You can apply for planning permission online. There are many advantages to submitting your application online. The benefits include:
- no printing and postage costs
- creating a site location plan
- applying anytime
- adding any attachments to your submission
- calculating your fees for you
Please note that when applying online you'll need to pay the planning application fee directly to the Planning Portal. Applications submitted through the Planning Portal also attract an admin fee (currently £60).
You can still submit paper applications by post by downloading and printing documents from the Planning Portal, but to reflect the time and costs involved in processing applications that do not use the Portal, we match the Portal’s administration fee for all applications submitted on paper or by email.
If you need to make a payment for a planning application submitted by post you will be sent a payment link by email.
Please note that we no longer accept payment by cheque.
Before you submit your application you should look at some of the advice and guidance we provide. You may also wish to calculate your fees upfront.
Who can submit an application
You may need a professional agent to submit your application and represent you, unless your application proposal is very simple and you have access to the required technical drawings and documents.
We can’t recommend an agent, but websites of the main professional bodies provide lists of their members.
VAT is not payable when applying for planning permission.
New Town and Country Planning Regulations
New Town and Country Planning Regulations have been approved and planning fees will increase by 35% for applications for major developments and 25% for all other applications from December 6.
In addition, the new regulations will:
- introduce an annual indexation of planning applications fees, capped at 10%, from 1 April 2025
- remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the ‘free-go’), though an applicant will still be able to benefit from a free-go if their application was withdrawn or refused in the preceding 12 months, subject to all other conditions for the free-go being met
- reduce the Planning Guarantee for non-major planning applications from 26 to 16 weeks
These changes are made by the government via the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.
National Validation Requirements
All planning applications must be accompanied by a set list of supporting information.
The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure)(England) Order 2015 (as amended) sets out the statutory national information requirements needed to support a planning application. It includes key information such as:
- an application form
- plans and drawings
- a completed ownership certificate and agricultural land declaration
- a Design and Access Statement and a Fire Statement
For guidance go to GOV.UK: Making an application.
Mandatory requirements
The mandatory requirement for 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) came into force on 12 February 2024. There is a temporary exemption for minor schemes until 2 April 2024.
It introduced additional national information requirements. You can learn about this on GOV.UK: Biodiversity net gain.
Some development types are exempt from mandatory BNG Biodiversity net gain. Which types are available on GOV.UK: exempt developments.
In addition to the national information requirements, there are additional local validation requirements. Visit Local planning application requirements.