Planning Fees for 2026

 

In most circumstances a fee needs to be paid when submitting a planning application. This page is a guide to planning fees in England. If you are unsure of the fee applicable, please contact your Local Planning Authority. Your application will not be validated without the correct fee being paid.

 

 

Planning fees are changing on 8 December 2026

 

Every figure on this page is shown twice: the fee payable today, followed in brackets by the fee from 8th December 2026, shown in red italics. So £548 (£575 from 8 December) means £548 today and £575 for an application made on or after that date.

The change comes from draft regulations laid before both Houses of Parliament on 16th July 2026. They are subject to the draft affirmative procedure and have not yet been approved or made, although the draft specifies 8th December 2026 as the commencement date. The new national default schedule is designed to move most planning fees towards about 90 per cent of estimated processing cost, so the December figures below are the amounts in the draft rather than fees already in force. Our news item on the fee changes covers the consultation outcome and what is driving the increase.

Where a line shows only one figure, that fee is not changing in December.

Which fee applies to you. The trigger is the date the application is made, not the date it is validated or determined. Submit on 7th December and you pay today’s fee even if the council decides it in 2027. Submit on 8th December and you pay the new fee.

What happens in April 2027. Planning fees are uprated for inflation every April, based on the previous September’s Consumer Prices Index and capped at 10 per cent. The December figures are deliberately exempted from the April 2026 uprating, so between 8th December 2026 and 31st March 2027 they are the exact amounts payable. The first uprating of the new figures falls on 1st April 2027. Nobody can calculate those amounts yet, because the September 2026 CPI is not published until the autumn. We will update this page when it is.

 

 

Portal fees are separate and are not changing under these regulations. The Planning Portal service charge is currently £91.00 (including VAT). The Planning Portal is a commercial submission service rather than a GOV.UK service, and its charge is separate from the statutory planning application fee paid to the local planning authority. You do not have to use the Planning Portal where your local planning authority accepts applications and payment directly.

The fees are broken down into various sections: Householder planning fees (for works on or around a residential property); Outline Planning; Reserved Matters; Permission in Principle; Full Planning; Lawful Development Certificates; Prior Approval; Conditions; Advertising; Non Material Amendments; Other fees; Exemptions; Fee Reductions & Complex fee calculations.  

 

Householder Planning Application Fees

 

• Alterations / extensions to a single dwellinghouse – £548 (£575 from 8 December)
• Alterations / extensions to two or more dwellinghouses – £1,083 (£1,130 from 8 December)
• The erection or construction of gates, fences, walls, or other means of enclosure; or works for purposes incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse (including buildings) – £272 (£285 from 8 December)
• Application for a larger rear extension – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Additional storeys on a home – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Alterations for a disabled person – No fee, unchanged
• If an application for planning permission (for which a fee is payable) is being made by the same applicant on the same date for the same site, buildings or land as the prior approval application (for larger home extensions, additional storeys on a home, or change of uses) – No Fee, unchanged
• Also see lawful development certificates below
• Listed Building Consent – No Fee, unchanged
• Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission, householder – £89 (£112 from 8 December)
• Discharge of conditions, householder – £89 (£125 from 8 December) per request
• Non Material Amendment for householder – £46 (£53 from 8 December)
• Tree Preservation (TPO) works or in a conservation area – No Fee, unchanged

 

 

Outline Application Fees

 

The structure of the outline fee changes in December. Today a large site pays a lump sum plus an increment; from December it is charged per 0.1 hectare throughout, then an increment above 2.5 hectares. The two are not directly comparable, so both are set out in full.

