Planning permission fees set to rise

The Minister of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, announced the one-off rise in a written statement to Parliament.

He said that planning application fees have not grown since 2008, and the 15% increase is in line with inflation. Clark explained that most councils are “experiencing a shortfall in fee income” that is being subsidised by council taxpayers.

The written statement said: “Providing planning departments with the resources that are required to turn round planning applications efficiently and effectively is important.

“The planning application fee is a relatively small component of the costs of any development, but delays by planning departments in the processing of applications can lead to substantial costs for residents and professional developers. Fees are currently set by Government and have not been increased since 2008.

“Most councils are experiencing a shortfall in fee income, which is failing to meet the costs of deciding planning applications; this, in turn, has to be subsidised by ordinary council taxpayers, who end up subsidising the planning process.

“The Government therefore proposes a one-off adjustment to increase fees in line with inflation, amounting to around 15% since 2008. We intend to introduce new fee regulations that would make this change come into force in the autumn.”

The Government has also issued a consultation on simplifying the planning system, including moves such as streamlining the amount of paperwork needed for a planning application, speeding up planning appeal decisions and reducing the overall volume of planning guidance.

The consultation runs until 11 September. Visit www.communities.gov.uk/publications/plan-​
ningandbuilding/streamlininginfoconsultation​ for more information.