Planning consultants and architectural designers in Wiltshire and Somerset, in numbers

A short history

Planning permission as England knows it dates from the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. In a Commons debate on 31 January 1968, the Minister of Housing and Local Government said the 1947 Act provided “a complete system of control over new development in England and Wales” ¹. He said later Acts dealt mainly with compensation and left development control largely unchanged ¹.

The title “architect” has its own law. Section 20 of the Architects Act 1997 says a person may not practise or carry on business under a name containing the word “architect” unless they are a registered person ⁵. The Architects Registration Board (ARB) keeps the public register ⁴. Titles such as “naval architect” and “landscape architect” are excluded from that rule ⁵.

What it costs

The GOV.UK page on planning fees lists the fee for altering or enlarging a single dwellinghouse as £548, applicable from 1 April 2026. The page was last updated on 16 July 2026 ². Other fees on the same page, applicable from the same date, include ²:

• £272 for outbuildings and works within the garden boundary
• £89 to discharge conditions
• £46 for a non-material change

The same page shows higher figures as proposals in a consultation that ran from 23 March to 18 May 2026 ². The government’s response page was updated on 16 July 2026. It says the fee regulations are intended to come into force before the end of the year, subject to Parliamentary approval, and does not state a new householder application fee ⁶. The draft amending regulations say they come into force on 8 December 2026. When checked on 15 October 2026 they were still a draft, not yet made as law ⁷.

The Planning Portal gives the same £548 figure. It also says applications for disabled access, or for a disabled person’s greater safety, health or comfort, are exempt ³. It says decisions should be made within 8 weeks of the council validating the application ³. These are council fees only. We found no published price for architects or planning consultants, and fees vary by firm.

Who checks the trade

• Architects. The title “architect” is protected by law. Only someone on the Architects Register may use it in business ⁴. Anyone can search the register on the ARB website to check ⁴. A business can use the word in its name only if an architect controls and manages all its architectural work ⁴.
• Limits of the title. Terms such as “architectural consultant” fall outside ARB’s regulation ⁴. Check the register entry rather than relying on a job title.
• Your local planning authority. The council validates and decides the application. The Planning Portal explains which projects need householder consent and which may be permitted development ³.