Planning circular 1/2026: planning fees for applications, local reviews and appeals

Reduced Fees & Waivers

C.4 Waiving and Reducing Fees

A planning authority or Scottish Ministers respectively may waive or reduce any local review or appeal fee that would otherwise be payable under the Regulations. They may only do so if they have published a charter setting out the circumstances in which they will consider waiving or reducing fees. This could be, for example, where they wish to seek to encourage certain types of development in order to meet a policy objective/outcome, where the viability of a development would otherwise be significantly and demonstrably affected, or where the type of development is not envisaged or specifically provided for by the regulations.

If such a charter is published, it must include circumstances where the local review or appeal relates to development which in the opinion of the planning authority/Scottish Ministers, either has the primary purpose of contributing to a not for profit enterprise or a social enterprise; or is likely to contribute to improving the health of residents of the area to which the review/appeal relates. As outlined above it is up to planning authorities / Scottish Ministers to determine what types of development fall into these categories. If a planning authority or Scottish Ministers waive or reduce any planning fee, they must include reasons for doing so in any decision notice.

C.5 Collection, checking & disputes

Payment for local reviews to planning authorities or appeals to Scottish Ministers (via the Planning and Environmental Appeals Division) should accompany the appeal or notice of review when it is lodged. The fee should be calculated on the basis of the description of the proposed development in the decision letter issued by the planning authority.

The planning authority or Scottish Ministers should not reject a request for a review or appeal on the grounds that the correct fee has not been paid. However, they are not obliged to determine a review or appeal until the correct fee has been paid.

C.6 Checking, refunds and adjustments

The regulations do not provide for the refund of correct fees paid for valid local reviews or appeals, but refunds of any sums not required by the Regulations can be made at any stage. The fee should always be calculated on the basis of the proposed development on which the decision was made.

C.7 Disputes

If there is a disagreement between the applicant/appellant and the planning authority or Scottish Ministers about the amount of the fee payable, the planning authority or Scottish Ministers should seek to resolve the dispute with the applicant/appellant with as little delay to the processing of the local review or appeal as possible. There is no formal disputes procedure laid down in the Regulations and the ultimate recourse is to the courts.

C.8 Decision Letters

Regulation 28(4) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 (‘the DMR’) states that where a decision on any application is made to refuse or to approve subject to conditions, the decision notice must be accompanied by either:

• notification of the right to a local review by the planning authority (Form 1 of schedule 6 to the DMR); and
• a statement drawing attention to information on how to seek a local review: or
• notification of the right to appeal to the Scottish Ministers (Form 2 of schedule 6 to the DMR; and
• a statement drawing attention to where to find out more information on how to make an appeal.

It would also be helpful for the decision notice to include a description of any variation to the application agreed by the planning authority under section 32A of the Act.

To assist appellants to calculate the relevant fee when submitting a local review or appeal, it may be helpful for decision notices to refer to the fee category/ies used to calculate the application fee. It is hoped that investing time in including this information will save planning authorities and Scottish Ministers time in having to request additional payments or to provide refunds to appellants.