Planning fee increases are something we have been discussing with clients for a while, and now we know a little more about the first wave and what these will involve.

There is still no ringfencing of fees though, so it remains unclear if the increase in revenue will directly benefit struggling and under-resourced planning teams, or just prop-up other parts of the local authority's budget, as has generally been happening for years!

In summary:

• Regulation 3 increases the fees for certain prior approval applications under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (S.I. 2015/596).

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  Regulation 4 increases the fees for requesting written confirmation of compliance with a condition attached to a planning permission and clarifies that this fee applies to written requests to confirm compliance with a statutory biodiversity net gain condition under Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (c. 8).

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  Regulation 5 introduces a three-tier fee structure for section 73 applications. Regulation 5 also increases the fees for householder applications and two miscellaneous fee categories which had previously been erroneously set too low.

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  Regulation 6 makes related transitional provision. This includes provision to the effect that the annual increase of fees as provided for in regulation 18A of the 2012 Regulations applies to the fee amounts as amended by these Regulations from 1st April 2026.