Planning fee calculator

What moves the number?

• Development type. Extensions, lofts and outbuildings within the curtilage of a house are householder development; anything creating a dwelling is a full application.
• Number of dwellings, because the full application fee is charged per dwelling.
• Whether a prior approval route applies, at £120 over six weeks.
• Whether a free resubmission is available — once, within twelve months of a refusal or withdrawal of a similar application on the same site.
• Discharge of conditions, charged at £43 per request for householder development and £145 otherwise.

What sits outside the build cost?

Statutory fees go to the council and are set nationally for England: a householder planning application is £258 determined in 8 weeks, larger home extension prior approval is £120 over 6 weeks, and a Lawful Development Certificate is £129. Building control is separate again at typically £500 to £1,200 in London. Structural calculations start at £350 and party wall services at £450.

Our planning drawings are a fixed fee of £840, against £1,750 for the Complete package covering planning and building regulations together — around 30% below typical London architect rates, and never a percentage of build cost.

How should you use the figure?

As a budget envelope before design, not as a target after it. Build cost should drive the design rather than follow it: a scheme drawn without a budget is a scheme that gets value-engineered after planning consent, which usually means a second application. Fix the range first, design to it, then price the defined drawing package with two or three contractors.

Ranges are indicative London market rates observed across domestic projects and are not a quotation. Statutory figures are the England rates in force in 2026 under the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (England) Regulations. Building control charges are set by each local authority or registered building control approver.