Building control gets dearer in England: councils move to full cost recovery on 6 November

On 16 October 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government sent Circular 05/2026 to every council in England: from 6 November the rules on what local authority building control can charge for are changing. The measure is Statutory Instrument 2026 No. 1094, signed on 14 October and laid before Parliament on 15 October. It revokes the 2010 charges regulations for England and widens what a council may bill to whoever is paying for the work.

What changes on 6 November 2026?

The governing principle is full cost recovery. A council must set charges so that, taking one financial year with another, income matches what the service costs to run (regulation 5(1)). What is new is that those costs may now expressly include a reasonable proportion of the authority's overheads, depreciation and cost of capital (regulation 5(3)). The 2010 regulations had no such wording. Regulation 11 comes later: 24 March 2027, and 24 September 2027 for higher-risk buildings.

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What can a council charge for now?

The list of chargeable functions in regulation 4 is close to twice as long as before. Alongside the application for building control approval, site inspections and the building notice, it now covers accepting or rejecting notices and certificates from private Registered Building Control Approvers, tests of conformity, action on notices about defective premises, dangerous, ruinous and dilapidated buildings and neglected sites, demolition, an officer's power of entry under section 95 of the Building Act 1984, securing compliance, sanctions for contraventions, and appeals.

The payer is not always the same person. The client pays for the application, inspections and regularisation; the building's owner pays where the council uses its powers over dangerous or dilapidated structures; enforcement work is billed to whoever the council reasonably believes has contravened the rules (regulation 6).

Why does the free first hour of advice disappear?

Because the duty to offer it has been removed. Where an existing charging scheme contains a free first hour of officer advice, that provision stops applying on 6 November itself (regulation 13(2)). In its consultation response the government said views were mixed, so the free hour becomes a local choice. Some councils will keep it, some will not, and the published scheme is the only way to find out.

What happens if you apply without paying?

The application is simply not made. Regulation 6 states that an application for building control approval submitted without the charge is not validly made, a building notice given without its charge is not validly given, and the same applies to a regularisation application under regulation 18 of the Building Regulations 2010 and to a demolition notice under section 80(2). The application charge is due when you apply, the building notice charge when the notice is given, inspection charges on demand. VAT is added where it applies.

When do you get money back, and when do you pay more?

A refund is mandatory if the council misses the statutory deadline for granting or rejecting an application (regulation 7(1)). The same rule covers notices and certificates from private approvers. If an appeal is decided in the appellant's favour, the council must refund the appeal charges and cannot recover anything further. If the appeal is withdrawn or the decision upheld, the appellant also pays for the council's work in responding.

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It works both ways. Where an officer needed less time than the scheme assumed, the difference is refunded; where more was needed, a supplementary charge is raised (regulation 7(5)-(6)), each with a written statement of the basis. Sums smaller than the cost of administering them need not be pursued.

Who still pays nothing?

The exemption for a disabled person's own home survives. A council must not charge where the whole of the work in a dwelling occupied by a disabled person as their permanent residence is solely for access in or out, or for accommodation and facilities securing their health, safety, welfare or convenience: adapting or extending a room, a room for medical treatment that cannot reasonably happen elsewhere, storage for medical equipment, or sleeping accommodation for a carer where 24-hour care is needed (regulation 9). Disability is defined by section 6 of the Equality Act 2010.

The older exemption for adaptations to buildings the public is admitted to has been removed. The government's reasoning: owners of shops, cafes and offices already owe a duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, so the charge should fall on them rather than on local taxpayers.

How do you check your own council's charges?

On its website. A council must publish its charging scheme, and any amendment, online at least seven days before it takes effect, keep an up-to-date copy and let anyone inspect it free on request (regulation 5(6)-(7)). No more than six months after each financial year ends it must also publish a statement showing charges paid, costs incurred and any surplus or deficit. Schemes made under the 2010 regulations stay in force until the council replaces them.

Approval is needed for far more than an extension. GOV.UK lists replacing a fuse box, fitting a bathroom with plumbing, electrics near a bath or shower, fixed air conditioning, replacing windows, doors and roof coverings, and installing or replacing a heating system. If the work is done by a tradesperson in a competent person scheme, you do not apply yourself. Enquiries on the circular: 0303 444 0000, buildingcontrolcharges@communities.gov.uk.