The free go: resubmitting a refused application free

The free go planning application resubmission is a fee exemption in the Town and Country Planning fee regulations, not a courtesy from the council. Where an application has been refused or withdrawn, one further application for development of the same character or description, on the same site, by the same applicant, made within 12 months, can be submitted without paying the planning fee again. One exemption per earlier application, and the conditions are applied strictly.

It is worth real money on anything larger than a householder scheme, and it is lost more often through carelessness about names and dates than through any disagreement about the design.

What the exemption actually covers

The exemption removes the planning application fee payable to the local planning authority. That is all it removes.

The Planning Portal service charge is separate and remains payable. So does the cost of redrawing the scheme, revising the supporting documents, and any additional survey or assessment the refusal reasons have made necessary. On a householder application the fee is often the smallest line in the resubmission budget. On a major scheme it is not.

Nor does it extend to other applications relating to the same site. A separate application for listed building consent, advertisement consent, approval of reserved matters, discharge of conditions or a variation under section 73 carries its own fee, each assessed on its own terms. Where an application spans more than one fee category the calculation is already involved, and the interaction with an exemption claim needs checking, as the piece on fees where an application covers more than one category explains.

The 12 month window and when it starts

The clock runs from the date on the decision notice for a refusal, or from the date of withdrawal where the earlier application was withdrawn before determination.

The further application must be made within that period. Councils treat "made" as the date a valid application is received, which is the trap. An application submitted in the eleventh month with an incomplete ownership certificate can fail validation, be returned, and be resubmitted outside the window with the fee payable.

Work backwards from the deadline and allow at least six weeks for validation queries. Where the design is still moving, it is better to submit a complete application in month eight than a rushed one in month twelve.

Where the earlier application went to appeal, the position is different again and depends on the outcome and its date. Ask the validation team in writing rather than assuming the appeal decision restarts anything.

Same applicant, same site, same character

Three tests, each of which has defeated claims that looked obvious.

Same applicant means the same legal person. An application originally made in an individual's name and resubmitted in the name of their limited company is a different applicant, and the exemption is lost. The same applies in reverse, and to a change of agent that is accompanied by a change in how the applicant is described. If ownership has actually changed hands, the exemption goes with it.

Same site means the same land. Adding a strip to the red line, or removing one, invites the authority to say the site is not the same. Where the boundary must change, explain why in the covering letter and expect the point to be raised.

Same character or description is the one with judgement in it. A rear extension resubmitted with a reduced depth and altered fenestration is plainly the same character. A single dwelling resubmitted as two is not. Between those, the authority decides, and its view is what counts at validation. A change from outline to full, or the reverse, is a question worth putting in writing before submission.

Withdrawn applications and the exemption

An application withdrawn before a decision is issued also opens the exemption, running from the date of withdrawal.

That makes withdrawal a tactical option where an officer indicates they will recommend refusal. Withdrawing avoids a refusal on the planning history, which matters when the site is later sold or when a future application is assessed, and it preserves the ability to come back once with no fee.

Two cautions. Withdraw before the decision is issued, not after, because once a refusal is on the register it is on the register. And a withdrawal made because the applicant could not answer a fundamental objection is not improved by a free resubmission of the same scheme.

Where a second free go is not available

The exemption applies once per earlier application. A scheme refused twice does not generate two exemptions, and the second resubmission carries a fee.

It also does not apply where the earlier application was itself made under the exemption, which is the same point stated from the other end. And it does not apply where no fee was paid on the earlier application, because the exemption exists to avoid charging twice for the same thing.

Applications to a different local planning authority, applications for a different type of consent, and applications made by a different applicant all sit outside it.

Where a permission is close to expiring and the question is how to keep it alive rather than how to improve it, the fee position is different again, and the options are set out in fees and charges when a permission is nearly expired.

How councils check the claim

Validation officers check four things: the applicant name against the earlier application, the site address and red line boundary, the description of development, and the date.

Help them. Quote the earlier application reference on the form and in the covering letter, state the date of refusal or withdrawal, and say in one sentence why the new application is of the same character. An application that claims the exemption without identifying the earlier reference gets a validation query, and validation queries consume the very weeks the deadline is made of.

Where there is any doubt about whether the claim holds, email the validation team with the earlier reference and a short description of the changes, and keep the reply. A written confirmation before submission is worth more than an argument afterwards.

Making the resubmission count

The exemption is a second attempt, not a second chance at the same argument.

Read the officer report rather than the decision notice, because the report contains the reasoning and usually the measurements. Answer each refusal reason explicitly in the covering statement, with a short table setting out the reason, the change made and where to find it in the drawings. Where a reason cannot be met, say so and explain why the remaining harm is acceptable rather than hoping nobody notices.

Speak to the neighbours who objected before submitting, and speak to the case officer, who is normally willing to say whether the revisions address their concerns. And budget properly for the documents the refusal reasons have made necessary, since a free application accompanied by inadequate evidence is a false economy. The full index of report types shows what each supporting document covers, and PlanScope's pricing is one free report, £50 per report, or £150 per month for the Professional tier.

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.