Correspondence

The Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026 Circular 05/2026 - letter

Published 16 October 2026

Applies to England

To: The Chief Executive:
Unitary, Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England
The Town Clerk, City of London
The Clerk, Council of the Isles of Scilly
The Sub-Treasurer, Inner Temple
The Under Treasurer, Middle Temple

The Head of Building Control:
Unitary, Metropolitan, District and London Borough Councils in England
City of London
Council of the Isles of Scilly
Registered Building Control Approvers
Deputy Director Operations (Building Control), The Building Safety Regulator

cc: The Chief Executive:
Combined Authorities and County Councils in England
National Park Authorities in England
Chair, National Fire Chiefs Council
Deputy Director Technical Policy Division, The Building Safety Regulator

Date: 16 October 2026

Dear Sir or Madam,

The Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026

I am writing to inform you of The Building (Local Authority Charges and Amendments Relating to Charging) (England) Regulations 2026.

Scope of this Circular Letter

The information in this Circular Letter applies to charges relating to building control services in England.

Publications

The Regulations and accompanying Explanatory Memorandum are available at Legislation.gov.uk.

MHCLG Circular 05/2026, which describes the Regulations more fully is available on GOV.UK.

The content of the Regulations was subject to consultation and the government response to the consultation is available at Building control: charges, notices and certificates

The Impact Assessment, Public Sector Equality Duty and Environmental Principles Policy Statements are available at Building control: charges, notices and certificates

Coming into force date

The Regulations come into force on 6 November 2026 except Regulation 11 in relation to higher-risk buildings on 24 September 2027 and in all other cases on 24 March 2027.

Local authorities may prepare and publish online their charging schemes (see Regulation 5) prior to 6 November 2026 in accordance with Section 13 of the Interpretation Act 1978. 

Summary of main changes and Regulations

These Regulations replace and revoke The Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 2010 in regard to England.

These Regulations increase the number of functions and activities whereby local authorities can charge for their building control services on a full cost-recovery basis, once they have published their charging schemes online at least seven days beforehand. This includes many functions and activities under the Building Act 1984 as well as the Building Regulations.

New functions and activities where charges can be applied include

• accepting, rejecting or considering notices and certificates submitted by private sector Registered Building Control Approvers. To retain payments, LAs will need to notify Registered Building Control Approvers of their decision within the required time period
• exercise of powers regarding tests of conformity with Building Regulations
• actions relating to issuing notices concerning defective premises, dangerous buildings, ruinous and dilapidated buildings and neglected sites; and demolition of buildings
• exercise of powers of entry by authorised officers
• securing compliance with Building Act or Building Regulations requirements
• imposition of sanctions for contraventions of the Building Act or Building Regulations requirements

The Regulations continue to require local authorities to prepare charging schemes, which must be published on their website at least seven days before they come into effect.

They make it clear that the costs of providing chargeable functions and chargeable advice may include a reasonable proportion of authorities’ overheads, depreciation and the cost of capital.

The Regulations require local authorities to publish their annual statements online, which set out the charges paid, the costs incurred and the amount of any surplus or deficit.

The Regulations provide detail regarding the arrangements for payment of charges, refunds and supplementary charges, including for notices and certificates submitted by private sector Registered Building Control Approvers.

Additional changes made by the Regulations

The Regulations amend the Building Regulations 2010 and revoke the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2013 to allow certain environmental requirements for new buildings to be dispensed with or relaxed where it would be unreasonable for them to apply. These requirements relate to the consideration of high efficiency alternative systems, nearly zero energy requirements, and carbon dioxide emission rates. Transitional arrangements

Charging schemes made under the previous regulations remain in force until such time as they are updated under these new regulations.

CIPFA Bulletin

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has published a bulletin to help local authorities prepare their building control charging schemes. The bulletin will be available on the CIPFA website once published: CIPFA Bulletins on accounting and financial reporting

Enquiries

Telephone enquiries on this Circular Letter should be addressed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on 0303 444 0000. All email enquiries should be addressed to buildingcontrolcharges@communities.gov.uk

Yours faithfully

Alexandra Parish

Deputy Director, Building Professions Division
Buildings, Design and Construction Directorate
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government