How much does planning permission really cost in Medway?

The headline fee for a householder planning application in Medway is £548. Most people see that number and think they understand what planning permission costs. They don't — and that gap between what they think they know and what's actually involved is where projects go wrong.

Before you budget a penny, the real question is what your specific property is sitting on. WhatCanIBuild exists precisely because that answer isn't the same for every address in ME1, ME5, or ME7.

The fee is just the entry ticket

On top of the £548 application fee, there's a Planning Portal service charge of £75.83 + VAT on applications submitted online that attract a fee over £100. That's before you've paid for drawings, a planning consultant, or any supporting reports your application might require.

And here's the part most homeowners don't realise: if your application is refused, that fee isn't coming back. If you withdraw it after submission, same story. You're paying to take a shot — which makes it worth understanding your odds before you pull the trigger.

Medway isn't one place — it's dozens of different planning environments

Medway covers a wide stretch of the Medway towns and surrounding areas, and the planning landscape shifts dramatically depending on exactly where your property sits. Medway borders the Kent Downs AONB, which means properties in or near that zone fall under Article 1(5) land restrictions — permitted development rights that apply to your neighbour's house might simply not apply to yours.

Then there are the 24 conservation areas. External alterations that would sail through in one postcode trigger additional scrutiny — and potentially additional cost — in another. The 47 Article 4 directions affecting specific streets in Medway strip back permitted development rights further still, often in ways that aren't obvious until you check. And if your property is among the 1,292 listed buildings in Medway, you're looking at an entirely different application process — one that carries no fee, but comes with a level of complexity and professional support costs that can dwarf the savings.

The hidden cost is getting it wrong

Refusals don't just cost you the application fee. They can complicate future applications on the same property. Pre-application advice — which Medway Council offers as a paid service — exists for a reason: submitting blind is a gamble. The typical decision window is around 8 weeks. That's 8 weeks where a project can stall, or come back with conditions you weren't expecting.

The real cost of planning permission in Medway isn't the fee. It's the time, the professional fees, the revised drawings, and the second application that follows a preventable refusal.

WhatCanIBuild shows you what's actually been approved and refused for projects like yours, on streets like yours — not generic guidance, but local decision patterns that tell you what Medway Council is actually likely to do with your application.

Before you spend a penny on drawings or consultants, it's worth knowing what you're walking into. WhatCanIBuild gives you that picture in minutes — including the constraints and approval odds that this article deliberately can't tell you, because they depend entirely on your address.