The free go: when a resubmission carries no fee
The fee regulations exempt one further application from the fee where the applicant, the site and the character of development are unchanged and twelve months have not passed. Here is exactly what that covers.
The free go is a real concession and it is narrower than its nickname suggests. Under the national fee regulations, no fee is payable for an application for planning permission for development of the same character or description, on the same site, by the same applicant, made within twelve months of an earlier application that was refused, granted or withdrawn. Change any one of those elements and the fee becomes payable again.
It is used most often after a refusal, and it is worth planning for before the first application goes in rather than discovering it afterwards.
What the free resubmission concession actually covers
The concession sits in the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) Regulations 2012, as amended. It exempts a further application from the fee where a set of conditions is met together.
The conditions in practice:
- A fee was paid on the earlier application.
- The further application is made by or on behalf of the same applicant.
- It relates to the same site.
- It is for development of the same character or description.
- It is made within twelve months of the relevant date.
- The earlier application was not itself made under the exemption.
That last point is the one people miss. The concession is available once. A scheme refused, resubmitted free of charge, and refused again, attracts a fee on the third attempt.
Different consent types have their own rules. Prior approval applications, listed building consent, advertisement consent and applications to discharge conditions are not covered by the same provision, so check the position for the specific application you are making.
The twelve month window and how it is counted
The window runs from the relevant date on the earlier application, and which date that is depends on what happened to it.
| What happened to the earlier application | Date the twelve months runs from |
|---|---|
| Refused | The date of the decision notice |
| Granted | The date of the decision notice |
| Withdrawn before determination | The date of withdrawal |
| Not determined within the statutory period | The expiry of that period |
Twelve months is generous for a householder scheme and tight for anything needing seasonal survey work. A scheme refused in October, needing bat emergence survey work that cannot start until May, leaves a narrow window between the survey report and the anniversary of the decision.
Diarise the date the moment the decision notice arrives, and work backwards from it.
Same applicant, same site, same character of development
Each of these three has caught people out, and each is worth a minute of attention before submission.
Same applicant means the same legal person. An application made in a personal name and resubmitted in the name of a company, or by a spouse, or by a newly formed partnership, does not qualify. Where joint applicants were named on the first application, name the same people on the second. A change of agent does not matter, because the agent is not the applicant.
Same site means the same land. Extending the red line to take in a strip of the neighbouring garden, or reducing it to exclude part of the original site, puts the application outside the concession. Where the boundary has to change for good reason, budget for the fee.
Same character or description is the most judgemental of the three. A rear extension redesigned smaller is the same character of development. A rear extension replaced by a detached annexe is not. A single dwelling replaced by a pair of semi-detached houses is not. If in doubt, ask the validation team before submitting rather than after, because an application refused the exemption is invalid until the fee is paid and the clock does not start in the meantime.
Withdrawn applications and refused applications
Both can be the trigger for a free resubmission, and the tactics differ.
Withdrawing an application that is heading for refusal is common practice and it preserves something worth having: no refusal on the planning history of the site. It also starts the twelve month clock from the withdrawal date. The cost is that the free go is then used on the resubmission, so a subsequent refusal leaves no further concession.
A refusal, by contrast, leaves both routes open. You can appeal the refusal and resubmit a revised scheme, and the two run in parallel. Bear in mind that using the free go on the revised scheme does not extend the appeal deadline on the original decision, which for a householder appeal is considerably shorter than twelve months.
Where the officer has indicated during the application what would be acceptable, withdrawing and resubmitting is usually the better sequence. Where the disagreement is one of planning judgement, a refusal you can appeal may be worth more than a withdrawal.
Where the concession does not apply
A short list of situations that fall outside it:
- The earlier application attracted no fee, for example because it was itself a free resubmission.
- The applicant, the site boundary or the character of development has changed.
- More than twelve months have passed from the relevant date.
- The application is a different type of consent with its own fee rules.
- Two applications for the same development are submitted while the first is still undetermined, which authorities generally treat as outside the concession, so confirm before relying on it.
Note also that the exemption removes the application fee and nothing else. Design fees, survey work, supporting statements and any pre-application charge all remain payable, and on most schemes they exceed the fee by a wide margin.
How to claim it on the application form
Claiming the exemption is a matter of telling the authority, clearly, at the point of submission.
State on the covering note, and in the fee section of the submission, the reference number and date of the earlier application, the date of its decision or withdrawal, and a single sentence confirming that the further application is by the same applicant, on the same site, for development of the same character or description, within twelve months. Attach the earlier decision notice.
Validation teams process a great many applications, and the ones that go through smoothly are the ones where the officer does not have to work anything out. A one-paragraph note prevents a request for the fee and the fortnight of delay that follows it.
Where the revised scheme responds to the reasons for refusal, say how, briefly, in the same place. A short Planning Statement that takes each reason for refusal in turn and explains what has changed does more to secure a positive recommendation than any amount of redesign the officer has to identify unaided.
Deciding between a free resubmission and an appeal
The choice turns on what kind of disagreement you have with the council.
Resubmit where the refusal reason is specific and can be designed out, where the officer signalled what would be acceptable, and where you are content to build a smaller or altered scheme. It is faster, it costs no fee, and it keeps the relationship with the case officer intact.
Appeal where the refusal rests on a judgement you think is wrong, where the council's own policy or design guidance does not actually support the reason given, or where the scheme cannot be reduced without losing its purpose. An appeal costs nothing to lodge and is decided by someone who has not already formed a view.
Doing both is legitimate and sometimes sensible, provided the appeal is lodged within its deadline and the resubmission is clearly described as a separate application.
One honest caveat. A free resubmission that is refused leaves you with two refusals on the planning history and no concession left, which is a weaker position than one refusal and a well-prepared appeal. Weigh that before treating the free go as a low-risk option.
See how PlanScope is priced if you are budgeting the supporting documents for a resubmission, or browse the report types to work out what the revised application should include.
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.
Frequently asked questions
What are the conditions for a free resubmission?
A fee must have been paid on the earlier application, the further application must be by or on behalf of the same applicant, on the same site, for development of the same character or description, made within twelve months of the relevant date, and the earlier application must not itself have been made under the exemption.
When does the twelve months start?
From the date of the decision notice where the earlier application was granted or refused, from the date of withdrawal where it was withdrawn before determination, and from the expiry of the statutory determination period where it was never determined. Diarise the date as soon as the decision notice arrives.
Can I use the free go twice?
No. The concession is available once, so a scheme refused, resubmitted free of charge and refused again attracts a fee on the third attempt. That is one reason to treat a free resubmission as a considered response to the reasons for refusal rather than a low-risk second try.
Does changing the red line boundary matter?
Yes. The further application has to relate to the same site, so extending the boundary to include a strip of neighbouring land, or reducing it to exclude part of the original site, puts the application outside the concession. Where the boundary has to change for good reason, budget for the fee.
Is a withdrawal better than a refusal?
It depends on the disagreement. Withdrawing keeps a refusal off the planning history and starts the twelve month clock, but it uses the free go on the resubmission. A refusal leaves both a free resubmission and an appeal open, though the householder appeal deadline is much shorter than twelve months.
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.