National Planning Fee Increase

Following debate in Parliament, the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2023 have been approved and made on 8 November. This will mean a national increase in planning fees.

The following changes will come into force on 6 December 2023: 

• Application fees in England will be increasing by 25% across the board, however there will be a rise of 35% for major schemes based on the legislative interpretation of ‘major development’.
• An annual increase of planning applications fees has been introduced, capped at 10%, from 1 April 2025. The increase will be linked to inflation.
• The provision for a 'free go' on application resubmissions will be removed, but individual applications that were already eligible for a free resubmission prior to the change (i.e. before 6 December 2023) will remain so. This will see the number of such exemptions fade out over the 12-month period after the amendments have taken effect.
• A Planning guarantee amendment so that non-major applications without a decision (including householder developments) will be eligible to receive a refund after 16 weeks, shortened from the 26-week period which remains 'as is' in all other cases. 
• A fee is being introduced for the prior approval application required, as part of the permitted development rights for ‘development by the Crown on a closed defence site’.

If you are in the middle of submitting a planning application, or have a draft one within the Planning Portal, you will need to submit by 5pm on 5 December to avoid the increase in fees. Any application received in any form (including email and post) after this 5pm deadline will attract the higher fee.

Further information can be found on the Planning Portal

View the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2023 on the Government’s legislation website.