Council planning
departments are set to miss out on an extra £70 million by the end of the
financial year, ‘hampering’ their ability to process applications, if the
Government does not urgently bring forward measures to increase planning fees,
the LGA has warned.
In the Budget, the
Chancellor pledged to introduce measures to speed up development, yet pledged
no new money to help with the resourcing of planning departments – despite this
being the key ask of councils to help speed up planning processes.
The LGA has
consistently called for the Government to cover the cost of processing
applications for planning departments through allowing councils to set fees
locally.
From July, councils
were expecting to be able to raise fees by 20 per cent. On top of this, they
still await the results of a government consultation to raise them again by a
further 20 per cent. It is now absolutely crucial that this month’s Local Government
Finance Settlement includes the ability for them to make this first crucial
rise immediately.
In the Budget, the
Chancellor also announced a major review into the gap between planning
permissions being granted to developers and homes actually being built. The LGA
has consistently called for councils to be given the powers they need to make
sure that sites granted planning permission actually become homes for our
communities to live in, but more resources are required to make the
Chancellor’s planning ambitions a reality.
Overall, councils
face a £5.8 billion shortfall in funding by 2020, and previous LGA analysis
showed that the bill for local taxpayers to cover the cost of planning
applications is around £200 million a year and will, in total, cost £1 billion
by 2022.
Cllr Martin Tett,
the LGA’s Housing spokesman, said: “Council planning departments are doing an
incredible job with extremely limited resources, approving nine out of ten
applications, with the majority processed quickly.
“The simple fact is
that if the Government is serious about speeding up the delivery of new homes,
they must provide more resources for our planning departments.
“The Government has
promised to increase planning fees, as a first step to helping speed up
development, and we urge them to bring forward this increase as soon as
possible - the upcoming local government finance settlement would be an ideal
opportunity.
“Our planners both
protect local environments and ensure appropriate and affordable homes are
delivered for our communities. That’s why ultimately, council planners should
be able to set fees that reflect the needs of their local area.
“As a minimum first
step, however, the Government needs to deliver those fee increases that they
have already committed to. By April next year, if the fees are not forthcoming,
planners will have missed out on £70 million, which is money that would help us
approve applications, safeguard our environments, and deliver homes and
communities to be proud of.”
