Councils demand power to set own planning fees amid push for more house building

COUNCIL chiefs have demanded the Government gives them the power to set planning fees in a move which could see costs soar above a 20 per cent rise already announced by ministers.

The Government set out plans last year to allow local authorities to raise fees by 20 per cent with the potential for a further 20 per cent rise if councils hit targets for building new homes.

But the Local Government Association (LGA) wants even greater rises by giving councils the power to decide rates themselves. Planning fees are currently set nationally with the cost of applying to make alterations or add an extension to a single home set at £172.

But under the LGA’S plans, councils would be able to set their fees at a level to allow them to recover their costs, amid concerns that many authorities are effectively having to use taxpayers’ money to subsidise the planning system. Ministers announced in February their intention to increase nationally set planning fees. Measures contained in a Housing White Paper will enable councils to increase fees by 20 per cent as long as they commit to investing the extra money in their planning services.

Ministers also said they were “minded to allow” further increases of 20 per cent for councils delivering enough homes to meet the needs of local people. Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’S housing spokesman, said: “Councils are working flat out to approve almost nine in 10 planning applications, with the majority processed quickly. But the shortfall in the amount of fees councils can charge and the cost of processing applications is heaping further pressure on the stretched planning departments which are so crucial to building the homes and roads that local communities need.”

A Department for Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “All councils have now accepted the 20 per cent planning fee increase announced in the Housing White Paper, and we are introducing regulations this Autumn.”