Financial Transaction Service

Our payment services process all application fee payments for planning and building control on behalf of local authorities, providing certainty and consistency for all parties. 

The service was first introduced in September 2018 for planning, and in 2024 for building control.  

Key benefits

Local authorities only receive submitted applications when either no fee is due, or the application fee payment has been confirmed by us (regardless of payment method).   

This ensures that applicants and agents pay fees promptly. It also means that, upon receipt of an application from the Planning Portal, local authorities can confidently begin processing it knowing that the application fee has been paid and the funds are on the way to them. 

By processing the application fee transaction, we also absorb any associated costs in the process (e.g. credit card transaction charges and bank transfer fees), ensuring that 100% of the planning or building control application fee is passed to the local authority and that valuable staff resources are not spent on reconciliation of cheque payments or other such processes.  

Applicants and agents also benefit by having a comprehensive range of payment options, with the same methods and details used for every planning and building control application made via the Planning Portal, regardless of which local authority they are applying to.  

Nominate

Nomination is a payment option that allows users to nominate someone else to pay for a planning or building control application.  

It is especially useful for those submitting applications on behalf of someone else and facilitates prompt payment, for example where a professional agent is acting on behalf of a client.   

'Offline' payment methods

Users now expect to pay online. However, in rare instances where payment that cannot be made online, rather than placing the burden on local authorities to process and reconcile offline payments, we:  

• Provide facilities to allow any application fee to be paid by bank transfer 
• For planning applications, allow payment to be made over the phone or, if really necessary, by posting a cheque (though this is rare nowadays and by far the slowest method). 

We also wait for payments by bank transfer and cheque to be confirmed before allowing the application to be submitted, encouraging prompt payment, and removing the need for local authorities to put applications on hold once submitted.  

Passing the fees to local authorities

We transfer funds to local authority bank accounts daily and provide remittance advice to ensure that payment amounts can easily be matched up and reconciled against the applications received.  

Payments for planning and building control are separate, with each being made as single lump sum covering all the applications within that period. 

Payments will generally be received by the local authority within 3 working days of them being confirmed by us. 

Refunds

To comply with regulations, all refunds must be issued by the party that received payment, directly to the payee via the same payment method.  

We therefore manage the process of issuing refunds based on confirmation from the local authority that one is due.  

Requests for a refund to be issued can be raised via our service desk: support@planningportal.co.uk¹ 

If funds have already been passed to the local authority from us, then the refund to us will also be handled as part the request.  

Our service charge

Applications submitted through the Planning Portal are subject to our service charges: 

• All planning applications with a fee of £60 or more to be paid will have a service charge of £70 (£58.33 +VAT) added. 
• All building control applications will have a service charge of £21(£17.50 + VAT) added. 

We are dedicated to a continuous improvement roadmap that will: 

• Keep our services up-to-date and fully compliant with legislation 
• Expand the range of consent types available for online applications 
• Enhance every aspect of the process, from collaborative workflows and professional tools to supporting documentation and local requirement management 
• Deliver higher-quality data for local authorities, industry professionals, and applicants increase the quality of our data outputs for local authorities, sector professionals and applicants

Find out more

You can find further information on how our payment service works by visiting our FAQs.² 

For anything which is not covered please contact our Support Team on 0333 323 4589 or by email at support@planningportal.co.uk³

1. mailto:support@planningportal.co.uk
2. https://ecab.planningportal.co.uk/Uploads/PPQ_LPA_Guidance_and_FAQs.pdf
3. mailto:support@planningportal.co.uk