The Department for Infrastructure has announced that an inflationary increase in planning fees will come into effect from Thursday 6 April 2023.
The increase of approximately 12.3%, the first since 2019, will be applied across all planning application categories and is necessary to assist councils and the Department to cover the cost of processing the applications. This is in line with the recent Public Accounts Committee’s recommendation that the planning system needs to be made financially sustainable and is part of the plans to improve the planning service to support sustainable development across Northern Ireland.
When applied, for example, the planning application fee to extend a home will increase from £291 to £327; the fee to build a single house will rise from £868 to £975; whilst the fee for a developer building 50 houses will increase by £2,285.
The Regulations and Explanatory Memorandum can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk.
Notes to editors:
- The Planning (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2023 will amend the Planning (Fees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 by applying an inflationary uplift of approximately 12.3% overall across all planning fee categories.
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