Majority of MP’s think planning fees should rise

Over half of all MP’s think that planning application fees should increase, according to the ComRes poll.

In a poll released on Friday commissioned by the British Property Federation (BPF), results showed that the majority of MP’s believe that fees for planning applications should increase.

The ComRes poll shows that three in five (61%) MP’s broadly agree that fees should increase, with around half (47%) saying that they should increase with stronger guarantees on planning performance.

The results show support across Labour and Conservative parties, with two thirds of Labour (65%) and three in five Conservative (61%) MP’s supporting the idea.

The results show that members of Parliament recognise there is a problem, alongside the property industry and local authorities, with the BPF and GL Hearn’s 2015 Annual Planning Survey revealing that 55% of local authorities perceived under-resourcing to be a challenge. Around two thirds (65%) of applicants are happy to pay more to shorten waiting times.

The government has proposed to allow local authorities to outsource the processing of planning applications and said that they would reward well-performing local authorities by allowing them to increase planning fees by an inflationary increase. Although these steps address the problem, BPF has warned that they will not go far enough.

In response to a government consultation on the technical planning changes set out in the Housing & Planning Bill, the BPF have supported the government’s recognition of the fact that local authorities are struggling to provide the service required by applicants.

However, according to BPF, the measures will not be enough to close the skills gap.

Melanie Leech, Chief Executive of the British Property Federation, commented: “The public and private sectors have both been very clear about the need for more resourcing in local authority planning departments, and we now know that there is political understanding of this issue as well.

“We are supportive of the small steps that government is taking to address this, but are not holding out hope for any great impact. Some local authority planning departments are simply short staffed, putting those who remain under enormous strain. Outsourcing the processing of planning applications is likely to relieve this burden to an extent, but it is not going to solve the chronic shortage of skills and resource that is the true problem.”

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