Thorfun Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 afternoon all, just a quick question to see if anyone knows the going rate for a planning consultant? I've had an hourly rate from one and would like to know how it compares. Based in South East England as I'm sure that will make a difference. tia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Ours was about £75 hour, all in they had about £4000 from us, worth every penny in my case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Ours was close to double that (in the south west) and was frigging useless. Prefer not to think about the thousands... Reminds me, final invoice for 2k due, groan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 thanks guys. interesting difference in costs! ours is around twice what @Russell griffiths paid but he's offered us a fixed fee that seems pretty reasonable compared to the amounts you both paid. I just need to confirm what is included in the fixed fee as if it's everything including any potential appeal then it's a bargain. I guess the fixed fee is just a simple insurance policy to cover us in case things overrun. also, a fixed fee would incentivise the consultant to get the job to resolution quicker I guess? although, that could go the other way and once the fixed fee becomes less that he'd earn hourly would he then put the work in? it's all a lottery and a gamble! I'll just have to roll the dice and see what numbers come up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 One of my local blokes wanted £1500 just to look at it....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 4 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said: One of my local blokes wanted £1500 just to look at it....... I assume he didn't get the job then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jimbo Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Just now, Thorfun said: I assume he didn't get the job then! No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Our guy discounted heavily off his standard rate as there was loads of waiting time and not so much doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorfun Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 1 minute ago, dpmiller said: Our guy discounted heavily off his standard rate as there was loads of waiting time and not so much doing. was that standard rate near @Russell griffiths's rate or @Tom's? I think this is what this guy has done as his fixed fee works out at just over 7hrs of work at his hourly rate. I don't know how long it'll all take as that depends on the length of the piece of string the planning officer is using but from what @Russell griffiths said his total costs were that's a lot more than 7hrs of work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 yep, kinda like @Russell griffiths IIRC. Can't put my finger on the invoice just at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliMcLeod Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 26 minutes ago, Thorfun said: also, a fixed fee would incentivise the consultant to get the job to resolution quicker I guess? although, that could go the other way and once the fixed fee becomes less that he'd earn hourly would he then put the work in? I wonder if anyone has ever managed to get their consultant do as results-based costing. ie. Get the planning through, get a bonus, don't get it through, the fee is less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 ...just found our invoice. £100/ hr, but at the end of the day (including fees for mapping and some additional printing and stuff) less than two grand total. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Thorfun said: was that standard rate near @Russell griffiths's rate or @Tom's? I think this is what this guy has done as his fixed fee works out at just over 7hrs of work at his hourly rate. I don't know how long it'll all take as that depends on the length of the piece of string the planning officer is using but from what @Russell griffiths said his total costs were that's a lot more than 7hrs of work! Make sure you are clear about the end point plus a washup included. Mine was up to the Planning App decision notice, though I got some feedback at the end. I had agreed that an Appeal would also be handled, which we needed and won. 3 hours ago, Thorfun said: just a quick question to see if anyone knows the going rate for a planning consultant? I've had an hourly rate from one and would like to know how it compares. Based in South East England as I'm sure that will make a difference. I would place hourly rates as incredibly variable, depending on whether the PC is in Short Trousers or really wants the job, or is more like a Senior Consultant / PMer of a team. I would say anything between £30 and hour and £250 an hour. Mine was at a level where he routinely testified in High Court hearings, so chosen to be able to make a complex argument successfully, from experience in winning similar apps in the same area. 57 minutes ago, Big Jimbo said: One of my local blokes wanted £1500 just to look at it....... I would expect any professional to do an initial meeting / assessment in order to be able to quote. I got a phone call plus digesting documents plus an hour of conversation from mine before we made a decision. What you get depends on what you ask for, and how well prepared you are. You should probably get digesting whatever matrial and questions you send through plus a meeting, at which you get to ask more. Plus possibly a followup phone call. 39 minutes ago, AliMcLeod said: I wonder if anyone has ever managed to get their consultant do as results-based costing. ie. Get the planning through, get a bonus, don't get it through, the fee is less. Mine had standard terms which included a "x% of the value uplift" (x <5) success fee as a standard feature. Also was amenable to a degree of risk sharing which would reduce his fee, which was one of my day 1 queries - I did not use that in the end. The total fee was 10k+, plus the bonus. That does not include the fees for all the other 7 or 8 consultants, from SUDS draft design to a chap who did a Visual Impact study (perambulate around the horizon and viewpoints taking photos then report). However, you need to appreciate that my project was to get Outline Permission on a smallholding to sell to a developer. The PC provided contacts for the team to do all the aspects of the project, as used on previous projects, and PMed all of the application submission -s o it would be a number of weeks of work. Ferdinand Edited April 27, 2020 by Ferdinand 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Kite Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Ours had a £1000 uplift if we won the appeal - we did so it seemed well worth the extra - I think the appeal fee was about 2,5k 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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