Scotland | Planning fee changes

Planning fees in Scotland will be increased on 1 April 2022.

Fees will increase in most cases between 25 per cent and 50 per cent, following a consultation in 2019 that considered reviewing the planning performance and fee regime.

Implementing the new fee regime was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the first increase in eight years to the standard planning application fee.

Scottish planning minister Tom Arthur said: "The planning system plays a central role in shaping the places where we live, work and access local services – and in delivering a just transition to a net-zero economy. Ensuring planning departments are efficient and effectively resourced is vital to realising our ambitions for Scotland and supporting recovery.

"That is why reviewing planning fees and performance is a key part of our planning reform programme. This is a significant change to planning fees, which will provide substantial additional income to authorities and help to move towards fully recovering the cost of dealing with planning applications.

"I expect these increases to lead to improvements in planning performance and we will shortly progress the recruitment of Scotland's first National Planning Improvement Coordinator."

The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 can be viewed here.