Upcoming service charge increase

Our annual service charge increase normally happens on 1 April but has been delayed this year and will be introduced at the same time as our new location plan feature in early May.

This new feature is the next big change to tackle the main causes of invalid applications. The first of which was the introduction in 2018 of the standard payment service for all planning applications in England. This saw a major improvement in efficiency and reduction in the number of applications invalid due to a missing fee.

From 2 May 2023, the service charge will be £53.33+VAT (£64 inc VAT). This includes significant inflationary cost increases for hosting and transaction/banking fees over the last 12 months for the existing payment service. It also includes the costs of the new feature, including mapping royalties due. Because the Planning Portal will create the site location both as data and as a PDF, users will no longer need to purchase location plans separately. More information about this feature can be found here.

We know from feedback about the payment service, and more generally, that the consistency provided by the Planning Portal is helpful in ensuring maximum efficiency for agents and Local Authorities. The service charge will therefore continue to be a fixed amount per application for all applications which currently incur the charge.

Our customers will be aware that we no longer receive funding from government to deliver the Planning Portal, and we therefore rely on income from our service charge to continue to make improvements to our service and to introduce new ones.  You can find more about our 2023 roadmap here. In the longer term, creating the spatial extent of the development will enable us to improve the intelligence within the application service, better integrating national datasets and local level requirements.

We are committed to providing an efficient service to all customers and delivery partners and thank you for your continued support and feedback.

If you have any questions or comments in relation to any of the above, please email communications@planningportal.co.uk.