What is pre-application advice?
Pre-application advice is a way of finding out whether a specific proposed development would be likely to be acceptable and what the key issues will be before the submission of a formal application.
If you would like to discuss your proposals with us or would like advice on whether planning permission is likely to be granted before you formally submit your application, we encourage you to email your request to us at pre-app@warwickdc.gov.uk.
If you would like to know whether you would require planning permission, visit Do I need planning permission?
Why do we offer pre-application advice?
We believe that pre-application discussions will help to improve the quality of your application which in turn will reduce the likelihood of issues arising after it has been submitted and help us to make a decision as quickly as possible.
What information do I need to provide?
If you are requesting pre-app advice, please ensure that you provide the following, together with the relevant fee:
- a completed pre-application advice request form.
- a site location plan ideally to a scale of 1-1250 clearly showing the site within the surrounding area, and
- a site/block plan indicating the proposed development relative to the immediately surrounding land and buildings along with the position of any trees affected by the development.
In many cases particularly including larger developments, it will be also be necessary for you to provide sketch plans showing the details of the proposed development including parking and other arrangements: this is because without such information at the outset, the advice that we are able to give will be limited.
Fees
The basic fee that you pay will cover either a 1 hour meeting or a written response which will be given on the basis of the information that you have provided. Where you request a meeting and a written response, the fee will be doubled.
Please note that where multiple proposals/alternative schemes are submitted, a separate fee will be required for each proposal.
| Tier | Type of advice | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Written requests relating to the planning history of a site | £360 |
| Tier 2 | Provision of pre-application advice as to the acceptability of a minor proposal |
Householders: £120 per meeting or written response; or £240 for both Other proposals: £360 per meeting or written response; or £720 for both |
| Tier 3 | Provision of pre-application advice for small scale non-householder proposals which do not fall with tiers 4 – 6; changes of use including house to HMO | £360 per meeting or written response; or £720 for both |
| Tier 4 | Provision of pre-application advice for proposals which comprise 1 dwelling | £480 per meeting or written response; or £960 for both |
|
Tier 5 |
Provision of pre-application advice for proposals which fall within the "minor" development category and comprise 2-5 dwellings; a floor area of up to 499 square metres or a site area of up to 0.49 ha. | £840 per meeting or written response; or £1,680 for both |
| Tier 6 | Provision of pre-application advice for proposals which fall within the "minor" development category and comprise 6-9 dwellings; a floor area of up to 500 - 999 square metres or a site area of up to 0.5 - 0.99 ha. | £1,200 per meeting or written response; or £2,400 for both |
| Tier 7 | Provision of pre-application advice for proposals which fall within the “small scale major” development category: i.e. residential proposals of 10 – 199 dwellings or involving a site area of 0.5 - 4 ha; commercial proposals involving between 1000 and 9999 sq m of floor space or a site area of 1 -2 ha | £2,400 per meeting or written response; or £4,800 for both |
| Tier 8 | Provision of pre-application advice for proposals which fall within the “large scale major” development category: i.e. residential proposals of 200 or more dwellings or involving a site area of 4 ha or more; commercial proposals involving 10000 sq m or more of floor space or a site area of 2 ha or more | £4,800 per meeting or written response; or £9,600 for both |
All fees are inclusive of VAT at a rate of 20%, and apply to all development proposals including those following both the grant of outline planning permission (i.e. prior to the submission of reserved matters applications) and the refusal of planning permission.
Fee exemptions
For any specific development proposal, a fee will not be charged for the first round of advice (provided by means of either a written response or meeting) relating to proposals which:
- are brought forward by small charitable organisations that are based within Warwick district where the proposal either falls within tiers 2 to 3 or where larger schemes falling within tiers 4 to 6 are proposed to directly benefit the users of the charity
- propose the provision of affordable housing within the district
- assist disabled people: for example, proposals involving modifications to make a house more accessible or user friendly
- require Listed Building consent (not including redevelopment schemes where the work to a Listed Building is part of a wider proposal)
- are for employment development falling within the B use class
Payment
Pay online using a debit or credit card
What the advice covers
Pre-application advice will be provided by a Planning Officer. That advice will be provided in good faith on the basis of the information that you have provided but can only be given without prejudice to any decision the council may take on a subsequent application.
We will aim to provide you with as comprehensive advice as possible based upon the information that you have provided. Depending on the nature of your request, that advice might include:
- The identification of the key relevant material considerations .
- An assessment of those considerations as far as is possible from the information that you have provided.
- The acceptability of the proposals in policy or other terms.
- An assessment of design and/or amenity considerations.
- Information about the likely response from internal consultees, for example environmental health or conservation/heritage considerations.
- The identification of external consultees that you may wish to approach for guidance prior to making an application.
- The potential heads of terms likely to be required as part of any Section 106 agreement.
- The information and supporting documents required to make an application valid.
Timescales
- We will start to work on your request when we have received your fee.
- If you have requested a written response, this will be emailed to you within 5 weeks of the registration of your request.
- If you have requested a meeting, we will offer you a meeting to take place within 5 weeks of the registration of your request.
- If you have requested a meeting and a written response, the response will be emailed to you within 2 weeks of the meeting.
Confidentiality
It is important that you are aware that we have to treat information provided to us as part of this advice as being publicly available unless you specify otherwise.
For information on how we handle and process your personal data, please visit the Planning Privacy Notice page.