• The erection of dwellinghouses, site under 0.5ha – £610 for each 0.1ha (£719 from 8 December)
• The erection of dwellinghouses, site 0.5ha to 2.5ha – £659 for each 0.1ha (£896 from 8 December)
• The erection of dwellinghouses, site over 2.5ha – now £16,291 + £196 for each 0.1ha above 2.5ha, max £213,769. From 8 December: £896 for each 0.1ha for the first 2.5ha, then £267 for each further 0.1ha, max £290,625
• The erection of other buildings, site under 1ha – £610 for each 0.1ha (£719 from 8 December)
• The erection of other buildings, site 1ha to 2.5ha – £659 for each 0.1ha (£896 from 8 December)
• The erection of other buildings, site over 2.5ha – now £16,291 + £196 for each 0.1ha above 2.5ha, max £213,769. From 8 December: £896 for each 0.1ha for the first 2.5ha, then £267 for each further 0.1ha, max £290,625
• Mixed use development, site under 0.5ha – £578 for each 0.1ha (£719 from 8 December)
• Mixed use development, site 0.5ha to 2.5ha – £624 for each 0.1ha (£896 from 8 December)
• Mixed use development, site over 2.5ha – now £15,433 + £186 for each 0.1ha above 2.5ha, max £202,500. From 8 December: £896 for each 0.1ha for the first 2.5ha, then £267 for each further 0.1ha, max £290,625

The mixed use figures are lower than the others because of a defect in the 2012 Regulations: the fee for an outline application covering more than one category of development was never brought within the annual inflation uprating. The government has acknowledged this and the December regulations correct it, so from 2027 mixed use will be uprated in line with everything else

 

 

Reserved Matters Fees

 

• Application for approval of reserved matters following outline approval – Full fee due, or if the full fee has already been paid, £610 (£749 from 8 December)

 

 

Application for Permission in Principle (see more)

 

• Site area – now £531 for each 0.1 hectare (or part thereof). From 8 December: a flat fee of £825 whatever the site size

This is a genuine simplification and, on anything but the smallest site, a substantial saving. A one hectare site pays £5,310 today and £825 from December

 

 

Full Application Fees

 

(and First Submissions of Reserved Matters or Technical Details Consent)

 

Dwellinghouses / Flats etc.

 

• Enlargement, improvement, or other alteration of one existing dwellinghouse or flat – £548 (£575 from 8 December)
• Enlargement, improvement, or other alteration of two or more existing dwellinghouses or flats – £1,083 (£1,130 from 8 December)
• Alterations to a residential building for disabled access – No Fee, unchanged
• The carrying out of operations (including the erection of a building) within the boundary for purposes ancillary to its enjoyment, and/or the erection or construction of gates, fences, walls, or other means of enclosure along a boundary, for an existing single dwellinghouse or flat – £272 (£285 from 8 December)
• Erection of new dwellinghouses, fewer than 10 – £610 (£752 from 8 December) per dwellinghouse
• Erection of new dwellinghouses, 10 to 50 today, 10 to 49 from December – £659 (£818 from 8 December) per dwellinghouse
• Erection of new dwellinghouses, more than 50 today, more than 49 from December – now £32,578 + £196 per additional dwellinghouse, max £427,537. From 8 December: £818 each for the first 49, then £236 each, max £513,512

• Change of use of a building to use as one or more separate dwellinghouses, not more than 10 dwellings – £610 (£700 from 8 December) per dwelling
• Change of use of a building to use as one or more separate dwellinghouses, 10 to 50 today, 10 to 49 from December – £659 (£799 from 8 December) per dwelling
• Change of use of a building to use as one or more separate dwellinghouses, more than 50 today, more than 49 from December – now £32,578 + £196 for each in excess of 50, max £427,537. From 8 December: £799 each for the first 49, then £237 each, max £513,512

• Change of use from a single dwellinghouse to two or more single dwellinghouses, not more than 10 dwellings – £610 (£700 from 8 December) per dwelling
  If the change is from existing dwellings, use the additional number of dwellinghouses for fee calculation purposes

Note the band change. The middle band currently runs from 10 to 50 dwellings; from December it runs from 10 to 49, with the top band starting above 49

 

 

Erection of Buildings on Land Used for Agricultural Purposes

 

The agricultural bands are restructured in December. The 465 to 540 square metre band disappears and 465 to 1,000 becomes a single band, so several of these lines are not a like-for-like comparison.

