Pre-application advice

The fee is based on the type of development, see below. All fees are based on estimated officer time and hourly costs and aim to provide cost recovery only. The fees vary depending on the size and complexity of the proposals.

For information on the fees and services that are available please see Planning Fees and Charges from April 2024. 

The more information received with your submission, the more informative the response will be.  If your plans are inaccurate, our advice may not stand when you come to apply for planning permission so ensure, your documents support your proposal, you have the mandatory site plan ready and all plans are to scale.

We require:

• The completed application form (Pre-application meeting request form - 2022)

• Privacy Notice - Pre-application advice (PDF - 194 kb) - See below

• An electronic copy of an OS-style site location plan at a scale of 1:1250, clearly showing surrounding roads and properties, with the boundaries of the application site outlined in red. This plan is mandatory for all pre-application advice.   If you do not have a Site Location Plan at 1:1250, maps can be purchased from the Planning Portal via the button below.

An example of a site location plan is shown below as well as electronic copies of any additional plans to be considered and any other supporting documents:

• Site Location Plan showing 2 named roads ( pdf - 76.98 KB )
• Site layout/block plan ( pdf - 43.11 KB )
• Existing elevations ( pdf - 129.01 KB )
• Proposed elevations ( pdf - 103.36 KB )
• Existing floor plans ( pdf - 93.90 KB )
• Proposed floor plans ( pdf - 31.56 KB )
• Roof plan ( pdf - 42.54 KB )
• Privacy Notice - Pre-application advice ( pdf - 194.70 KB )

• pay the fee by BACS, payment details below

• email a completed copy of the pre-application request form to planningpreapp@stalbans.gov.uk , attaching the mandatory site plan, supporting documents and confirmation of payment.
  BACS: Sort Code: 40-40-01
  Account Number: 7140 2609
  Account Name: St Albans City & District Council

Please quote site address as reference 

Once you have provided the information listed above and paid for the pre-application service, you receive an automated acknowledgement email.

For Band B, C and E pre applications we aim to send you written advice within six weeks of your acknowledgement,  (unless otherwise agreed with your planning officer).  
Advice for Band A applications can take up to eight weeks.

The advice may remain relevant for up to 1 year, subject to legislative or policy changes.

You may wish to consult other bodies about your proposal such as Hertfordshire County Council’s Highways, or the Environment Agency some of which may have their own pre-application charges (see below) Please also note important information below concerning privacy and requests under the Environmental Information Regulations.

The advice given is officer advice, provided in good faith at this point in time, given the nature of the legislation existing today and based on the facts provided by you in writing in your request. It is therefore given without prejudice, is not binding in any way on the Council and does not form a judgement of whether any subsequent application will be approved or refused.  

Where a request for pre-application advice is made and subsequently cancelled, the following charges will apply:

• Cancellation notified within 0 to 5 working days of the submission of the original request - 75% of fee refunded
• Cancellation notified within 6 to 10 working days of the submission of the original request - 50% of fee refunded
• No refunds will be made for cancellations notified 11 or more working days after the submission of the original request

From 01 August 2024, the Council is providing a new service to allow for councillor engagement. This service is offered for the following types of development proposals:

• Large-scale major developments – 100 houses or more or 10,000 square metres of non-residential floor space (which, by their nature (e.g. scale, location etc.) have wider strategic implications and raise issues of more than local importance.
• Other applications which, by their nature (e.g. scale, location, type of development), in the opinion of the Strategic Director of Community and Place Delivery or the Development Manager, raise concerns which have District-wide implications.

For further details please see: Councillor Involvement in Pre-apps.