How much does planning permission really cost in Solihull?

Most homeowners in Solihull look up the application fee, see £548, and think they know what planning permission costs. They don't. The fee is just the entry point — and depending on your property, what comes after can be significantly more complicated and expensive. WhatCanIBuild can show you what's actually been approved for properties like yours, so you're not going in blind.

The fee is just the beginning

Submitting a householder application through the Planning Portal costs £548, plus a £75.83 + VAT service charge on top. That's the standardised fee — the same whether you're adding a modest kitchen extension or a double-storey rear addition.

But that fee doesn't include drawings. It doesn't include a planning consultant if your application is complex. It doesn't include a heritage statement if your property is listed or near a listed building. It doesn't include anything required to make the application valid in the first place — and most homeowners don't realise how quickly those extras stack up before a single officer has looked at their case.

What most Solihull homeowners don't account for

Solihull isn't a uniform borough. It stretches from urban Chelmsley Wood and Marston Green through to rural parishes bordering the Cotswolds. Green Belt designations cover parts of the borough, and the rules around what you can build — and what requires permission in the first place — shift depending on exactly where your property sits.

Then there are the 387 listed buildings. If your home is listed, or in the curtilage of one, you're looking at a different application process entirely — one where listed building consent applies, where no application fee is required but where the cost of getting the application right is considerably higher.

Note also that Solihull's pre-application advice service doesn't cover householder works. If you want guidance before you apply, you're directed to the council's House Extension Guidelines — which is useful context, but it won't tell you what's been approved or refused on your street, or why.

The cost of a refused application

If your application is refused, the fee isn't refunded. If you withdraw before a decision, it isn't refunded either. A second application within 12 months for the same development is free — but only once, and only if the first was a valid application. The cost of preparing drawings, reports, or consultant advice for a refused application? Gone.

This is where the real financial risk sits — not in the fee itself, but in submitting without understanding your actual approval odds. The best way to check what's been approved and refused for projects like yours in Solihull is WhatCanIBuild, which surfaces local decision patterns so you're not guessing.

What you actually need to know before you apply

The £548 figure is public knowledge. What isn't is how your property's specific combination of constraints — Green Belt proximity, conservation area status, neighbouring decisions, local precedent — affects your chances of approval. That's what changes the real cost of a planning application, because it determines whether you're likely to get there first time.

WhatCanIBuild gives you the decision history for your area, so you can see what similar projects actually cost — in time, money, and outcomes — before you commit.