• Erection of agricultural buildings, up to 465 sq m – £127 (£147 from 8 December)
• Erection of agricultural buildings, 465 sq m to 540 sq m – now £610. From 8 December this band is absorbed into the 465 to 1,000 sq m band below
• Erection of agricultural buildings, 540 sq m to 1,000 sq m – now £610 + £610 per 75 sq m over 540 sq m. From 8 December: £707 per 75 sq m above 465 sq m
• Erection of agricultural buildings, 1,000 sq m to 4,215 sq m – now £5,270 + £659 per 75 sq m over 1,000 sq m. From 8 December: £742 per 75 sq m above 465 sq m
• Erection of agricultural buildings, over 4,215 sq m – now £32,578 + £196 per 75 sq m over 4,215 sq m, max £427,537. From 8 December: £742 per 75 sq m, then £221 per 75 sq m above 4,215 sq m, max £513,512

• Erection of glasshouses on land used for agriculture, up to 465 sq m – £127 (£147 from 8 December)
• Erection of glasshouses, 465 sq m to under 1,000 sq m – £3,405 (£3,950 from 8 December)
• Erection of glasshouses, 1,000 sq m and over – £3,677 (£4,267 from 8 December)

 

 

Erection, Alterations, or Replacement of Plant and Machinery

 

• Site under 1ha – £610 (£660 from 8 December) for each 0.1 hectare or part thereof
• Site 1ha to 5ha – £659 (£712 from 8 December) for each 0.1 hectare or part thereof
• Site over 5ha – now £32,578 + £196 for each 0.1ha over 5ha, max £427,537. From 8 December: £712 for each 0.1ha for the first 5ha, then £212 for each further 0.1ha, max £513,512

 

 

Erection of Buildings e.g. commercial, community, charity (Not Dwellinghouses, Agricultural, Glasshouses, Plant, or Machinery)

 

• Erection of other buildings, no floorspace created or up to 40 sq m – £309 (£357 from 8 December)
• Erection of other buildings, 40 sq m to under 1,000 sq m – £610 (£705 from 8 December) per 75 sq m or part thereof
• Erection of other buildings, 1,000 sq m to 3,750 sq m – £659 (£759 from 8 December) per 75 sq m or part thereof
• Erection of other buildings, more than 3,750 sq m – now £32,578 + £196 per additional 75 sq m over 3,750 sq m, max £427,537. From 8 December: £759 per 75 sq m for the first 3,750 sq m, then £226 per 75 sq m, max £513,512

 

 

Construction of car parks, service roads and other means of access

 

• Construction of car parks, service roads and other means of access for existing uses – £309 (£357 from 8 December)

 

 

Exploratory drilling & other similar operations

 

These categories are also restructured. Today they charge a rate up to a threshold and then a lump sum plus increment above it; from December they charge per 0.1 hectare throughout, then an increment.

• Operations connected with exploratory drilling, not more than 7.5ha – now £725 for each 0.1ha. From 8 December: £994 for each 0.1ha
• Operations connected with exploratory drilling, more than 7.5ha – now £54,255 + £215 per additional 0.1ha above 7.5ha, max £427,537. From 8 December: £994 for each 0.1ha for the first 7.5ha, then £282 for each further 0.1ha, max £513,512
• Operations other than exploratory drilling for the winning and working of oil or natural gas, not more than 15ha – now £366 for each 0.1ha. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha
• Operations other than exploratory drilling for the winning and working of oil or natural gas, more than 15ha – now £54,896 + £215 per additional 0.1ha above 15ha, max £111,159. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha for the first 15ha, then £270 for each further 0.1ha, max £146,309
• Other operations, winning and working of minerals excluding oil and natural gas, not more than 15ha – now £333 for each 0.1ha. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha
• Other operations, winning and working of minerals excluding oil and natural gas, more than 15ha – now £49,786 + £196 per additional 0.1ha above 15ha, max £111,159. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha for the first 15ha, then £270 for each further 0.1ha, max £146,309
• Other operations not within any of the above – now £309 for each 0.1ha, max £2,676. From 8 December: £425 for each 0.1ha, max £3,682

 

 

Waste

 

