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Homeowners could soon pay councils more to approve home extensions and conversions, under government plans to ‘modernise' building charges. CLG officials published a consultation document on 2 April, which proposes introducing ‘flexible' local building control charges. A CLG spokesman told LocalGov.co.uk's sister title, The MJ, the plan could ‘lead to some charges for house alterations increasing, and others decreasing'. Councils have charged residents for building inspections and approvals since the 1970s, while the charge-setting process was devolved to individual local authorities in 1999. But many fees are now considered inflexible and out-of-date. Announcing the 12-week consultation on a new regime, communities minister, Iain Wright, said the proposals would give councils more discretion over the fees involved. This, Mr Wright said, would ‘enable local authorities to more accurately relate their charges to the actual costs of carrying out their main building functions', including plan checking and inspection. The current regime only takes into account a few cost variables, and pre-fixed fees levied by councils have led some councils to over-charge for approvals, while others have under-charged against the real cost of the system. Mr Wright also believes the new system will ‘introduce more transparency' into the charging regime, allowing councils and homeowners to plan costs more effectively. More realistic fees will also allow councils to compete more effectively with cheaper private sector inspectors. However, anti-taxation campaigners expressed concern that new charges could be treated as a ‘stealth tax', allowing councils to plug budget shortfalls by increasing fees during the recession.

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FINANCE

Extension charges 'likely to increase'

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