Pre-application advice

Council planning application fees have increased by 20% since January 2018. When you add this to the cost of your architectural plans, special reports, and other associated costs, seeking professional pre-application advice to determine the likely success of a proposed application can help you to avoid heavy losses on an application with a poor chance of being approved.

Nearly all councils now charge for planning advice that was usually provided free for decades, and many charge more than independent planning specialists.

Far worse, two factors can devalue a planning authority’s pre-application advice:-

1. Planning Officers are not employed to help you to win planning permission but to promote and apply the planning authority’s policies.
2. Even when advice is in writing, it usually states that it is that officer’s advice, and the council may decide differently!

The combined effect of those two factors drastically limits the value of a council’s advice about the prospects of winning planning permission. We have lost count of clients complaining that the planning officer’s advice was encouraging but the application was then refused – often by the same planning officer!

INDEPENDENT pre-application advice

Land Planning Associates has provided pre-application advice for development proposals throughout the UK for over 28 years, and the regulatory authority accepted way back in 2001 that our expertise was a match for any planning authority resisting reasonable proposals to develop land.

Our advice takes account of not only local council planning policies, but also national policies, and with emphasis on justifying planning permission rather than on refusing it.

If you require pre-application advice, please complete and submit the form below to receive a prompt cost quotation.