• Use of land for disposal of refuse or waste, deposit of material after mineral extraction, or storage of minerals in the open, not more than 15ha – now £333 for each 0.1ha. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha
• Use of land for disposal of refuse or waste, deposit of material after mineral extraction, or storage of minerals in the open, more than 15ha – now £49,786 + £196 for each 0.1ha above 15ha, max £111,159. From 8 December: £458 for each 0.1ha for the first 15ha, then £270 for each further 0.1ha, max £146,309

 

 

Other Changes of Use of a building or land

 

• Other changes of use of a building or land – £610 (£732 from 8 December)

 

 

Reductions to Full Planning Fees

 

• Listed Building Consent – No Fee, unchanged
• Tree Preservation (TPO) works or in a conservation area – No Fee, unchanged
• Hedgerow Removal – No Fee, unchanged
• Alterations to a building for disabled access – No Fee, unchanged
• Alternative proposal being submitted on the same site by the same applicant on the same day – 50% reduction on lesser or equal fee, unchanged
• Two or more applications submitted for different proposals on the same day relating to the same site – 50% reduction on lesser fees, unchanged
• Non-profit making sports club for works for playing fields not involving buildings – capped at £610 (£675 from 8 December)
• Parish or community council application – 50% reduction, unchanged
• Where an application crosses one or more local or district planning authorities, the amount due is usually 150% of the ‘single’ fee that would have been payable for the proposed development (as if there had only been one application to a single authority covering the entire site); unless the ‘total’ fee (the sum total of each separately calculated fee for each part of the development within each authority’s boundary) is smaller, in which case this ‘total’ fee is the fee due. In either case, the fee should be paid to the authority that contains the larger part of the application site within its boundary

 

 

Lawful Development Certificate Fees (see more)

 

• Existing use or operation – Same as Full Applications (see above), so it rises in step
• Existing use or operation, lawful not to comply with any condition or limitation – £309 (£360 from 8 December)
• Existing use as dwellinghouses, fewer than 10 – £610 (£700 from 8 December) each
• Existing use as dwellinghouses, 10 to 50 today, 10 to 49 from December – £659 (£799 from 8 December) each
• Existing use as dwellinghouses, more than 50 today, more than 49 from December – now £32,578 + £196 each, max £427,537. From 8 December: £799 each for the first 49, then £237 each, max £513,512
• Proposed use or operation – Half the full application fee, unchanged in principle, so it rises in step
• Certificate of lawfulness of proposed work to a listed building – No Fee, unchanged

 

 

Prior Approval Fees

 

The most significant change here is at the bottom of this section. A number of prior approval applications are currently free of charge, and from 8th December 2026 they will all attract a £310 fee

Part 1 – Dwelling Houses

• Application for a larger home extension – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class AA, additional storeys on a home – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 3 – Changes of Use

• Class G, two flats above Use Class E – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class M, launderette, betting office, payday loan shop, hot food takeaway to residential – £249 (£310 from 8 December), or £536 (£667 from 8 December) including building operations
• Class MA, Use Class E to residential – £260 (£323 from 8 December) per dwellinghouse created
• Class N, casino or amusement arcade to C3 – £249 (£310 from 8 December), or £536 (£667 from 8 December) including building operations
• Class Q, agricultural to residential – £249 (£310 from 8 December), or £536 (£667 from 8 December) including building operations
• Class R, agricultural to flexible commercial – £249 (£310 from 8 December) if over 150 sq m
• Class S, agricultural to state-funded schools – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class T, Use Class E and others to state-funded schools – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 4 – Temporary Uses

• Class BB, moveable structures for listed buildings – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class BC, temporary campsites in flood zone 2 or 3 – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class CA, temporary school on vacant commercial land – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class E, temporary use of buildings for film-making – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 6 – Agricultural & Forestry

• Class A, agricultural developments over 5ha – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class B, agricultural developments under 5ha – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class E, forestry developments – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 7 – Non Residential

• Class C, click & collect facilities – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class M, extensions for schools, prisons & hospitals etc – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 11 – Demolition

• Class B, demolition of a building – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Relevant demolition in a conservation area – No Fee, unchanged

