Planning Application Fees and Costs in London (2026)

The two main planning application fees

Ask about planning application fees and you are usually asking about two separate bills. The first is the statutory fee you pay the local planning authority to decide the application — under the national schedule in force on 29 July 2026, the same in Camden as in Westminster, and shown in the table below. The second is the professional fee for the drawings and preparation of the application — our fixed-fee packages, also below. Neither is the cost of actually building the project, which is a third, much larger and much more variable number.

Keeping these three apart is the single most useful thing you can do when budgeting: the council fee is fixed and public, our package fee is fixed and quoted before you commit, and only the build cost genuinely depends on your specific property and brief. Our planning application cost estimator separates the first two for your project type in a few clicks.

The council fee (statutory)

As of 29 July 2026, the statutory fee is paid to the local planning authority under a national schedule, so the same application category does not yet vary between London boroughs. Most home projects use the householder application fee; a project relying on permitted development may instead need a Lawful Development Certificate or prior approval, each with its own fee. The government has announced plans for another national increase before the end of 2026, subject to Parliamentary approval, followed by a framework that can permit local fee variation. Confirm the current national and borough position at the time you apply rather than relying on this dated figure.

One point that surprises people: listed building consent carries no application fee at all — but it is required for many alterations to a listed building, and the drawings and heritage justification it needs make it more involved, not less.

The drawings and application fee (ours)

The second cost is professional: preparing the planning drawings and the application. We publish this as fixed fees rather than a percentage or an hourly rate, so you know the number before you commit. The packages below start at a £395 route review — a paid check of the route and scope that is credited in full against the package if you proceed — and rise with the complexity of the scheme. Larger, listed or complex projects are quoted after that review rather than sold at a fixed price, because pretending otherwise would mean guessing.

The costs we can state exactly — and the one we cannot

We will always tell you the council fee and our fee up front, because both are knowable. We deliberately do not publish a build cost per square metre, and we are wary of anyone who does. Construction cost depends on the ground, the structure, the glazing and finishes, access, the state of the existing building and a competitive tender — variables that a single headline figure hides rather than answers. A number that looks reassuring on a website is the fastest route to a budget that falls apart at tender.

What we do instead is help you get to a real build number the honest way: a feasibility view early, the right consultants where a project needs them, and a competitive tender once the design and any engineering are resolved. The guides on what drives extension cost, loft cost and basement cost set out the drivers without inventing a price.

Third-party costs to budget for

Beyond the council fee and the design fee, most projects carry some third-party costs. These are appointed and paid separately, and we flag the ones your project is likely to need so nothing is a surprise:

• Measured survey of the existing building
• Structural engineer, where new or altered structure is involved
• Party wall surveyor, where the Party Wall Act applies
• Heritage consultant, for some listed or conservation-area work
• Building control fees, at the technical/construction stage
• The Planning Portal service charge, if the application is submitted online

Why the current 2026 fee needs a date

The householder application fee more than doubled on 1 April 2025 (from £258 to £528) and rose again to £548 on 1 April 2026. Annual April indexation remains part of the system, but the government also announced in July 2026 that it intends a further national increase before year-end, subject to Parliamentary approval. The fee is still small next to the design and build cost, but every quoted figure needs an as-of date and a fresh check when the application is submitted.

How to budget for your project

Start with the two fixed numbers — the council fee for your application type and our package fee for the drawings — then add the third-party costs your project is likely to need. Treat the build cost as a range to be firmed up through feasibility and tender, not a figure to be fixed on day one. If you would like the two fixed numbers for your specific project, try the cost estimator or tell us the address, the property type and what you are considering and we will confirm the route and a fixed fee.