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Obtaining planning permission

Apply for planning permission

Planning is concerned with how a development looks, fits in with its surroundings, its effect on the local neighbourhood, community, traffic and the historic and natural environment. You need planning permission as an authorisation to do a development work.

Planning permission is different from building warrant. To carry out work legally, you usually need both.

Please note that this process is slightly different if you are applying for planning permission for major developments. 

View our Customer Briefing Notes for the latest changes to the Planning Service.

There are some things that you need to know before applying for a permission:

Deciding who will make your application

If planning permission is required, you will need to decide who is making the application. This can be yourself or a suitably qualified professional acting on your behalf such as:

  • Architect
  • Architectural technician
  • Surveyors or planning consultant
  • Building engineers or contractor
  • Company specialising in conservatories, windows and doors

You can find an architect in your area on the Architects Register website. 

For complex local developments, we would recommend you to use our Planning Processing Agreement (PPA). This project management tool will help you identify key processes, what information you need to provide and timescales. 

What you need to provide

We need you to provide the relevant documentation for your proposed works with your application. Please view our validation checklist (PDF 157KB) which provide details of what to submit with your application. 

Further advice on ensuring your application meets our validation requirements can be found in our validation guidance for applicants and agents (PDF 178KB). This should be read alongside the Heads of Planning Scotland validation guidance (PDF 1.7MB). 

In addition, you may also need to complete the following depending on your application:

Application fees

The fee for a planning application is set nationally by the Scottish Government. You can view our application fees or use fee calculator on the ePlanning portal.

You need to pay the appropriate fee when submitting the application otherwise we can't process it.

You can pay in different ways:

  • online at the time of your submission via the national ePlanning portal 
  • online using our payment form
  • by telephone with a debit or credit card
  • or contact us if you require an alternative method of payment

How to apply

You can apply for most types of planning applications online using the national ePlanning portal. If you are not sure which form you need please use the forms wizard to identify the required form.

Apply using ePlanning portal

Alternatively, you can download the relevant application form from the ePlanning portal and email the completed application to our correspondence address.

View the planning applications privacy notice (PDF 85.1KB).

Please note that some forms on the ePlanning portal can only be submitted by email. These are: 

  • Pre-application screening notice
  • Proposal of application notice
  • Modification or discharge of planning obligations
  • Marine fish farm application form
  • High hedges form
  • Applications for Prior Notification or Prior Approval for Peatland Restoration projects (under class 20A) or for the Conversion of Existing Agricultural/Forestry Buildings to Residential or Commercial Use (under Class 18B, 18C, 22A or 22B)

Prior notifications

With some types of permitted developments, even though you don’t need to apply for a planning permission, you might need to get prior approval. This approval would be for certain details of your proposal, such as how it affects nearby buildings or the environment. In these cases, before starting work, you will need to submit a prior notification. 

Find out more about prior notification and approval.