Part 14 – Renewables

• Class A, solar equipment on residential – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class B, stand alone solar on residential – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class J, solar equipment on commercial – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class K, stand alone solar on commercial – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Class OA, solar canopy in commercial car parks – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 16 – Electronic Communications

• Class A, electronic comms code operators – £610 (£760 from 8 December)

Part 19 – The Crown

• Class TA, development by the Crown on closed defence sites – £249 (£310 from 8 December)

Part 20 – Airspace

• Not more than 10 new dwellings – £441 (£597 from 8 December) per dwelling
• 10 to 50 dwellings today, 10 to 49 from December – £476 (£638 from 8 December) per dwelling
• Over 50 today, over 49 from December – now £23,550 plus £142 for each dwelling above 50, max £427,537. From 8 December: £638 each for the first 49, then £185 each, max £513,512

All other prior approval applications

• Any other application for prior approval under the GPDO – £249 (£310 from 8 December)
• Prior approval applications that currently attract no fee – No fee today, £310 from 8 December. This is a new charge

Working out exactly which prior approvals become chargeable takes a little unpicking, because the regulations approach it by omission rather than by listing them. Regulation 14 of the 2012 Fees Regulations sets out the Parts of Schedule 2 to the GPDO that attract a fee, and anything not mentioned there is currently free. The Parts never listed are 2, 9, 12, 15, 17 and 18, so applications under those become chargeable from 8th December 2026. Examples include gates and barriers at level crossings under Part 2, toll road facilities under Part 9 Class D, development by gas transporters under Part 15 Class A, and mining and mineral exploration under Part 17

The government has not published a definitive list, so treat the above as examples rather than the complete picture. The safest way to read the change is this: from 8th December 2026, any prior approval application under Schedule 2 to the GPDO attracts a fee, whether or not it was previously named in regulation 14

 

 

Approval / Variation / discharge of condition fees

 

• S73 – Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission, householder – £89 (£112 from 8 December)
• S73 – Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission, non-major development – £608, unchanged in December
• S73 – Application for removal or variation of a condition following grant of planning permission, major development – £2,076 (£3,150 from 8 December)
• Discharge of conditions, householder – £89 (£125 from 8 December) per request
• Discharge of conditions, others, including a condition relating to the submission of a Biodiversity Gain Plan – £309 (£435 from 8 December) per request
• Conditions on a Listed Building consent – No Fee, unchanged

The non-major section 73 fee is the one line on this page that does not really move. The regulations replace £586 with £608, but £608 is already what you pay after this April’s inflation uprating, so in cash terms nothing changes. The government consulted on raising it to £825 and decided against, because at that level it would sometimes have exceeded the fee for the equivalent full application

 

 

Replacement permission or extension of time

 

• Householder development – £88 (£112 from 8 December)
• Major development – £968 (£1,146 from 8 December)
• Any other case – £304 (£360 from 8 December)

 

 

Non-material Amendment Following a Grant of Planning Permission

 

• Applications in respect of householder developments – £46 (£53 from 8 December)
• Applications in respect of other developments – £309 (£360 from 8 December)

 

 

Advertising Fees

 

• Relating to the business on the premises – £174 (£192 from 8 December)
• Advance signs which are not situated on or visible from the site, directing the public to a business – £174 (£192 from 8 December)
• Other advertisements – £610 (£675 from 8 December)

 

 

Other Fees

 

• Applications for Urgent Crown Development, made to the Secretary of State – Same as fee for planning, so it rises in step
• Monitoring of mining and landfill sites, where the whole or part of the site is active – £523 (£607 from 8 December)
• Monitoring of mining and landfill sites, where the site is not active – £174 (£202 from 8 December)
• Certificates of appropriate alternative development – £309 (£964 from 8 December)
• Erection of other buildings where there is no increase of floor space – £309 (£357 from 8 December)

The certificate of appropriate alternative development is the steepest rise in the package, more than trebling

 

 

Maximum fees

 

• General maximum – £427,537 (£513,512 from 8 December)
• Outline applications maximum – £213,769 (£290,625 from 8 December)
• Mixed use outline maximum – £202,500 (£290,625 from 8 December)
• Minerals, oil, gas and waste maximum – £111,159 (£146,309 from 8 December)
• Other operations maximum – £2,676 (£3,682 from 8 December)

 

 

Exemptions from payment of fees

 

None of the exemptions below are removed or altered by the December changes.

