Planning fees changed significantly in December 2023 — the first major increase in over a decade. Many fee calculators online and most general guides have not been updated. If you're using old figures, you are likely to underpay and have your application invalidated.
Householder applications — extensions, loft conversions, outbuildings, and other works to an existing dwelling house — cost £258 per application. This replaced the previous £206 fee. Prior approval applications for larger home extensions also cost £258. Lawful Development Certificate applications (both CLUD for proposed and CLEUD for existing use) cost £258 for the householder equivalent.
New dwellings: £578 per dwelling for up to 10 dwellings, then £190 per dwelling for dwellings 11-50, then £115 per dwelling above 50, capped at £300,000. Change of use of a building: £578. Change of use of land: £578 per 0.1 hectare. Listed building consent: free — there is no fee for listed building consent applications.
Applications for works to improve disabled access in someone\'s own home are exempt from fees. If you submit an alternative application at the same time as a related application, you pay 50% of the fee for the second application. If your first planning application is refused or withdrawn, you are entitled to one further application for the same site and development type within 12 months at no additional charge. Planning fees are not subject to VAT.
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is not a planning fee — it is a separate charge levied by some councils on new development. It is payable on commencement of development, calculated per square metre of new floor space, and can amount to tens of thousands of pounds. Relief must be claimed before development commences — claiming after commencement forfeits the relief.
Standard searches check the public register. We go further — querying live portals, blocked legacy systems, pre-merger authority databases, committee PDF archives, Land Registry title constraints, and comparable decisions across your postcode cluster. What we retrieve determines what you know before you build, buy, or appeal.