PlanIt Scraper - UK Planning Applications by Council

What does PlanIt Scraper do?

PlanIt Scraper extracts structured planning application data from planit.org.uk — including descriptions and location data. It supports keyword search, location filters, and controllable result limits, so you can run the same query consistently over time.

How to use this actor

• 👉 Register for a free Apify account — no credit card required.
• 🎉 Just click Sign up free on Apify → and complete a quick signup.
• 💰 A free Apify account includes $5 in monthly credits — enough to test this actor.
• ⏳ Scrape during the free trial, with no commitment or upfront payment required.

Key features

• 📍 Location, council and coordinates: address, postcode, district, parish and wardName as separate fields, the planning authority as council / councilId, and latitude / longitude (plus British National Grid easting / northing and a GeoJSON geometry point) on every application that has a location - ready for a map or grouping by council, ward or postcode.
• ⚖️ References, status, decision and parties: the council reference / altReference, PlanIt planitId, planningPortalId, property uprn and linked associatedId; the kind of application (appType, applicationType, appSize), where it stands (appState, status), the outcome (decision, decidedBy), any appeal (appealStatus, appealResult) and homes proposed (dwellings); and who is behind it (applicantCompany, applicantAddress, agentCompany, agentAddress, agentTel) where the council publishes them.
• 🗓️ Full timeline, documents and links: every date the council publishes (startDate, dateReceived, dateValidated, consultedDate, consultationStartDate, consultationEndDate, commentDate, targetDecisionDate, decidedDate, decisionDate, decisionIssuedDate, permissionExpiresDate, applicationExpiresDate, statutory period nStatutoryDays), direct links to the council page (sourceUrl), PlanIt (planitUrl), documents (docsUrl, nDocuments), comments (commentUrl, nComments) and map (mapUrl), PlanIt's lastScraped / lastChanged stamps, and every council-specific extra in otherFields as returned.
• 📅 Date scope: every search runs over a date window, because planit.org.uk cannot search all dates at once. By default you get applications submitted in the last 30 days. Set dateField (submitted, decided or changed) and daysBack (default 30), or a fixed dateFrom / dateTo window (YYYY-MM-DD, replaces daysBack). decided returns newly decided applications regardless of when they were submitted.
• 🗺️ Search modes and filter URLs: search by keyword plus planning authority, by radius (lat, lon, radiusKm), or paste planit.org.uk URLs into startUrls: API URLs, /find/applics/, /postcode/, /place/, /planarea/<authority>/ and /planapplic/<name>/. A pasted URL keeps its own date parameters (recent, start_date/end_date, decided, decided_start/decided_end, changed, changed_start/changed_end, different, different_start/different_end); only a URL with none of them gets the 30-day submission default.
• ♻️ Incremental mode: recurring runs emit only planning applications that are new or updated, so a weekly watch on a council or area does not re-process everything. Applications are only marked EXPIRED for fixed windows (dateFrom / dateTo on submitted or decided dates) that are the same as the previous run's; moving the window, or using rolling daysBack windows never mark an application expired just because it aged out of the window.
• 🔔 Notifications: Telegram, Slack, Discord, WhatsApp Cloud API and a generic webhook out of the box. Pair with incremental mode for alerts on new planning applications in your area.
• 📦 Compact mode: compact planning applications with core fields only (reference, address, description, status, dates, council), ready for dashboards and AI agents.
• 🔌 MCP connectors: push planning application results into Notion via Apify's MCP connectors: a tidy run-summary page with no export step. Opt-in, deterministic field-mapping (no AI).
• 📌 Change classification: each record carries a changeType of NEW / UPDATED / UNCHANGED / REAPPEARED / EXPIRED. Default emits NEW + UPDATED + REAPPEARED; opt into the others with emitUnchanged / emitExpired.
• 🧹 Empty-field stripping: drop null, empty-string, and empty-array fields from each record before push. Smaller payloads for AI agents and dashboards that already handle missing fields gracefully.

What data can you extract from planit.org.uk?

Each result includes Core planning application fields (listingId, planitId, reference, altReference, planningPortalId, uprn, title, and council, and more), extended fields (description and detailFetched), and company metadata (applicantCompany and agentCompany). In standard mode, all fields are always present — unavailable data points are returned as null, never omitted. In compact mode, only core fields are returned.

Input

The main inputs are a search keyword, an optional location filter, and a result limit. Additional filters and options are available in the input schema.

