How to Price Up the True Cost of Planning Permission for Your Next Project

Buyers and investors keen to add value to a property purchase through improvements such as extensions and conversions have two big questions: will I need planning permission, and how much does planning permission cost?

Such popular building projects are guaranteed to bring a return on investment, but the cost of a planning application fee is climbing across the UK.

This is coupled with the increase in building costs since the pandemic, forecast to rise by a further 15% over the next five years, according to the latest predictions from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS).

With the costs of planning permission rising, it can help to understand how far you can go without it, and how to price up planning if you do need it for your home renovation, property flip or longer-term investment project.

Here’s our expert guide for what’s needed, how much it costs, how permitted development rights work, and how a bridging loan can help you finance your next property refurbishment.

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Key takeaways

• Costs for planning permission are rising: Across all UK nations, the cost of planning permission has increased in recent years.
• Applications for planning permission are falling: Homeowners, investors and developers are turning away from seeking planning permission, certainly in England.
• More use of permitted development rights: People are keener than ever to see how far these rights can go.
• Work with a planning consultant: These professional experts will help you maximise permitted development rights or find other practical solutions to planning dilemmas.
• Seek other ways to cut planning costs: Depending on the size of their site, developers may find it less expensive to sell on land by obtaining outline planning permission rather than full residential planning permission.

Table of Contents

Planning Permission Costs Around the UK

From April 1 in England, Householder Applications?for projects such as extensions and garages will cost £548 (previously £528), whereas small-scale improvements?, such as erecting fences or gates, will cost £272.

If you want to build a brand-new house, for one to nine dwellings, ‘Full Application’ is £610 per property, according to the Planning Portal.

Outline application for houses (sites less than 0.5 hectares) will cost £610 for each 0.1 hectare (or part thereof).

In Wales, Householder Applications for extensions and alterations rose from £230 to?£585 in December 2025. Planning permission cost for up to 25 new dwellings is now?£667 each.

Scotland has cheaper Householder Applications, at around £357, with a cost of £600 each for up to 10 new dwellings.

Northern Ireland saw increases applied in April 2025; it’s now around £347?for alterations and amendments, but the most expensive in the UK, at least?£1,035?or higher for a new single dwelling.

All planning applications in the UK with a value of more than £100 are subject to an additional registration fee, of around £90 incl VAT (from April 1), payable to the online Planning Portal in England and Wales, ePlanning.Scot in Scotland, and the NI Planning Portal in Northern Ireland.

Crunching the Numbers: The Fall in Planning Permission Applications

Between July and September 2025, district-level planning authorities received 78,800 applications for planning permission, down 3% from the same quarter a year earlier, according to official government figures.

Planning authorities decided 76,200 of these applications, granting 66,400 decisions, both down 4% from last year.

The biggest decline was in applications for commercial development, down 9% to 1,400. This was followed by householder applications, under which most building projects (such as extensions) come, making up just over half (51%) of all planning applications. A drop of 7% from the previous year saw 38,700 householder development applications granted.

Meanwhile, residential applications, such as building a new house or converting a house into flats, reported an annual fall to 3%, to 7,100.

This drop is accompanied by a 6.3% fall in private housebuilding output in the three months to January 2026, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), despite the government’s promise to build 1.5 million new homes in England by 2030.

Andrew Minto, director of Landhaven, blames planning delays, rising policy costs and renewed inflation uncertainty as key pressures affecting the delivery of new homes:

“The past few years have dealt developers and homeowners a bruising combination of elevated build costs, stubborn interest rates, wide economic uncertainty, and an increasingly challenging planning system. This has all contributed to fewer applications being made and granted.

“For householder development, the increase in permitted development rights has absorbed a significant proportion of what would previously have needed formal consent, so the applications that do come through tend to be the more complex, contested cases, which are naturally harder to approve.

“We've seen caution in the land market, too. Vendors with unrealistic expectations have held sites back, while buyers have been more disciplined about what stacks up at current finance costs. Fewer viable deals mean fewer applications.

“There's also a resourcing reality at the local authority level that can't be ignored. Planning departments have been hollowed out over a decade of cuts. Fewer officers are processing more complex applications in a system under political pressure. It's not a recipe for throughput.”

What Can You Do Under Permitted Development Rights?

Permitted development rights are well worth exploring. They are, however, limited. Before you start, you should check if any previous additions or alterations have used up all or a proportion of the property’s permitted development rights.

You should also check that your proposed improvements add value to your home.

Bear in mind that under permitted development, your building project will still need to comply with Building Regulations to ensure it’s safe to live in.

It’s not a legal requirement, but it’s also recommended that you obtain a Lawful Development Certificate (LDC), costing £103 in England, from the local authority before the building project begins.

An LDC shows you are adhering to planning regulations, proves lawfulness and avoids conveyancing delay if you’re selling the property and prevents enforcement action by the local authority should it disagree that the project has been allowed under permitted development.

However, it’s worth noting that the rules below apply to England and may differ in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Extensions

Under permitted development rights, you can extend a?detached?property by?8m to the rear?with a?single-storey?extension, and by 6m if it’s a semi-detached or terraced property.

A single-storey extension?must not be higher than 4m?on the ridge and the eaves. The ridge heights of the extension must not be higher than the existing property.

It’s also possible to add a two-storey extension under permitted development. The rules mean that such an extension can only be added at the rear of the house – this includes adding a second storey onto an existing one-storey extension.

