A number of Westminster’s largest landlords have agreed to pay an extra cash sum to the council for additional advice on major projects.
Members of the Westminster Property Association will pay an extra £26,000 for each major scheme to fund additional working hours by council planning staff.
Derwent London and Great Portland Estates are among the 150 WPA members that supported the landmark agreement.
The fee will be linked to a planning performance agreement that brings together the planning authority, developer and other stakeholders to work in partnership throughout the planning process.
The agreements are not covered by the fees applicants already pay, which are set by central government.
WPA claims the current fee income received by the council for planning and related applications covers less than one-third of the cost of providing the service.
Robert Davis, Westminster’s deputy leader and cabinet member for the built environment, said: “The Communities and Local Government consulted us last year on allowing planning authorities to recover their fees on applications. Unfortunately this has not materialised to date and we can no longer devote large resources to the additional advice we provide on major complex schemes.”
The charges will be implemented from 1 October until 31 March 2012, when it is expected that regulations permitting locally-set planning fees will be in place.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
