Councils have ramped up their calls for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) to meet its commitment to allow them to increase planning fees.
The Government had said that it would increase flexibility by last month after five years of frozen national fees. DCLG officials have now suggested new regulations will be introduced in the autumn, with a 20% fee increase on the cards.
Councils have complained the freeze has forced them to foot the bill for processing about a third of the 500,000 planning applications they receive on average each year.
The Local Government Association (LGA) predicts the cost of planning applications is growing at a rate of around £200m a year and will reach £1bn by 2022.
It said the ongoing fees shortfall was hampering planning departments’ ability to stimulate housing growth in communities.
LGA housing spokesman, Cllr Martin Tett, said: ‘It is wrong for communities to keep being forced to spend hundreds of millions each year to cover the cost of all planning applications.
‘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.
‘Councils need to be able to recover the actual cost of applications and end such a needless waste of taxpayers’ money.’
President of the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport, Simon Neilson, has said the extra money would be a ‘vital source of revenue to shore up stretched planning departments across the country’.
One district council chief executive suggested the delay was related to a lack of capacity within DCLG.
They said: ‘We have had a grand total of three consultations since the General Election.
Has the world come to an end? No. But it would be good if they got on with some useful consultations (e.g. draft regulations to increase planning fees by 20%, promised for implementation in July in the housing white paper in March).’
A DCLG spokesman said: 'This government is committed to giving local authorities the tools they need to drive new housing and build the right homes in the right places.
'All councils have now accepted the 20% planning fee increase announced in the housing white paper and we are introducing regulations this autumn.'
This article first appeared on our sister site The MJ.
Register now for full access
Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.
Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors.
Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.
Already a registered? Login
