Planning fees

Charges for planning applications and newspaper advertisement of certain planning applications.

1. Scale of fees

In addition to the online fee calculator, details of the latest amendments to the fee structure can be found at The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025.

On 9 June 2025, fees were introduced for appeals to Scottish Ministers and to the council's local review body.

Local reviews can be submitted using the ePlanning website.

Site area and floor space

Wherever a fee is based on the site area, the site area is defined as the area to which the application relates; that is to say, the land being developed including any which changes its use as part of the development.

This will normally be shown edged in red on the plan accompanying the application, while other land in the same ownership but not being developed is normally identified separately.

Wherever a fee is based on floor space, the floor space is taken to be the gross floor space (all storeys) to be created by the development shown in the application. For fee purposes this measurement is an external measurement, and includes the thickness of external and internal walls.

Floor space does not include other areas inside a building which are not readily usable by humans or animals, for example: lift shafts, tanks, loft spaces.

Where buildings featuring or comprising canopies are concerned, there can be no simple rule as to whether floor space is being created by the erection of the canopy, but the absence of external walls is not the determining factor.

Where floor space or site area (as the case may be) is not an exact multiple of the unit of measurement provided by the fees scale, the amount remaining is taken to be a whole unit for fees purposes.

The fee is always determined on the basis of the application as made.

Even if permission is granted for a development of a different size, or if the application is amended by agreement in the course of discussion with the applicant, no adjustment is made to the fee payable.

Staff will be pleased to advise on matters arising from these Regulations.

2. Newspaper advertisements

The following categories of planning applications will require to be advertised in a local newspaper. The advertisement will be placed by North Ayrshire Council. The cost of placing the advertisement must be paid to North Ayrshire Council at the time of making the application. Categories:

(a) Where there are no premises on one or more areas of neighbouring land to which notification can be sent.

(b) Where North Ayrshire Council has dispensed with the requirement to notify neighbours across the road.

(c) Where the application is for a type of development listed in Schedule 3 of the Development Management Procedure (Scotland) Regulations 2013.

Fee

Advertised in:

• Guthrie Newspapers Group - £203 (including VAT)
• The Arran Banner - £92 (including VAT)

Where a planning application is subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) under The Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2017, a notice requires to be published in a local newspaper and the Edinburgh Gazette. In such cases, a further fee will be required.