[TakeMeHigher]

Well that's it then. Small, innovative developers priced right out of the market as the maximum planning fee goes up by a multiplier of five to £250k.

Along with affordable housing, S106 bungs, fancy RTO's and the ongoing desire for 'live ground floor uses' has the planning system killed the golden goose that has brought such increased development and prosperity to our fair town?

(I won't mention the economy and housing market, much )




BUGGER BUGGER BUGGER... THE TITLE IS WRONG... SORRY. I'll try to get the mods to change it.

 

[paulmat]

the ongoing desire for 'live ground floor uses'

I don't see your point with this one. Personally I think that at least something like 50% of development in city centres should have a 'live ground floor use' otherwise we end up with dead streets, and developments that are completely 'inward' looking and don't offer anything to the street (just like most of the crap that went up in the 60's)


But your overall point, yes I do think the government is really screwing over the less well developed cities with their changes to planning laws - and especially empty rates taxes. More developed cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester won't be to affected by these as developers can be quite sure they will fill units quickly. However cities like our get screwed over as office buildings can be standing empty a while before tenants are found.

Someone summed it up perfectly in a recent newspaper article.

"Speculative development is now almost impossible and the money the Government will make won't come back to the places that need it, it will be lost in the Treasury's bottomless pit."

 

[dinp]

Planning application fees have risen, but they havent risen for a couple of years now. Householder applications are £150 instead of £135, Advertisement Consent is £95 instead of £75 and new dwellings/changes of use is now £335 instead of £265.

Taking into account all the administration, report writing, amendment-seeking, meeting, site visit and deliberation time that local authorities go through with each application, before you even get to committees, S106s etc, and the fees are actually good value.

Many authorities also offer pre-application advice for free, only for much of the advice to be ignored in most cases :nuts:

 

[TakeMeHigher]

A rise is one thing, but putting them up by five times the current rate? Seeing as planning departments are usually profit centres for LA's surely this is uncalled for?

I wonder if the fees would be so high if / when planning departments get privatised?

 

[dinp]

A five times increase is only for the larger schemes and given all the hours that need to be spent on them, by qualified professionals (it wont be the general planning officers dealing with such schemes), i'm not against the increase. As a planning officer I dont get a bonus anyway, so its not as if we're gaining from it personally.

 

[lewisskinner]

Well this is only the maximum fee right? So in theory a scheme could still only cost £50k

If it is genuinely innovative, planning departments will not want to over-charge the developer (especially in the current economic climate) just gain a few quid and a half-build shell.

 

[TakeMeHigher]

Why would it have to be innovative? But in any case, AFAIK there is no way to deviate from the fee scale no matter how many solar panels or ground source heat pumps it has.

 

[dinp]

There are very few concessions with application fees and the only one i've ever dealt with is a householder scheme for a disabled resident, where the fee was waived.