Building Safety Levy: New requirements for Full Plan applications from 1 October 2026
From 1 October 2026, councils will need information to determine whether the new Building Safety Levy (BSL) applies to a development.
To help applicants provide the information local authorities need, Planning Portal has introduced a new ‘Building Safety Levy’ section to the ‘Full Plans’ online application type for building control.
This change will take effect from 1 October 2026.
The Building Safety Levy
The Building Safety Levy (BSL) is a mandatory tax on new residential buildings in England to support national safety improvements for residents.
The new requirements will give local authorities the information they need to identify projects that are liable for the Building Safety Levy (BSL), assess any exemptions, and collect the levy before the building is completed or occupied.
How will the information be collected?
In most cases, information from planning and building control applications (or initial notices from Registered Building Control Approvers) will provide the first set of high-level details to local authorities, with further information being provided in commencement notices, and/or where variations are made.
We have engaged MHCLG and several local authorities to ensure our approach is fit-for-purpose. We received positive feedback and useful suggestions that we’ve incorporated into our solution.
What’s changing on Planning Portal?
To support the new requirements on Planning Portal, we are introducing an additional ‘Building Safety Levy’ section into our ‘Full Plans’ online application type in England from 1st October 2026.
Through a series of questions, this section will determine if your project is within the scope of the Building Safety Levy and what point in the process you are at (i.e. if the application is an initial submission or a variation, and if a commencement notice has already been issued).
The logic is illustrated in the diagram below:
This means that applicants will be shown fields to enter the required information based on their project, and additional logic will ensure that the legislative requirements are met before allowing the building control submission to take place.
While building control submissions are not subject to the same ‘validation’ process as in planning, the legislation makes it clear that applications may be rejected if the correct information is not provided, and that additional information may be requested after submission if deemed necessary.
In mandating these details, we can help to ensure that the requirements are understood and met, avoiding unnecessary costs or delays for both applicants and local authorities.
How will this affect applicants and their clients?
From 1 October 2026, for applications in England, anyone completing an existing draft ‘Full Plans’ application, or creating a new one, will need to complete the ‘Building Safety Levy’ section that is being added.
This will be presented alongside the other application question sections.
Links in the section will reference government legislation and guidance to ensure that the context and requirements can be understood.
Once the application has been received, the building control body will review the information to ensure that it meets the requirements.
You should also expect to supply relevant information as part of any commencement notice or completion notice after 1st October 2026.
View detailed Government guidance on the Building Safety Levy.
How does this affect Building Control Bodies?
The new Building Safety Levy section will be shown in the generated PDF application form that is included in the submission you retrieve from us.
We’ve created an example PDF to show how the BSL information will appear within the PDF forms: Example responses to the new Building Safety Levy question
Please note: During the initial period, you may see a mix of applications with and without the new information, depending on when the applications were completed, submitted and retrieved.
For local authorities, the details provided should allow you to carry out required functions.
How does this affect Registered Building Control Approvers?
For Registered Building Control Approvers, the information provided should allow you to pass the necessary information on to the relevant local authority when submitting an initial notice.
Please note: The Building Safety Levy information will not be included in the standard XML datafile received as part of the submission.
We are working to implement a new modern API and JSON data standard for building control, that will provide a complete record of the application and allow all this data to be automatically processed into your IT systems (including the ability to support multiple integrations where needed e.g. if case management and the building safety levy are done separately).
Looking ahead
The introduction of the Building Safety Levy information requirements is an important step in ensuring that local authorities have the information they need to administer the levy.
Planning Portal will continue to work with local authorities and Registered Building Control Approvers as these requirements are implemented, and will continue to develop our building control services to support the exchange and processing of this information.
For more information about the Building Safety Levy and the information requirements, please refer to the Government’s detailed guidance on the Building Safety Levy.
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