Councils have spent £450m covering the cost of planning applications over the past three years, prompting the Local Government Association to call for a review of planning fees.
Nationally-set planning fees prevent local authorities from charging the full cost of processing an average of 467,000 planning applications submitted every year, according to the LGA.
The association, which represents 370 councils in England and Wales, wants government to give councils powers to set their own planning fees, arguing the current system is diverting funds from vital services.
A campaign launched today with the British Property Federation asks for planning fees to be reviewed as part of the government’s spending review, which is due to be published on 25 November.
It comes after a BPF survey found that two-thirds of its private sector respondents would be willing to pay higher fees to help under-resourced planning departments.
Melanie Leech, BPF chief executive, said: “Both the public and private sectors are very clear that the current lack of resources for local authority planning departments is a problem, and that it is hindering development that can bring about much-needed regeneration across the UK.”
LGA research has found that covering the cost of planning applications is growing at a rate of about £120m a year and is expected to exceed £1bn by 2020.
A department for Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Councils have done well to deliver record approvals, with almost 250,000 homes a year receiving planning permission – up by nearly 60% since 2010.
“We are keen to ensure planning can be delivered in the most cost-effective way and we have been listening carefully to representations from the sector about funding to planning departments.”