Key parameters:

• query — Free-text search over UK planning application descriptions (e.g. "extension", "dwellings", "solar farm"). Leave empty together with a planning authority or a radius to get every application there.
• location — Planning authority (council) area name, e.g. "Camden", "Woking". Leave empty to search all UK authorities.
• dateField — Which application date the date window filters on: when the application was submitted (default), when it was decided, or when its record last changed. Pick "decided" to get newly decided applications however long ago they were submitted. (default: "submitted")
• daysBack — Look back this many days on the chosen date (default 30; 0 = today only). The source cannot search all dates at once, so every search uses a date window. Ignored when Date From or Date To is set. (default: 30)
• dateFrom — Optional fixed window start (YYYY-MM-DD) on the chosen date. Replaces Days Back.
• dateTo — Optional fixed window end (YYYY-MM-DD, inclusive) on the chosen date. Replaces Days Back.
• maxResults — Maximum total results (0 = unlimited). (default: 100)
• startUrls — Paste raw search URLs from the target site. Each URL becomes its own search task; results are merged and deduped by listing ID across all URLs. When provided, startUrls REPLACE the query/location fields (each supported URL becomes one task; unsupported URLs are skipped, and if none is supported the run stops with an input error). (default: [])
• descriptionMaxLength — Truncate description to N chars. 0 = no truncation. (default: 0)
• compact — Core fields only (for AI-agent/MCP workflows). (default: false)
• descriptionFormat — Pick a single description representation. all keeps every variant; text / html / markdown drop the others. (default: "all")
• excludeEmptyFields — Drop null, empty-string, and empty-array fields from each record before push. Smaller payloads for AI agents and dashboards. (default: false)
• ...and 21 more parameters

Input examples

Basic search — Keyword-driven search with a result cap.

→ Full payload per result — all standard fields populated where the source provides them.

{
  "query": "extension",
  "maxResults": 50
}

Incremental tracking — Only emit planning applications that changed since the previous run with this stateKey.

→ First run builds the baseline state. Subsequent runs emit only records that are new or whose tracked content changed. Set emitUnchanged: true to include unchanged records as well.

{
  "query": "extension",
  "maxResults": 200,
  "incrementalMode": true,
  "stateKey": "extension-tracker"
}

Compact output for AI agents — Return only core fields for AI-agent and MCP workflows.

→ Small payload with the most important fields — ideal for piping into LLMs without token overhead.

{
  "query": "extension",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "compact": true
}

Output

Each run produces a dataset of structured planning application records. Results can be downloaded as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the Dataset tab in Apify Console.

Example planning application record

{
  "listingId": "375f9031e2110ba3859f0c99ea0b22d5c524c994ae289445284262cff5da1192",
  "planitId": "Shropshire/26/03915/CPL",
  "reference": "26/03915/CPL",
  "altReference": "No Data",
  "title": "26/03915/CPL — 34 Porthill Drive Shrewsbury Shropshire SY3 8RS",
  "council": "Shropshire",
  "councilId": 51,
  "address": "34 Porthill Drive Shrewsbury Shropshire SY3 8RS",
  "postcode": "SY3 8RS",
  "parish": "Shrewsbury Town Council",
  "wardName": "Porthill",
  "district": "No Data",
  "latitude": 52.709518,
  "longitude": -2.77207,
  "easting": 347935,
  "northing": 312708,
  "geometry": {
    "coordinates": [
      -2.77207,
      52.709518
    ],
    "type": "Point"
  },
  "description": "Application for a Lawful Development Certificate for proposed ground floor rear and side extensions",
  "appType": "Outline",
  "appSize": "Small",
  "appState": "Undecided",
  "applicationType": "Certificate Proposed Lawful Use/Dev",
  "status": "Pending Consideration",
  "decidedBy": "No Data",
  "nDocuments": 5,
  "nStatutoryDays": 56,
  "appealStatus": "No Data",
  "appealResult": "No Data",
  "startDate": "2026-10-16",
  "dateReceived": "2026-10-16",
  "dateValidated": "2026-10-16",
  "targetDecisionDate": "2026-12-11",
  "agentCompany": "No Data",
  "agentAddress": "3 Maple Drive Shrewsbury Shropshire SY1 3SE",
  "portalUrl": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
  "planitUrl": "https://www.planit.org.uk/planapplic/Shropshire/26/03915/CPL/",
  "sourceUrl": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=advanced",
  "docsUrl": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
  "commentUrl": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
  "mapUrl": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=map&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
  "lastScraped": "2026-10-17T01:22:05.350832",
  "lastChanged": "2026-10-17T21:30:19.705376",
  "otherFields": {
    "agent_address": "3 Maple Drive Shrewsbury Shropshire SY1 3SE",
    "agent_company": "No Data",
    "agent_name": "See source",
    "appeal_result": "No Data",
    "appeal_status": "No Data",
    "applicant_name": "See source",
    "application_type": "Certificate Proposed Lawful Use/Dev",
    "case_officer": "See source",
    "comment_url": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
    "date_received": "2026-10-16",
    "date_validated": "2026-10-16",
    "decided_by": "No Data",
    "district": "No Data",
    "docs_url": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
    "easting": 347935,
    "lat": 52.70951814911257,
    "lng": -2.7720701949747064,
    "map_url": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=map&keyVal=TMZUKLTD07V00",
    "n_documents": 5,
    "n_statutory_days": 56,
    "northing": 312708,
    "parish": "Shrewsbury Town Council",
    "source_url": "https://pa.shropshire.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=advanced",
    "status": "Pending Consideration",
    "target_decision_date": "2026-12-11",
    "ward_name": "Porthill"
  },
  "searchQuery": "extension",
  "contentQuality": "serp_only",
  "detailFetched": false,
  "scrapedAt": "2026-10-19T20:51:34.015Z",
  "source": "planit.org.uk"
}

