Dear Illustrious Community,
I would much appreciate sharing this perplexing missive from the planning dept here at West Norfolk.
Can anyone tell us whether this is "legally" required or not? The wording is frankly baffling and we have no experience of any requirement from them with our previous build. It appears that the fee is optional from the wording....This is for our very low cost/low impact tiny cottage mad from salvaged and natural materials only....

I hope it's readable...

This is another invisible tax, a fee for the planners to work on your information to satisfy the conditions.

If you don't satisfy them within their time frame there will be an extra fee, beware.

Carol, conditions are quite normal and paying to discharge conditions is quite normal and £97 is currently the fee payable for such. There's no time limit and the price doesn't depend on when you do it except unless you wait until inflation raises the price:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fees-for-planning-applications

Note that you pay the same fee no matter how many conditions you discharge at one time and that there is no obligation on you to request written confirmation of discharge. So I have discharged those conditions that had to be satisfied before my build but haven't bothered about those that need to be satisfied afterwards. I suppose if you intend to sell the property then conditions that haven't been discharged might become an issue, for example.

Hello, I'm John Carol's Husband. I'd be grateful if you'd peruse the printed wording again. What I'm percieving is that a fee to discharge a condition is "optional". My guess is planners are relying on our unquestioning assumption that they are entitled to charge a fee.

I quote
"There are NO NATIONAL REQUIREMENTS for applications for the approoval of details reserved by condition except that they should be made in writing. "

So "No national requirements" this does not seem to be law. "except that they should be made in writing" that seems to be more like law

"However you may submit the following" Here we go again "may" is a nice option and we "may" choose not to. What do you think? Thank you. John

is there an obligation that you must seek confirmation conditions have been met? This is news to me. Sounds like it's optional, the sort of thing a solicitor acting for a buyer of your house would ask for when they spotted a recent planning application related to the transaction property.

have a read of this:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fees-for-planning-applications#fees-for-specific-application-types

specifically section "When does a fee for written confirmation of compliance need to be paid?" Sounds like the fee is payble but only if you want or need written confirmation conditions have been met.

Getting a planning condition discharged is legal proof that the condition has been met. If you don't get it discharged you might have problems when you come to sell. It can also help avoid other problems. For example suppose you had a planning condition requiring you to get your materials agreed. Let's say you get verbal agreement from the planning officer who then leaves his job or dies. There is no guarantee that his replacement will be of the same mind.

The planning officer that came to visit my site agreed that the oak on my outbuilding could be stained a light colour or left to silver naturally. The planner I got when it came time to approve the materials wanted it barn black.

The planners have 10 years to initiate enforcement action for breech of planning condition. At any point in those 10 years the planners could in theory decide they don't like your choice of materials and discover they weren't approved.

Seller has "lost" local council sign off...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=207&t=1678669

John/carol

I know, I know.. the planning department have got up your nose by being awkward with your dreams, slapping you with fees and conditions and telling you you can't have what you want etc.. you want to stick it to them in any way possible, but in the grand scheme of things this is a very small fee, and getting your gourd all out of shape over it will only be detrimental to you.

If you want your mile back that they took when you were offering your inch, it's a better tactic to play nice, play dumb, look like you're doing what a good obedient citizen is doing and then set about doing what you actually want in a quiet way, slowly over a few years. They said no to a nice big patio? Put in what is on the plan, but make sure you buy some extra flags to cover breakages, and the paths around the house, of course. Remember that you can reclaim the VAT on them as theyre part of an approved landscaping plan and lay the spare ones at the end of your patio next year when everyone's stopped caring.. want a 4 bedroom house? Submit plans for a 3 bed that has a couple of large, strategically placed wardrobe/ensuites separating your bedrooms, get your council tax banding based on a 3 bed, then get the sledgehammer out and alter it to a 4 bed.. even if you pick up an improvement indicator you'll carry on paying the lower rate of council tax til you sell; it's your buyer who picks up the extra charge

There are a hundred legal ways to be creative with the accounting that goes with building your dream that will easily recover this fee; it's pointless to go head to head with The Man to try and beat it out of him upfront - it'll only cost you more

Remember too, that it's 97 per application, not per condition. If you have several, discharge them simultaneously