Pre-application advice charges and what they buy
Councils charge for pre-application advice under a general power to charge for discretionary services. Here is how the bands work, what a useful response contains, and when the fee is not worth paying.
Pre-application advice is a discretionary service, charged for under the general power in the Local Government Act 2003 that lets a council charge for services it is not obliged to provide. Nothing in planning legislation requires a council to offer it, sets a timescale for a response, or makes the advice binding. Pre application advice cost therefore varies widely between authorities, and so does what you get for the money.
That does not make it poor value. On a constrained site it is usually the single most useful few hundred pounds you will spend. On a simple extension in a street full of identical extensions, it often tells you what the design guide already says.
What the service is and is not
Pre-application advice is an officer's professional opinion on a proposal, given before an application is submitted, based on the information you provide.
It is not a decision. The officer giving it cannot bind the council, cannot fetter the discretion of the planning committee, and cannot guarantee that consultees will agree. A scheme supported at pre-application stage can still be refused, particularly where a statutory consultee objects or where members take a different view from officers.
What it can do is tell you whether the principle is acceptable, which policies will be applied, which technical evidence the council will expect, and which parts of the design will attract objection. That information changes what you commission and in what order, which is where the value sits.
How councils band their charges
Most authorities publish a charging schedule with bands by scale and by service level. A typical structure runs from householder and small residential, through minor development, to major and then strategic schemes, with the charge rising at each step.
Within each band there are usually options: written advice only, written advice plus a meeting, a site visit, and follow-up advice on a revised scheme. Some authorities offer a duty officer service for short questions at no charge, and many offer a discounted second stage where a revised scheme is submitted within a set period.
Charges are set locally and reviewed periodically, so take the figure from the authority's own published schedule rather than from a comparison elsewhere. For major schemes, a Planning Performance Agreement is a different product again: a bespoke arrangement setting out a project plan, named officers, milestones and a fee, and it is priced accordingly.
Value added tax treatment varies between authorities, so check whether the published figure includes it before budgeting.
What a written response should contain
A response worth paying for identifies the development plan policies that apply and the material considerations in play, states whether the principle of development is acceptable and why, comments on the specific design issues with reference to the local design guidance, and lists the technical documents the council will require at validation.
It should also flag the consultees likely to object, any need for a planning obligation or Community Infrastructure Levy liability, and whether the application is likely to be determined under delegated powers or at committee.
What you often get instead is a recitation of policy numbers with a conclusion that the scheme "may be acceptable subject to detailed consideration". If that is what arrives, go back and ask the specific questions again. A well framed question is harder to answer non-committally than a general request for views.
Meetings, site visits and follow-up
A meeting is worth paying for where the constraints are spatial, where the scheme involves a judgement about character, or where there is a disagreement to resolve. Seeing the officer point at the plan and say which part of the massing concerns them is worth more than three pages of prose.
Take an agenda and a list of questions, and ask for the note of the meeting in writing afterwards. Where the authority does not issue one, write your own and send it asking for confirmation or correction. An unchallenged note is useful evidence later.
A site visit matters where levels, trees, boundary treatments or the relationship with neighbours drive the design. Photographs rarely convey a two metre level change.
The weight the advice carries later
Pre-application advice is not binding, and courts have been clear that a council cannot fetter its discretion. But it is not worthless either.
Where advice has been given and followed, and the council then refuses on a ground it previously said was acceptable, that inconsistency is a point to make in an appeal statement, and it can support an application for costs where the change of position is unexplained. Keep the advice, the drawings it related to, and the correspondence.
Be honest about what was actually said. Advice given on a sketch is advice on a sketch. If the scheme has grown by 20 per cent since, the advice no longer covers it.
Where pre-application is poor value
Three situations recur.
Where the answer is already published. If the authority has an adopted householder design guide that sets out extension depths, roof forms and materials, and your scheme complies, you are paying for a restatement.
Where the officer cannot answer the question. Questions about highway safety, drainage capacity, contamination or ecology are for consultees and specialists, and a planning officer will normally say so. Ask the highway authority or the water undertaker directly instead, or commission the technical work.
Where the scheme is not yet designed enough to be advised on. A request that asks whether "some form of residential development" would be acceptable on a site will get a policy summary. Bring a sketch layout with unit numbers, heights and access, and the answer becomes specific.
Getting the most from the submission
- Ask numbered questions. Five specific questions produce five specific answers.
- Include a constraints plan, a sketch scheme, site photographs and a short statement of what you are trying to achieve.
- Say what you already know. Listing the designations you have identified saves the officer time and moves the conversation on.
- Ask explicitly for the validation requirements for the application you intend to submit, because local lists vary and that single answer prevents an invalid submission.
- Ask which conditions and obligations the council would expect, so they can be priced before the application rather than negotiated afterwards. The cost of discovering a requirement late is set out in the cost of a planning condition you did not negotiate.
- Ask whether the scheme will go to committee, because that changes the programme and the way the case has to be presented.
Then use the answer. The point of the exercise is to change the scheme or the evidence base before money is spent on either.
Where the response identifies technical documents, get them scoped early. The list of supporting reports a scheme is likely to need grows with constraints rather than with size, and survey seasons are the usual programme risk. Comparing the cost of the evidence base against PlanScope pricing is worth doing at the same time, since drafting the narrative documents and commissioning the specialist surveys are separate lines in the budget.
Write the five questions first. If you cannot write five specific questions, the scheme is not ready for pre-application advice.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Charges and service levels are set locally and change, so check the authority's current published schedule. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is a council obliged to provide pre-application advice?
No. It is a discretionary service charged for under the general power in the Local Government Act 2003 to charge for services a council is not required to provide. There is no statutory timescale for a response and the advice does not bind the council. Service levels and charges therefore vary considerably between authorities.
Is pre-application advice binding on the council?
No. A council cannot fetter its discretion, and a scheme supported at pre-application stage can still be refused, particularly where a statutory consultee objects or members take a different view. Advice that was given and followed is still worth keeping, because an unexplained change of position can support an appeal or a costs application.
How much does pre-application advice cost?
Charges are set locally and published in the authority's own schedule, banded by scale from householder through minor to major and strategic development, with options for written advice, a meeting, a site visit and follow-up. Take the figure from the authority's current schedule and check whether value added tax is included.
When is pre-application advice not worth paying for?
Where the answer is already published in an adopted design guide that your scheme complies with, where the question belongs to a consultee or specialist rather than a planning officer, and where the scheme is too undefined to be advised on. A request asking whether some form of development would be acceptable produces a policy summary.
What should I ask for in a pre-application request?
Numbered specific questions, plus a constraints plan, a sketch scheme and site photographs. Ask explicitly for the validation requirements for the application you intend to submit, the conditions and obligations the council would expect, and whether the application is likely to be determined at committee or under delegated powers.
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.