Setting and review of pre-application fees

This section outlines the key findings from research into the fee levels and pre- application services  employed  by a cross-section of local authorities in England .  

The research has looked at 87 LPAs across England that represent all types of local authority, across every region and includes every area classification type (as defined in the ONS Area Classification) 

We have looked at the variations and commonalities in approaches and used the findings to help inform other areas of the research conclusions. 

The key findings of this research are: 

• Significant variation of fee levels exists, including a minority of LPA still not levying any fee on their pre-application services; 

• No clear pattern is evident between LPA type, or indeed between second tier LPA associated with the same upper tier authority; 

• No strong geographical pattern is present; 

• Fees are, predominantly, based upon fixed fee approaches; 

• The involvement of specialist advise is variable with some councils including specialist advice in the standard fee whilst others providing this only as an additional, optional fee; 

• The approach in how councils provide pre-application responses is varied, but with clear groupings evident; 

• A notable percentage (30%) of fee carrying LPA provide some form of free service; 

• Response times are somewhat variable, but most significantly varied by the scale of development being proposed and/or type of response (written/meeting) requested;  

• LPA websites are hugely variable in their structure and approach, making collection of data difficult and very difficult for an applicant who is trying to compare one council’s approach with another.  The quality / clarity of information communication, was equally variable; and 

• There is a great amount of variation in the way councils provide pre application advice.  For example, in some cases a council-wide response will be given through a single fee, whilst in other cases internal and external advice is paid for separately as an additional extra.  In other cases it is simply unclear what an applicant is paying for at the time of submitting a pre application. Perhaps most notably was a lack of detail with regards how fee levels had been set in many cases. The type of information provided varied from comprehensive guidance / protocols, to very basic and sometimes process / fee orientated materials. 

The LPAs identified in this map can be cross referenced in the table below. Each LPA is hyperlinked to the webpage containing available materials concerning pre-application fee matters [last accessed 04/01/2023]

You can access the raw data collected during the project here. We have made this available for councils to access and use if they wish to see what other councils charge and to help them undertake benchmarking, or for further research purposes.

Only 4 of the 87 LPAs we investigated offer a completely free service, meaning 95% of LPAs do charge.  

In addition to the provision of a free service provision, some LPAs provide this service  alongside an otherwise fee carrying service. The form this takes varies, though a ‘duty’ service (either via a desk or/and telephone provision) is common. The free provision where it is provided tends to be for householder matters, though in some cases other minor matters or initial / questions in principle are also included.  

This research did not differentiate the specific element of the pre application service that was provided for free, but rather looked for evidence of some initial (not follow up) element which was not charged for within an otherwise fee carrying service. It is notable that approximately 30% of LPAs provide some form of initial free service. 

Only 40% of LPAs investigated provided clear information on how internal and external consultees are included in the pre-application service.  

3 distinct approaches to a fee carrying service were broadly identified. These were: 

• The scale of the development being proposed determines the amount of fee levied; 
• The staff involved i.e. the number and/or seniority determined the amount of fee levied; or 
• A combination of scale and staffing approach determined the amount of fee levied. 

The overwhelming majority of LPAs (85%) appear to use the scale of development to determine their fee levels, with only 8% a combination of development scale and staff involved, and 2% staff resource only as shown in graph 4. 

The research also investigated the time to respond to a pre-application enquiry. It looked at the time taken for a meaningful reply rather than an acknowledgement for a ‘normal’ pre-application response, noting variations in most instances for complexity that are caveated by some LPAs.  

The range of fee charged for different scales of development created a complex set of data, which is presented for all LPA data based upon: 

Looking across the 87 LPA focused upon in this study, it is possible to see significant variation in the fee that can be anticipated to be paid for the pre-application service provided. These details are summarised below (all prices are from December 2022) and excludes non fee levying councils or add on extra fees (such as additional meetings. 

You can access the raw data collected during the project here. We have made this available for councils to access and use if they wish to see what other councils charge and to help them undertake benchmarking, or for further research purposes.

With regards to the response type, there is, as expected, a modest shift from a reliance on a written response to a stronger emphasis upon written and meeting approaches as the scale of development increases.  Out of the 87 councils considered 4 of the councils only provided a written response for proposals of less than 10 dwellings and 6 councils only provided a written response for “other” category pre applications (e.g. householder, listed buildings, advertisements etc).  However only 2 councils provided this “no meeting response” for developments of 10 dwellings or more. 

A far more common offer is for a council to only provide a meeting and written response for smaller proposals (less than 10 dwellings) if an additional fee is paid.  This is the situation for 45 out of the 87 councils researched.  For larger proposal (10 or more dwellings) 26 councils provided a service where a meeting was optional at additional cost.