Planning pre-application advice and planning performance agreements

We encourage you to use our planning service after you undertake initial feasibility work and before you draw up detailed proposals.

Building Safety Levy: starts 1 October 2026

The Building Safety Levy (BSL) will come into effect on 1 October 2026. It is a tax on new dwellings and new bedspaces in purpose‑built student accommodation (PBSA).

Developers must pay the levy on certain building control applications or notices before completion or occupation of the building. The Council will collect the levy.

The Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025 sets out how the levy will operate.

Changes to how some planning applications are decided from 31 October 2026

The Government has introduced new national rules about who decides planning applications.

These rules are formally called the national scheme of delegation. From 31 October 2026, they will decide which applications must be decided by planning officers and which may go to Planning Committee.

The rules will apply to cases decided from that date. We have updated Lewisham’s Constitution to reflect the changes.

For larger scale projects, usually by developers, we offer two kinds of planning advice:

Get planning pre-application advice

Developers and applicants can get formal pre-application advice on large and complicated schemes outside of the scope of the Householder and Local Economy pre-application services before submitting a planning application.

Planning performance agreements

A planning performance agreement (PPA) is an agreement between the local planning authority and a potential applicant to provide a project management framework for handling a development proposal from pre-application stage through to decision.