Payment for Pre-application Advice - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
Open group
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Started - July 2012
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Last activity - Yesterday
Payment for Pre-application Advice
Currently my authority does not charge for pre-application discussions on any project, regardless of size. The advice we do give, is however heavily caveat'd and is not resourced particularly well. Before making a recommendation to members, I would be interested to hear from colleagues who charge for non-household pre-application meetings and particularly the benefits and pitfalls that such an approach has. For example, does the number of "cold" applications increase? Etc. We were hoping to offer discounts under the localised fees regime via a PPA… but I'm fed up of waiting for that … lol Thanks in anticipation. Phill
Phill We have been charging for non-householder pre-app since 1 October 2011 (although we do a fast track 48hr turnaround for households at a charge of £60.) 'Cold' applications wise, anecdotally without looking at the figures I wouldn't say we have seen a noticeable increase. The majority of larger developers seem to accept the cost as a necessary evil. Buy in at the top of the tree is crucial. It has seemingly also detracted a lot of repeat users of the service who were using it essentially as a free consultancy service and reduced those proposals which were taking up disproportionate amounts of officer time. The negative aspects are that it can place a burden on SMEs and start ups, which detracts from it's use. It is naturally met with resistance from those with little understanding of the process. Perhaps most importantly, it places a far greater emphasis on the quality of the advice given. No amount of cavaets appease developers when something unforseen crops up during the application stage. Figures show a massive drop in use of the service, however. On a very quick, rough estimate, for 6 months since 1 Oct 11, down approx 43% year on year, and down 54% on the preceeding 6 month period i.e. Apr - Oct 11. I would say the quality of the service has seemingly improved, the reduction has allowed officers to focus on an improved level of pre-app service and also spend more time on apps. The resource aspect seems more appropriately balanced, but it is still early days. Hope this is of use. Jason
We are working with a group of councils on their pre-app offer (amongst other things). It's only just been agreed, but I think at its heart we're trying to understand "does preapp work ?". It's little surprise that no one really captures the data that would show this one way or another. I'd expect us to have something publishable in 6 months or so, so it may be a bit late for you.