Prior approval fees and what they buy

A prior approval fee England-wide is set by the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012 as amended, and it buys a narrow determination rather than a planning permission. The council decides only the matters the relevant class of the General Permitted Development Order lists for approval, usually some combination of siting, design, transport, contamination, flooding and noise. It does not decide whether the development is acceptable in principle, because the Order has already decided that.

Understanding what the fee buys changes how you use the route. It is a procedural gateway, not a cheaper planning application.

Fees by class of prior approval

The fee schedule treats different classes differently, and the amounts are revised, so work from the current schedule rather than from memory or an old spreadsheet. Fees were uplifted in December 2023 and annual indexation of planning fees was introduced from April 2025, which means a figure written down last year is probably wrong now.

What is stable is the structure. Larger householder extensions under Part 1 carry a low flat fee for the prior approval. Agricultural and forestry notifications under Part 6 carry their own flat fee. The residential conversion classes, including Class MA from commercial to dwellinghouses and Class Q for agricultural buildings, sit at a higher rate, and where the application includes building operations as well as the change of use, a further amount applies. Telecommunications prior approvals under Part 16 have their own fee.

Two points worth checking on the current schedule before you submit. Whether the class you are using attracts a single fee or a fee per dwelling. And whether the fee differs depending on whether building operations are proposed alongside the change of use, because several of the residential classes distinguish between the two.

The Planning Portal publishes the current England fee schedule and the calculator, and it is the quickest reliable check.

What the fee covers and what it does not

The fee buys a determination of the prescribed matters within the statutory period for that class, which is 56 days for most of the residential conversion classes and shorter for several others. It buys consultation where the class requires it, including neighbour notification for larger householder extensions, and it buys a decision notice.

It does not buy an assessment of the principle of development, design quality beyond what the class allows, or any matter outside the prescribed list. A refusal has to be based on one of the listed matters, and a refusal on a ground outside the list is a good appeal.

It does not buy certainty that you meet the class conditions. Prior approval assumes the development falls within the class, and if it does not, the approval has no effect. This is why the lawful development certificate route is sometimes the safer buy where the class limits are marginal.

It also does not cover the discharge of any condition attached to the approval, which is a separate application with its own fee.

Invalid submissions and refunds

An invalid submission is returned rather than determined, and the statutory clock never starts. Common causes are the wrong fee, a missing description, no location plan, an absent ownership certificate, and, for the residential classes, missing evidence on the prior use or the vacancy period.

On refunds, the fee regulations provide that a fee is refunded where the authority fails to determine an application within a defined period, which is set at 26 weeks from the date of validation. That provision is aimed at delayed applications generally and rarely bites on prior approvals, because the deemed consent provisions in the Order operate first.

The deemed consent mechanism is the one that matters. For most classes, if the authority does not notify a determination within the period, the development may proceed in accordance with the submitted details. Keep the acknowledgement and the validation date, because the ability to rely on deemed consent depends on being able to prove when the period started.

There is also a concession that reduces the cost of a second attempt. Where an application is refused or withdrawn, a further application of the same character on the same site by the same applicant can normally be made without a fee within twelve months of the first decision, subject to the conditions in the regulations. Check whether your situation qualifies before paying twice.

Fees for a lawful development certificate

Certificates sit in the same fee regulations and have a different logic.

A certificate of lawfulness for a proposed use or development attracts half the fee that would be payable for a planning application for the same development. A certificate for an existing use or development attracts the same fee as a planning application would. The difference reflects that an existing-use application is an evidential exercise the authority has to investigate.

For a householder, that means a proposed certificate is normally the least costly formal route to confirming that an extension is permitted development. It is also the only formal way of confirming lawfulness, which is worth the money where the works are near a class limit, as our note on the structural works test in a Class Q barn conversion illustrates for a class where the margins are frequently argued.

Budgeting a multi stage route

Permitted development routes often need more than one application, and the fees add up in a way a single planning application fee does not.

A typical Class Q conversion can involve a prior approval for the change of use with building operations, a separate application to discharge conditions, a lawful development certificate if the structural position is uncertain, and building regulations charges which are outside the planning fee regime entirely. Add the professional fees for the structural report, the flood risk screening and any transport information the class requires.

Compare that total against a full planning application before choosing the route. The permitted development route is not always less costly, and it carries the extra risk that a failure on any class condition invalidates everything. Where a site is marginal, the full application gives a decision on the merits that cannot be unpicked later.

Agricultural notifications under Part 6 are the clearest case where the route is worth it, and our note on agricultural prior notification on holdings of five hectares sets out what that determination actually covers.

Paying at the point of submission

The fee has to accompany the application. An application submitted without the correct fee is not valid, and authorities will not start the period on a promise to pay.

Pay through the Planning Portal where you are submitting electronically, because the payment is tied to the submission reference and there is no risk of a payment arriving without an application attached. Where you pay the authority directly, quote the site address and the portal reference, and keep the receipt with the acknowledgement.

Check the fee against the current schedule on the day you submit, not on the day you drafted the application. Where a submission crosses an indexation date, the fee payable is the one in force when the application is made.

Checking the current schedule

Three sources, in order of usefulness. The Planning Portal fee calculator, which reflects the current figures. The fee regulations themselves on legislation.gov.uk, including the amending instruments. And the authority's own website, which often publishes a local fee page including any charges for pre-application advice, which is separate from the statutory fee and set by the council.

Do the check for every application. Fees that index annually will be wrong in your template within a year, and a fee shortfall of a few pounds invalidates a submission as effectively as a missing plan.

Where the prior approval route is not available and a full application follows, a Planning Statement setting out the policy case does the work the prior approval framing would have avoided. You can see what else an application is likely to need across the 66 report types by category.

This is general guidance, not legal advice. A lawful development certificate is the only formal way to confirm that works are lawful. 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.