions?
A fee is payable per request rather than per condition, with a lower rate for householder cases. Submitting conditions in several batches means paying several times, so group them where the information is ready. Budget for these before permission is granted rather than discovering them afterwards.
Do I pay a fee for listed building consent?
No. Listed building consent applications carry no fee, although the application still has to be made and validated in the normal way. Works solely to improve access for disabled people are also exempt. Where a scheme needs both planning permission and listed building consent, the planning fee is still payable.
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.