London landlords agree to pay extra planning fees

A group of over 150 London property owners have voluntarily signed up to pay Westminster council an extra £26,000 per planning application.

The deal between the Westminster Property Association (WPA) – which represents major developers including Land Securities – and Westminster council has been agreed to help make up the planning authority’s budget shortfall.

Reports suggest budget shortfalls at the council have put up to 30 planning officers’ jobs at risk.

Six planning staff were made redundant earlier this month, with six posts being held vacant. A spokesperson for the council said the deal “will secure jobs until the end of the financial year”.

Westminster’s planning authority has suffered particularly badly in the recession as nearly half of its workload is for listed buildings or projects in conservation areas, for which there are no fees.

The council made the change because it “could not wait” for the government to make long-awaited legislative changes which will allow councils to charge their own fee levels.

They are currently waiting on a separate decision by communities secretary Eric Pickles to approve plans for them to do this independently.

The fee hike will come into force for a temporary period from 1 October until 31 March 2012, when it is anticipated the regulations permitting locally set planning fees will be in force.

Councillor Robert Davis, Westminster council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for the built environment, said: “The CLG consulted us last year on allowing planning authorities to recover their fees on applications. Unfortunately this has not materialised to date and we can no longer devote large resources to the additional advice we provide on major complex schemes.

“The agreement with the WPA allows us to ensure that for a temporary period they will get the service level they need to avoid unnecessary delays. The charge is voluntary for major developments, so will not affect smaller applications.

“We want to continue to support growth in Westminster – our economy is crucial to that of London and the country as a whole. To do this it is essential the right advice is on hand for organisations submitting complex planning applications. We are pleased that the proposals have now been agreed and will be in place from October.”

David Silverman, Chairman of the WPA, said: “For London to remain a world city with Westminster at its heart, development is essential. Westminster process more planning applications than any other London borough and a properly resourced planning department is paramount. In addition to growing collaboration with local communities, our proposal recognises the need in these constrained times for ever more co-operation between the development community and officers and members.”