From today, 6th December 2023, the Government is removing the exemption of fees for repeat planning applications, meaning that there will no longer be a free ‘second go’ for planning applications.
Without the second go, it’s more important than ever to make sure that planning applications are robust and meet the validation requirements first time round to avoid repaying fees when having to resubmit proposals.
It’s also worth noting that from today, planning applications fees are increasing by 35% for major applications and 25% for other applications (such as householder). This adds to the need to get applications right first time.
The Government reasons that removing the ‘free go’ will place more focus on the importance of the pre-application stage but with resource constraints in Local Authority planning teams, and some Local Authorities removing pre-application advice services all together, it’s going to become more challenging for applicants and agents to get advice and gain a positive planning outcome.