HOUSING applications are set to net a council an extra £500,000 income.

Figures released in a Braintree Council report into its performance revealed the council now expects to receive £516,000 extra income from “sustainable development”.

Of this £500,000 is expected from sales, fees and charges.

The council’s report said: “Planning application fee income is the main reason for the rise in income compared to budget, however, there are other areas where smaller improvements have been made.”

When asked whether the local plan was having an effect on the number of developments proposed, the council said there was “an element of speculative applications boosting numbers at present”.

During quarter one of this year, 18 major applications were submitted, compared with 11 during the first quarter of last year.

A fee must be paid with every planning application, either per hectare for outline applications, or by the amount of dwellings for full applications.

For instance, using today’s fees, the outline application for 300 homes off of Church Street, Bocking, would have cost developer Gladman more than £24,000 to submit.

There is also more expenditure being predicted by the council and according to the report, in 2015/2016 the council agreed a planning appeal pot of £300,000.

Last financial year, £103,000 was spent, with the remaining balance of £197,000 expected to be used until April.

On top of this another £82,000 is expected to be needed.

Staff costs for the planning department have also reached £66,000 above the budget with the council saying “higher number and complexity of applications” has meant more staff are needed.

Government approved fee increases could further boost council income, however the council confirmed these have not yet been implemented.

To view the report, visit: http://bit.ly/2wncck2.