Government freezes planning application fees

Planning minister John Healey has announced a freeze on planning application fees to help the development and construction sectors in England.

He has also confirmed that fees for planning appeals will not be introduced this year to avoid placing any further burdens on businesses and householders.

This will mean that businesses will not have to pay for decisions to be reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate if their applications are rejected.

The minister said: "At a time when investing in new developments is difficult and when access to funding is hard, it would be wrong to increase the costs of developers who will help drive economic recovery. That's why I've decided to freeze planning fees and put appeal fees on ice.

"I recognise that as we start to work through economic recovery, we need to do what we can to keep builders on construction sites and keep plans on the table."

In addition to freezing planning fees, the Government is increasing funding for the provision of free, independent advice to individuals and community groups to help them understand and use all aspects of the planning system. Funding for Planning Aid has risen from £3.2m last year to £4.1m in 2009/10 and £4.5m in 2010/11.

Last year the Government commissioned research from Arup which indicated that a further increase in planning fees of 10 per cent planned for this year, following an average increase of 23 per cent in 2008, would be justified. Potentially it would have raised an additional £23m for local authorities.