• For alterations, extensions, etc. to a dwellinghouse for the benefit of a registered disabled person
• An application solely for the carrying out of the operations for the purpose of providing a means of access for disabled persons to or within a building or premises to which members of the public are admitted
• Listed Building Consent
• Conditions on a Listed Building consent
• Certificate of lawfulness of proposed work to a listed building
• Planning permission for relevant demolition in a Conservation Area
• Works to trees covered by a Tree Preservation Order or in a Conservation Area
• Hedgerow Removal
• If the application is for a lawful development certificate, for existing use, where an application for planning permission for the same development would be exempt from the need to pay a planning fee under any other planning fee regulation 
• If the application relates to an alternate use of buildings or land within the same Use Class that requires planning permission only by the requirements of a condition imposed on a permission granted or deemed to be granted under Part 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) 
• If the application is for consent to display an advertisement which results from a direction under Regulation 7 of the 2007 Regulations, dis-applying deemed consent under Regulation 6 to the advertisement in question 
• If an application for planning permission (for which a fee is payable) is being made by the same applicant on the same date for the same site, buildings or land as the prior approval application (for larger home extensions, additional storeys on a home, or change of uses) 

The “free go” for repeat applications was abolished in December 2023 and is not being reinstated. The government considered a reduced resubmission fee and decided against it. No fee is being introduced for planning appeals in England

 

 

Reductions to payment of fees

 

• If the application is being made on behalf of a non-profit making sports club for works for playing fields not involving buildings then the fee is £610 (£675 from 8 December)
• If the application is being made on behalf of a parish or community council then the fee is 50%
• If the application is an alternative proposal being submitted on the same site by the same applicant on the same day, where this application is of lesser cost then the fee is 50%
• If two or more applications are submitted for different proposals on the same day and relating to the same site then you must pay the fee for the highest fee plus half sum of the others
• Where an application crosses one or more local or district planning authorities, the amount due is usually 150% of the ‘single’ fee that would have been payable for the proposed development (as if there had only been one application to a single authority covering the entire site); unless the ‘total’ fee (the sum total of each separately calculated fee for each part of the development within each authority’s boundary) is smaller, in which case this ‘total’ fee is the fee due. In either case, the fee should be paid to the authority that contains the larger part of the application site within its boundary

 

 

Multiple Development Calculation Rules

 

When an application includes more than one development type, the total is calculated as follows:

1: Erection of Dwellings and Erection of Buildings only

Total fee = Fee for new dwellinghouses + Highest fee from all the erection of buildings

2: New Dwellinghouses + Erection of Buildings + More Than One Other Developments (including changes of use) choose the highest fee from:

• Option A: The sum of new dwellings fee + highest erection of buildings fee
• Option B: The highest fee from all other developments

3: Mixed Development Without Any NEW Dwellinghouse Developments

Total fee = Highest fee from any developments (excluding erection of dwellings)

4: Where the application covers existing use(s) and any other matter constituting a failure to comply with any condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted, the fee is:

• The fee for the existing use(s), which may be subject to the rules above; added to
• The fee for the previous failure to comply with conditions or limitations

 

 

Local fee setting: fees may rise further

 

The December schedule is a national default, not a fixed national price. The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 gives local planning authorities power to set their own fees, and these regulations do not bring that power into effect. Separate regulations are expected by the end of 2026, under which councils will be able to charge up to 30 per cent above the national default where they can justify it, with a further surcharge to fund statutory consultees.

From some point in 2027 the fee for the same application may therefore differ from one authority to the next. Always check with your local planning authority before submitting.

 

Details of the April 2026 increases, already included in all current figures above. The December 2026 figures come from the draft amending regulations

Other Planning Application Sections

 

Planning Fees Page Updated: 21st August 2026