MPs urge action to ease planning fee 'suffering'

MPs have called on the government to step in after a Surrey council charged some homeowners as much as £97,000 in fees to make home improvements, without the ability to appeal.

Godalming couple Steve and Caroline Dally were among those to unexpectedly face a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charge after replacing an existing house extension.

Mr Dally said they were forced to increase their mortgage payments by £400 a month to pay Waverley Borough Council's charge.

While the council has now agreed to allow the charges to be reviewed, Conservative MPs Jeremy Hunt and Greg Stafford have voiced concerns about homeowners being forced to find "life changing amounts of money" to settle the levy.

CIL is typically charged to developers as a contribution towards essential infrastructure; however a number of homeowners across Waverley have also faced the charge.

In a letter to the housing secretary, Angela Rayner, Hunt, the MP for Godalming and Ash, and Stafford, who represents Farnham and Bordon, say it has "become clear that our residents are suffering from unintended consequences of this legislation".

Stafford told BBC Radio Surrey about two families - one from Farnham, the other from Haslemere - who faced CIL charges of £97,000 and £74,000 respectively.

"It may not be a lot of money for some people, but for these people generally it's a small home improvement... and suddenly they're being hit by a massive bill."

He added that the Haslemere resident, will have to sell his home because "he simply cannot pay" the charge.

Waverley Borough Council leader Paul Follows says he has had numerous conversations with local MPs about the "incredibly complicated" CIL legislation - including on its reform.

He said: "It's complicated to change, and we've already committed to doing it as part of our Local Plan Review.

"At the moment we're going to take particular discretion on any new homeowner applications so that we can make sure we don't repeat this while we're reviewing the process."

Affected householders can request a discretionary review from 1 June 2025 to 31 May 2026.

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