What Is a Pre-Application Meeting and Is It Worth Paying For?

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Before you submit a planning application, most Local Planning Authorities in England offer the opportunity to discuss your proposed scheme in advance. This is called pre-application advice — commonly referred to as pre-app. Some boroughs offer it free for minor householder works. Most charge a fee. And clients regularly ask whether paying for it is worthwhile.

The honest answer is: it depends on your project, your site, and your LPA.

What is pre-application advice?

Pre-application advice is a service offered by the LPA's planning team in which you present your proposed scheme — via a meeting, written submission, or both — and receive a written response from a planning officer. The response sets out whether the scheme appears acceptable in principle, what concerns the officer has, and what information should be included in a formal application.

It is sometimes called a Pre-Application Consultation (PAC) or simply pre-app advice. In London, most boroughs have a formal paid service with published fees. A few offer a free initial enquiry for very minor householder works.

What do London boroughs charge?

Fees vary between boroughs. For householder applications — extensions, loft conversions, alterations — most London boroughs charge in the range of £150–£600 for a written pre-app response, with some offering a face-to-face meeting at the higher end. Fees for major development — new buildings, larger residential schemes — can run to several thousand pounds.

These fees are payable in addition to, and entirely separately from, the formal planning application fee itself.

What you receive

A useful pre-app response will tell you:

Whether the scheme is likely to be acceptable in principle under local and national policy
What the officer's specific concerns are — scale, design, materials, impact on neighbours, heritage setting
What information and documents should accompany a formal application — design and access statement, heritage assessment, arboricultural survey, and so on
Whether any further technical input is needed before submission

A poor pre-app response is vague, references policy without applying it to your scheme, and leaves you no more certain than you were before paying.

The critical caveat: it is not binding

Pre-app advice is one officer's opinion at a single point in time. It is not a commitment from the LPA, not a guarantee of approval, and not a material consideration in the same way that an approved permission is. A different officer, a planning committee, or an appeal inspector can reach a different conclusion at the formal decision stage. Planning policy can change between the pre-app response and the formal decision.

This is particularly important if you are making significant financial or contractual commitments on the basis of a positive pre-app response. It should inform your confidence — but it cannot replace formal permission.

When pre-app is genuinely worth the investment

Sensitive or complex sites. If your property is in a Conservation Area, near a Listed Building, in the Green Belt, or subject to an Article 4 Direction removing Permitted Development rights, a refusal of your application would be a significant setback. Pre-app lets you understand the officer's concerns before you incur the cost of detailed design, technical reports, and application preparation.

Unusual schemes. If your proposal is genuinely novel — a contemporary extension on a traditionally styled building in a sensitive location, or a scheme that does not fit neatly into any standard householder category — pre-app helps you understand how the LPA interprets policy in practice rather than assuming on the basis of national guidance alone.

Major development with investor or finance requirements. Before committing significant detailed design fees, a funder may require pre-app confirmation of in-principle acceptability as a condition of proceeding. Pre-app does not replace permission but demonstrates structured due diligence.

Permitted Development boundary cases. Where you are genuinely unsure whether your scheme falls within Permitted Development or requires a full application, a conversation with the LPA before submission can prevent wasted application fees and abortive design cost. This is particularly relevant after extensions have already been added to the property — cumulative area limits under PD rights need checking.

When pre-app is probably not worth it

A straightforward single-storey rear extension that is clearly within Permitted Development limits, very similar to approved schemes in the same street, and not near any designations, does not usually benefit from paid pre-app advice. An experienced planning agent who knows the LPA's dispositions — and has handled similar applications in that borough — is often more useful and faster than a formal pre-app response in these circumstances.

The Design and Access Statement question

The pre-app stage is also the moment to establish whether a Design and Access Statement (DAS) will be required with your formal application. A DAS is required for most applications in designated areas — Conservation Areas, World Heritage Sites — and for major applications generally. Knowing this before submission prevents last-minute preparation that weakens the application.

RCB's view

As a design-and-build principal contractor, we help clients identify where pre-app is genuinely needed and where it would simply delay the project without adding value. For clients on straightforward sites with experienced agents, we often recommend proceeding directly to application. For clients on sensitive sites where the scheme is genuinely uncertain, pre-app is almost always the right investment.

The question to ask is simple: what is the cost of getting this wrong? If a refusal would be expensive and disruptive — requiring redesign, resubmission, and delay — then a pre-app meeting is cheap by comparison. If the scheme is clear and the precedent is strong, it is probably not needed.

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