Under permitted development, a two-storey extension must not exceed 3 metres in depth or be sited within 7 metres of the rear boundary of the property.

Side return extensions – popular on terraced houses with outriggers to create a flexible kitchen/dining/living space -?can only be single-storey with a maximum?height of 4 metres?and a width of no more than half of the original building.

For all extensions, general permitted development rules apply. Usually, they have to be built in the same or similar materials to the existing house

Any new extension must be built in the?same or similar material?to the existing dwelling.

Remember, extending the front of a house as it faces the road requires planning permission.

The only permitted development allowed on the front elevation is a porch with a maximum footprint of 3 square metres and no more than 3 metres in height. It must also be set back at least 2 metres from the boundaries of your property and from the road.

Garage Conversions

Converting an unusable garage or any building adjoining a house is a great way to add extra living space to a property and is typically possible under permitted development rights. It’s widely estimated that only 10% of such conversions require planning permission.

If the garage was added after the house was built, do check with the local authority that this addition hasn’t used up the property’s permitted development rights.

If you’re intending to extend the garage space forward, you will likely need planning permission. And if the garage is detached and separate from the property, you will also likely need to seek planning permission and possibly apply for a change of use.

Loft Conversions

Converting a loft is a great way to add extra bedrooms, a bathroom, a home office or other living space to a property, all guaranteed to add value. Most loft conversions can be done under permitted development.

Under permitted development, you generally cannot add more than 40 cubic metres?of additional space to a terraced house and?50 cubic metres?to a detached or semi-detached house with a loft conversion. The internal loft staircase must have at least 2 metres of head height clearance.

The new loft structure can include dormer windows, but cannot exceed the highest part of the existing roof. Dormer windows can’t be on the front of a property under permitted development.

For that, you would need planning permission. The new structure must be set back at least 20cm from the eaves, and constructed of similar materials to the existing house.

Converting Two Homes into One

This is a debatable one. Some local authorities may allow the conversion of two houses or flats into one under permitted development, while others may demand that planning permission is applied for.

Factors include the existing availability of local housing stock, and ‘planning precedents’ – has this kind of building project been successfully undertaken under permitted development by any neighbouring properties?

This is where the services of a planning consultant can be very useful; they will explore the situation and argue your case.

Adding Another Storey

A popular building project is adding another storey to a bungalow. Usually, this is allowed under permitted development. Again, a planning consultant will advise.

It’s also possible to add up to two storeys to an existing two-storey house. You could even create a separate flat this way.

Adding storeys is subject to certain permitted development caveats. The upwards-extended house cannot exceed the height of 18 metres overall, each storey cannot add more than 3.5 metres to the total height, the added storey/s must be on the principal part of the house, and the roof pitch must be the same after as it was before.

Properties That Don’t Benefit from Permitted Development Rights

Whether you’re buying a property to live in or invest, it’s important to know that not all homes benefit from permitted development rights.

This means any significant structural changes you wish to make, or even alterations to the exterior, may require planning permission. Exempt properties include flats, maisonettes and listed buildings.

Properties in conservation areas and National Parks may also find their permitted development rights restricted or suspended. This can apply to new-build developments too.

In both cases, the withdrawal of permitted development rights (known as Article 4 directions) is imposed by the local authority to ensure the character of an area is not altered significantly.

If the situation is questionable due to any of the factors above, the first step is to check with the local planning authority if permitted development rights are permissible.

If not, it’s a good idea to get a planning consultant on board who can broker an agreeable solution with the planning authority on your behalf.

Also, if a property is leasehold, you’ll need to obtain the freeholder’s permission to undertake major alterations.

Overcoming the Obstacles: How a Developer Sees the Current Picture

The biggest hurdles for small or new developers are “landowner expectations” and the “chronically understaffed planning system”, says Andrew Minto, director of Landhaven.

“Build costs are a real and significant hurdle, but not necessarily the biggest. At Landhaven, we would argue that landowner expectations on land price and securing the good planning permission are equally challenging, if not more so.

“The direction of travel is encouraging. The Government is clearly trying to improve the system, particularly through the revised NPPF, and we strongly welcome that.

“However, the question is whether it is happening fast enough. Ambition in policy is one thing; delivery is another. And changes in policy can take a long time to percolate through to new sites, which still need to secure planning permission, be built and ultimately sold.

“We also advocate practical wins within the existing system. Improving resourcing and efficiency in local planning departments would make an enormous difference to the system we already have.

“Better-resourced, more engaged planning teams wouldn't just help developers; they'd help local authorities deliver on their own housing targets.”

How to Build Planning Costs into Your Project

Obtaining planning permission is more expensive than ever. The process can no longer be dismissed as just a couple of hundred pounds added to the budget of a property renovation, a building project, or residential development.

What’s more, to achieve your aims, you may need to add the cost of a planning consultant, particularly if you face restrictions on the use of permitted development rights.

That’s why it’s important to seek advice from a financial expert and calculate planning costs into your budget.

Finance Your Next Project with Clifton Private Finance

A bridging loan, secured against a property you already own, helps you act as a cash buyer in the market when you need to act fast.

It’s a suitable form of finance for:

• Auction property purchases
• Property renovations or refurbishments
• Securing your next investment opportunity

You can also use it to cover the cost of planning permission fees and renovation work, along with the property purchase price.

To get advice from trusted experts on financing your next property, contact Clifton Private Finance today at 0117 959 5094.