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Front of a stucco house on Chester Square in Belgravia with a pillared porch, black door and iron balcony
Photograph: Pierrette13 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

01Planning

How much does discharging planning conditions cost in London?

Discharging planning conditions on a London permission costs from £375 with us for a pack of up to three conditions, as a fixed fee with no VAT to add. The council charges its own fee on top: £89 on a householder permission and £309 on any other.

From £375

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    Write to us before 3pm and we reply the same working day. Redraws are free until approval.

    What a pack costs

    Permission is rarely unconditional. Officers attach conditions, and some of them say details must be approved before work starts. Discharging them means submitting those details and asking the council to approve them in writing. Our fee, from £375, covers a pack of up to three conditions: we read the decision notice, prepare what each condition asks for and submit the application.

    The council's fee is a separate line. On a householder permission it is £89; on any other permission it is £309, both from 1 April 2026 and paid to the council when you apply.

    Discharging one pack of conditionsOur fee, up to three conditions: £375; Council fee, householder permission: £89; Council fee, any other permission: £309; VAT on our fee: none to add£Our fee, up to three conditions£375£Council fee, householder permission£89£Council fee, any other permission£309£VAT on our feenone to add
    Council fees are from the national table effective 1 April 2026.

    What the council wants to see

    The condition itself sets the evidence. A materials condition asks for samples or a manufacturer's specification of the brick, slate or render. A windows condition wants joinery drawings at a scale the officer can read, with the section through the frame. A landscaping or boundary condition asks for a plan.

    That is why the work is not a form-filling exercise. In a conservation area such as those in the City of Westminster, 56 of them published by the council, the details are the part of the scheme the officer cares most about.

    Number 37 Dover Street in Mayfair, a white stucco Georgian townhouse with arched ground-floor windows and iron railings
    Dover Street: a front door, a fanlight and a stucco finish are the details a condition will ask to see before a single one is changed.Photograph: stevecadman, CC BY-SA 2.0

    How long it takes

    The council has eight weeks to decide an application for approval required by a condition, or longer if you both agree in writing. That is a legal period for the council, and it is why the application should go in before the builder is booked, not after.

    Starting work before a pre-commencement condition is discharged is a breach of the permission. We tell you which of your conditions are of that kind when we read the notice.

    Conditions you want to change, not meet

    Sometimes the problem is the condition. A section 73 application can vary or remove a condition and produces a new permission, leaving the original intact. The council's fee for that on a householder permission is also £89.

    If your permission came from drawings we did not prepare, send the decision notice and we say which route fits. For small changes to the drawings themselves, see our planning amendment service.

    White stucco terrace houses on Eaton Square in Belgravia, with columned porches and first-floor balconies
    Eaton Square: a terrace like this makes the finish of a new element a condition, so the sample matters as much as the drawing.Photograph: CVB, CC BY-SA 4.0

    Get a fixed fee

    Send the decision notice. We read the conditions free of charge and tell you which need details, what that means and how many packs you need. More on the service is on our discharge of planning conditions page.

    From notice to dischargeSend the decision notice; Free reading of each condition; Fixed fee in writing; Details prepared and submitted; Council decision, then your approvali

    Send the decision notice

    ii

    Free reading of each condition

    iii

    Fixed fee in writing

    iv

    Details prepared and submitted

    v

    Council decision, then your approval

    We list the conditions that stop work from starting.

    The figures, with sources

    1. 8 weeks

      Period for the council to decide an application to approve details required by a condition, unless longer is agreed.

      Source: Development Management Procedure Order 2015, article 27, checked 25 Oct 2026

    2. £89

      Council charge for approving details under conditions on a householder permission.

      Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026

    3. £309

      Council charge for approving details under conditions on any permission that is not a householder one.

      Source: Ribble Valley Borough Council, national fee table from 1 April 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026

    4. s73

      An application under section 73 may vary or remove a condition and gives a fresh permission beside the old one.

      Source: GOV.UK, Flexible options for planning permissions, checked 25 Oct 2026

    5. 56

      Conservation areas designated by Westminster City Council, where conditions on materials are common.

      Source: planning.data.gov.uk, conservation areas dataset, checked 7 Oct 2026

    Questions

    Do I have to discharge conditions?

    Yes where the condition asks for details to be approved. Ignoring it can put the whole permission at risk, and a buyer's solicitor may ask for the approvals.

    Can I discharge more than three conditions?

    Yes. A pack covers up to three; we quote extra packs after reading the notice.

    Does the council's fee cover every condition?

    The fee depends on how the conditions are grouped into requests. We confirm the number of requests and the total before you pay the council anything.

    What if the council refuses to discharge?

    We amend the details and resubmit, and the cost of the revision is quoted before we start.

    The fee for discharge of planning conditions

    Discharge of planning conditions

    from £375

    The total you pay. No VAT to add.

    Get a fixed quote from £375

    What you get

    • A reading of the decision notice and every condition
    • Details prepared for each condition in the pack
    • The discharge application lodged with your council
    • A list of conditions that must be cleared before work
    • The council's written approval chased to a decision
    Georgian brick terrace with sash windows, arched fanlight doorways, stone steps and iron railings in London

    8 weeks

    Period for the council to decide an application to approve details required by a condition, unless longer is agreed. Source: legislation.gov.uk

    Photograph: Lorenc Memaga

    02Guides

    More guides

    Kensington street lined with brick townhouses and lit streetlamps beneath an orange dusk sky

    Send us the address of your house.

    We look up the conservation area, listing and Article 4 position, then reply with a fixed fee. A message before 3pm is answered the same working day.

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    Discharging Planning Conditions Cost in London: £375