Search for “free resubmission planning application” and most results describe a concession that no longer exists. The free-go, submitting a revised application within 12 months of a refusal without paying the fee again, was removed for the majority of application types from 6 December 2023. If you’re planning around the assumption that a second attempt costs nothing, that assumption is out of date.
What the free-go used to be
For many years, an applicant whose scheme was refused or withdrawn could submit a revised version within 12 months, addressing the reasons for refusal, without paying the application fee a second time. It applied where the resubmission was for development of a similar character or description on the same site, subject to a set of specific conditions, and it existed to encourage genuine refinement of a proposal rather than punishing every design iteration with a fresh fee.
Why it was removed
The Town and Country Planning (Fees for Applications, Deemed Applications, Requests and Site Visits) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which came into force on 6 December 2023, removed this fee exemption as part of a wider package of fee increases.
The government’s stated reasoning was to encourage applicants to engage in pre-application discussions and submit higher-quality applications the first time, rather than treating an initial submission as a low-cost first draft with a free second attempt built in if it didn’t work.
The transitional window, and why it’s now closed
A savings provision allowed applicants who’d already had an application refused or withdrawn before 6 December 2023 to still claim a free-go within their original 12-month window, provided every other condition was met. That transitional protection only ever applied to refusals or withdrawals occurring before that specific date. Since 12 months from 5 December 2023 was 5 December 2024, that window closed some time ago. For any application refused or withdrawn now, there is no free-go available.
What this actually means for anyone resubmitting today
A revised application submitted after a refusal is treated as a new application in every respect that matters for the fee, full fee due, calculated exactly as it would be for a first-time submission of that same scheme. There’s no discount, no waiver, and no reference to the fact that a similar scheme was already submitted and refused. For a householder application, that’s the full £548 again. For a larger scheme, the full banded fee, recalculated fresh.
Why this raises the stakes on getting it right first time
With no financial safety net for a second attempt, the practical value of pre-application advice, and of thoroughly addressing a council’s local plan policies before submitting, has genuinely increased. This connects directly to a point covered in our householder application guide: the April 2026 appeal procedure reforms already reduced how much room there is to strengthen a weak application after the fact, at appeal stage. Between that change and the removal of the free-go, the overall message from recent reforms points the same direction, a well-prepared first submission now matters more than it used to, because both of the traditional safety nets around a weak application have been narrowed.
What still genuinely helps, now that the free-go is gone
- Pre-application advice, a paid but often worthwhile service most councils offer, giving informal feedback on a scheme before formal submission
- Getting the validation checklist right, avoiding the separate 28-day/20% charge risk covered in our discharge of conditions and householder guides
- Engaging with neighbours and consultees informally before submitting, where a scheme is likely to be contentious, since addressing concerns before formal consultation can reduce the risk of refusal in the first place
None of these are free in the way the old free-go was, but they’re the genuine alternatives available now that a fee-free second attempt isn’t.
For the official regulations and current fee schedule, see Gov.uk: Fees for planning applications.
Resubmitting after a refusal and need to confirm the fee due? Use the calculator, it’s calculated at the full rate, the same as any new application.