Disabled Applicants
Planning fees are waived, first, where the proposal is to alter or extend an existing dwelling for a disabled person who is living or intending to live there; and second, where the application is for works in the curtilage of an existing house to create access for, or to provide for or improve the safety, health or comfort of, a disabled person living or intending to live in the house (Regulation 4).
In this context, a disabled person is someone to whom section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948 would apply, or a child with a disability recognised in Part III of the
Children Act 1989. Decision-makers should have regard to the Human Rights Act and Disability Discrimination Act, but the intention of this concession should be noted.
The exemption is intended to facilitate a safe, dignified and comfortable home life, or safe and convenient access to their homes, for people with a physical disability.
Applications which relate solely to works to provide a means of access for disabled people to a building to which the public are admitted (whether on payment or otherwise) are similarly exempt*. This is not only to facilitate provision of access for disabled people, but to help to create a situation in which there is general confidence that suitable access arrangements will be in place. It is for the local planning authority to interpret the regulations and apply the Disability Discrimination Act guidance, but the Government recommends that the definition of ‘the public’ in this context should not be a narrow one. For example, private ownership of a building would not preclude it being regarded as a ‘building to which the public are admitted’.
There is no fee exemption for an application to construct a new dwelling for someone with a disability.
* Regulation 4(2)
This page was last updated on 08 March 2010