Planning applications

The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 have been approved and made on 8th November 2023. These regulations include the introduction of a 25% increase in planning application fees (35% increase on major applications). This enables Local Planning Authorities to apply the fee increase from 6 December 2023. Ipswich Borough Council has now implemented this increase.

• Planning Application Fees

These Regulations also introduced:

• An annual indexation of planning applications fees, capped at 10%, from 1 April 2025.

• Remove the fee exemption for repeat applications (the ‘free-go’). An applicant will still be able to benefit from a free-go if their application was withdrawn or refused in the preceding 12 months (before 6 December 2023), subject to all other conditions for the free-go being met.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.

• Introduced a new prior approval fee of £120 for applications for prior approval for development by the Crown on closed defence sites.

Pre-application advice

We provide advice to help you improve your planning application, increasing the chance of your application being granted planning permission.

If applicants use the Ipswich Borough Council pre-application advice service, the Council will undertake certain internal and external consultations and report responses received to the applicant. Consultations exclude the Environment Agency, as it is a charged service, but include Suffolk County Council as Lead Local Flood Authority. Therefore, applicants would still need to seek advice directly from the Environment Agency. The Council aims to provide a written response within six weeks.

Pre-application fees also apply to prospective applicants/agents seeking informal pre-application planning advice.

The service level agreement states:

1. Applicant/agents will be required to pay for pre-application advice. This will not apply to Planning Officers giving informal verbal advice on householder development.
2. The fee for pre-application advice on householder applications is £60.00 plus VAT at the current rate.
3. The fee for all other application types is 10% of the formal planning application fee, plus VAT at the current rate.
4. The fee for larger complex major applications are calculated on a bespoke charging basis.
5. The fee is payable on validation of the pre-application. An accompanying letter requesting the informal opinion will be expected. Without the correct fee, the request will not be registered.
6. Officers will carry out all necessary consultations, internal and external, and report those in the pre-application response.
7. Planning Officers shall convene any meetings deemed necessary by them.
8. Planning Officers shall aim to issue a written response to the pre-application within six weeks, including a summary of the consultee responses, the planning issues, and the likelihood of permission being granted.