Increased fees for permits

Our general board has approved the proposal to increase the fees for permits. The increase in these so-called administrative fees will take effect on April 1, 2026. The reason for this increase is that the cost recovery of permit applications has been too low for years, namely between 20 and 25%. This means that personnel and organizational costs are much higher than the revenue from the permits granted. With the increase, HHNK is aiming for a cost recovery rate of 60%. The purpose of the increase is to have a larger portion of the costs of processing an application paid by the initiator rather than by all water board tax payers.

The introduction of the Omgevingswet 2024 has put further pressure on cost recovery. The number of permit applications has decreased by approximately 25% due to fewer permit requirements in the Water Board Regulations and, instead, more free information requirements. Personnel and organizational costs have also risen, while the fee rate was last increased in 2022.

The cost recovery of the fee rates has traditionally been low for water authorities. This has been changing in recent years. Several water authorities have increased cost recovery to approximately 70 to 80%. HHNK is following this trend.
 
An initial fee of €400 per licence applies to almost every application. On top of this, an activity fee applies for the substantive assessment. For more information, see theFees page.