Updates to planning application fees in England

Changes take effect from 1 April 2025. We have published a ‘forthcoming’ version of our fee schedule and placed key information in this blog post and on the website to help users understand and navigate the imminent updates with ease. Read on for more information…

How Planning Portal is supporting you

We have published a ‘forthcoming’ version of our fee schedule detailing the new fees and we’ll be updating the Planning Portal fee calculator to align with the new rules.

If you have existing applications for submission in England, then their status will dictate the actions required when we update the system.

If an application is in ‘draft’ status

We will reset any draft fee calculations to ensure that applications are submitted with the correct fees, giving them the best chance of being validated.

You will need to recalculate the fee before you can complete the application and start the ‘pay and submit’ process.

If an application is in ‘payment pending’ status

If an application is already complete and has begun the ‘pay and submit’ process, then payment will need to be received and cleared by us before 17:00 on 31 March 2025.

Otherwise, the payment process will be cancelled, the fee calculation reset, and the application returned to ‘draft’ status. You will then need to recalculate the fee, and begin the ‘pay and submit’ process again.

If you or your nominated party are paying by bank transfer or cheque, then please follow these time limits to stand the best chance of not having to recalculate the fee:

• Bank transfer – Please ensure the transfer has been initiated before the 26 March 2025.
• Cheque – Please ensure cheques reach us by the 19 March 2025 (i.e. allowing additional time for delivery)

If an application is in ‘submitted’ or ‘received’ status

If they have not done so already, the local planning authority will review the application once it is in their system, and then confirm if any additional fee is due as part of their validation checks.

Further assistance is available in our FAQs

• How do government application fee changes affect online application submissions?
• I’ve been nominated to pay for a planning application, but the fees are changing?
• What actions are required if users or their nominees had their payment processes cancelled due to government application fee changes?
• How are fees and payments for amendments handled when government changes fees?
• What information is published regarding government application fee changes?

Application fee increases in England

Changes to planning application fees across England take effect from 1 April 2025. These changes stem from the National Planning Policy Framework consultation held last year, which proposed updates to planning application fees nationwide.

There are two main areas of change, and a couple of ‘corrections’ based on identified issues with the previous December 2023 amendments. There are no changes to current fee exemptions planned. Full details are shown in the legislation.

Inflationary uplift  

The previous set of government amendments from December 2023 established an annual fee uplift in line with the Consumer Prices Index. Based on the September 2024 figure, this applies a 1.7% increase on all fee values (where not otherwise amended), rounded to the nearest whole pound.  

Cost recovery changes  

Based on Government’s consultation response on fees, there are a set of targeted increases to better reflect the cost to local authorities of determining householder and prior approval applications, as well as to the cost of applications that seek to discharge, vary, or remove conditions on planning consents. Full details are shown in the legislation

Householder fees  

Householder applications for alterations/extensions will roughly double – From £258 to £528  

Householder applications for smaller ‘ancillary’ works (i.e. not actual work to the house itself) will not increase beyond the inflationary uplift – From £258 to £262.  

Prior approval fees  

Most ‘prior approval’ fees will double – From £120/£125/£258 to £240/£250/£516  

Excluded from this are applications for ‘Communications’ (Part 16) and ‘Construction of new dwellinghouses’ (Part 20) which only see inflationary increases.  

Discharge of conditions

Discharge of conditions fees will roughly double:  

• Householder development – £43 to £86
• Any other development – £145 to £298

Variation/Removal of condition fees

Variation/Removal of condition fees will be split into three bands. From a flat £293, to:  

• Householder development – £86 (the only reduced fee in 2025)  
• Any other non-major development – £586  
• Major development – £2,000 

Corrections  

The typo in the base fee value for buildings where the floorspace created exceeds 3,750 square metres (Category 2, Paragraph 3(e)) of £30,680 instead of the common £30,860 used elsewhere is being corrected with the latter value then having the inflationary uplift applied.  

The previously identified error in the banding for agricultural buildings (Category 3, Paragraph 3(d)) is also being corrected. The drop down to £624 when the floorspace reached 1,000 square metres was not intentional, and the new fees will follow the pattern of others in being more consistent when transitioning between the bands.