Section 20 Consultation and Major Works in Exeter
One published tribunal decision from in and around Exeter, and what it decided. The figures Exeter City Council publishes, rather than a national average.
- Local authority
- Exeter City Council
- Service
- Section 20 consultation
- County
- Devon
- Published decisions
- 1 tribunal decision
- From our Plymouth office
- Approx. 46 miles
Section 20 Cases Decided in and Around Exeter
| Development | Case | What the tribunal decided, and why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Flats 4 to 44 Powhay Mills, Tudor Street | HAV/18UC/LDC/2024/0621 3 December 2024 | A power surge disabled the lift drive in a 41-flat block. Consultation would have taken about 60 days with the lift out of service, and the tribunal treated that delay as the prejudice, given leaseholders who cannot manage the stairs. Apply for dispensation immediately rather than starting a consultation you will abandon. |
Building Control in Exeter
One line on Exeter's fee schedule decides the route for every block in the city: the Building Notice option is not available for buildings subject to the Fire Safety Order. The common parts of a block are, so a block in Exeter must go Full Plans whether or not it wanted the plan check. Exeter does publish a flat figure for the job blocks most often face, at £270 for re-roofing an existing dwelling, where Plymouth publishes nothing at all and Torbay's live page declines to publish a table. Note the category says dwellings, so confirm with the team whether a whole block re-roof is priced there or by estimated cost. Anything over £100,000, more than three storeys or more than ten dwellings cannot be applied for online.
Planning in Exeter
Exeter is not its own highway authority, which is the single biggest structural difference between managing a block here and in Plymouth or Torbay. The scaffold licence goes to Devon County Council at £158 with ten working days' notice, on a separate timetable from the planning and building control decisions that come from the city council. Exeter's own pre-application advice is free for all non-major development, against Plymouth's £418 minimum for the band a block falls into.
What We Do About Section 20 Consultation in Exeter
Section 20 consultation in Exeter, and across Devon, is part of a full management service rather than a standalone product. What that means in practice:
- Run the consultation timetable and the notices past the decisions above first. Most of what goes wrong locally is procedural and is cheaper to catch at the drafting stage.
- Budget against the fees Exeter City Council publishes, not a national average, so the reserve figure survives contact with the invoice.
- Confirm what the current framework requires here before an application is made.
Fixed annual fee, no commission on contractor work.
How This Works, in General
The general law, for every area: Major Works and Section 20 Consultation.