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

Collection, refunds & disputes

B.11 Payment

Payment for applications to planning authorities should accompany the application when it is lodged. The planning authority should not reject an application on the grounds that the correct fee has not been paid. However, the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013 provide that the 2 month statutory period within which the planning authority must notify the applicant of its decision does not begin to run until the appropriate fee has been paid. Therefore, when an otherwise correct application is received without the appropriate fee, the authority should send the applicant a request for the correct fee or balance and inform them that the 2 month statutory period for decision will begin on receipt of the fee or the amount outstanding and not before, and that a decision will not be notified to them before the correct fee has been paid.

B.12 Checking, refunds and adjustments

Planning authorities should confine their checking of fees submitted to the minimum, consistent with good management practice. Where an application for planning permission is made which in the opinion of the authority is not required for what is being proposed (for instance in view of Schedule 1 to the GPDO, or the definition of development), the authority should return the application with the fee to the applicant, with an explanation. In those circumstances a fee ought not to have been paid.

The regulations do not provide for the refund of correct fees paid for valid applications once these are accepted, but refunds of any sums not required by the regulations can be made at any stage. The fee is always determined on the basis of the application as made. Even if permission is granted for a development of a different size, or if the application is adjusted by agreement in the course of discussion with the applicant, or if an application for planning permission in principle needs to be supplemented by details before it will be determined, no adjustment is made to the fee payable, either in the form of refunds or additional charges.

B.13 Disputes

If there is a disagreement between the applicant and the authority about the amount of the fee payable, the authority should seek to resolve the dispute with the applicant with as little delay to the processing of the application as possible. There is no formal disputes procedure laid down in the regulations and the ultimate recourse is to the courts.

B.14 Planning Permission in Principle

An application for planning permission in principle must be made in the way described in the Development Management Regulations. The applicant may include details of the development, provided that details of certain matters are not given in that application and can still be identified in a condition by the planning authority for subsequent approval.

The fees in the Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2026 take effect from 1 April 2026 and fees at the levels prescribed are payable for applications made on or after that date. Where an application for approval of matters specified in conditions on a grant of planning permission in principle is made and the maximum applicable fee set out below has already, through cumulative applications, been exceeded then the standard application fee of £618 is applicable (only applies to development within categories 1, 4, 7, 13, or 17 of table 1).

• Where the planning permission in principle was granted before 1 April 2022 the maximum fee is £125,000
• Where the planning permission in principle was granted on or after 1 April 2022 and before 12 December 2024 the maximum fee is £150,000
• Where the planning permission in principle was granted on or after 12 December 2024 and before 9 June 2025 the maximum fee is £172,856
• Where the planning permission in principle was granted on or after 9 June 2025 and before 1 April 2026 the maximum fee is £178,560

B.15 Residential development

• Where only one dwellinghouse is to be created, the fee is £742
• Where more than one dwellinghouse is to be created and the site area does not exceed 2.5 hectares, the fee is £742 for each 0.1 hectare up to 2.5 hectares of the site area.
• Where the site area exceeds 2.5 hectares the fee is £742 for each 0.1 hectare up to 2.5 hectares of the site area and then £371 for each 0.1 hectare in excess of 2.5 hectares, subject to a maximum of £92,762.

B.16 Non-residential buildings

£742 for each 0.1 hectare up to 2.5 hectares of the site area, and then £371 for each 0.1 hectare in excess of 2.5 hectares, subject to a maximum of £92,762.

B.17 Approval of matters specified in conditions (AMSC)

Where planning permission in principle is granted, applications for approval of matters specified in condition on that planning permission in principle (‘AMSC’) are subject to payment of a fee.

Except where liable to the flat rate fee described below, an application for AMSC is charged at the same rate as for full applications for planning permission. The fee is calculated under the category or categories appropriate to the development as a whole, on the normal basis of the number of dwellinghouses, the site area or the amount of floor space created. So, for a housing scheme, an application will incur - if not a flat rate fee described in section B.14 above or the paragraph below - a fee based on the number of dwellinghouses to be erected. If the information needed to calculate the fee is not apparent from the application or the planning permission in principle, applicants will need to be asked to supply it.

Where an AMSC application relates only to one part or phase of the development covered by the PPP, fees should be charged on the basis of the number of dwellinghouses, the floor space or site area included in that part or phase, and similarly for subsequent applications.

An AMSC application made after obtaining the planning permission in principle for a development incurs a fee at the full rate, whatever matters are involved, until the total amount paid by the applicant in respect of the matters is equal to the fee that would have been paid at that time had approval been sought all at once in an application for the whole of the development covered by the original planning permission in principle. When that point is reached, any and all further applications pursuant to that PPP will attract the flat rate fee of £618.