Government increases to planning application fees are due to come into force on April 1 of this year in England.

The most significant updates will affect householder, prior approval and discharge of condition applications.

Some fees will double to better reflect local authority cost recovery, according to Planning Portal – which has published an updated fee schedule.

Increases for householder applications include a rise from £258 to £528 for enlargement, improvement or other alteration of a single house; and from £509 to £1,043 for two or more houses. However, the £258 fee will remain for small-scale householder developments, such as fences and gates.

For full applications and first submissions of reserved matters, for applications of under 10 houses it will cost £588 per house and £635 per house for applications between 10 and 50 units.

For applications with more than 50 houses, it will cost £31,385 plus £189 for each additional house up to a maximum fee of £411,885.

The government’s reforms and pledges to bolster the planning system at local councils – including more planning officers – clearly need funding somehow.

It claims that raising fees ‘will provide an important income boost for local planning authorities, enhancing their capacity to efficiently process these applications’.

The full fee structure is much more detailed. Please contact us to find out how this many affect your project or plans.