Incremental fields

When incremental mode is on, each record also carries:

• changeType — one of NEW, UPDATED, UNCHANGED, REAPPEARED, EXPIRED. Default output covers NEW / UPDATED / REAPPEARED; set emitUnchanged: true or emitExpired: true to opt into the others.
• isRepost, repostOfId, repostDetectedAt — populated when a new listing matches the tracked content of a previously expired one. Set skipReposts: true to drop detected reposts from the output.

How to scrape planit.org.uk

1. Go to PlanIt Scraper in Apify Console.
2. Enter a search keyword and optional location filter.
3. Set maxResults to control how many results you need.
4. Click Start and wait for the run to finish.
5. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Use cases

• Extract planning application data from planit.org.uk for market research and competitive analysis.
• Monitor new and changed planning applications on scheduled runs without processing the full dataset every time.
• Use structured location data for regional analysis, mapping, and geo-targeting.
• Feed structured data into AI agents, MCP tools, and automated pipelines using compact mode.
• Export clean, structured data to dashboards, spreadsheets, or data warehouses.

How much does it cost to scrape planit.org.uk?

Pricing for PlanIt Scraper has not been finalized yet. It will be published here before the actor becomes publicly available.

You only use your normal Apify platform resources when you run the actor from your own account.

FAQ

How many results can I get from planit.org.uk?

The number of results depends on the search query and available planning applications on planit.org.uk. Use the maxResults parameter to control how many results are returned per run.

Does PlanIt Scraper support recurring monitoring?

Yes. Enable incremental mode to only receive new or changed planning applications on subsequent runs. This is ideal for scheduled monitoring where you want to track changes over time without re-processing the full dataset.

Can I integrate PlanIt Scraper with other apps?

Yes. PlanIt Scraper works with Apify's integrations to connect with tools like Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, Slack, and more. You can also use webhooks to trigger actions when a run completes.

Can I use PlanIt Scraper with the Apify API?

Yes. You can start runs, manage inputs, and retrieve results programmatically through the Apify API. Client libraries are available for JavaScript, Python, and other languages.

Can I use PlanIt Scraper through an MCP Server?

Yes. Apify provides an MCP Server that lets AI assistants and agents call this actor directly. Use compact mode, descriptionMaxLength, a single descriptionFormat, and excludeEmptyFields to keep payloads manageable for LLM context windows.

Is it legal to scrape planit.org.uk?

This actor extracts publicly available data from planit.org.uk. Web scraping of public information is generally considered legal, but you should always review the target site's terms of service and ensure your use case complies with applicable laws and regulations, including GDPR where relevant.

Your feedback

If you have questions, need a feature, or found a bug, please open an issue on the actor's page in Apify Console. Your feedback helps us improve.

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Getting started with Apify

New to Apify? Create a free account with $5 credit — no credit card required.

1. Sign up — $5 platform credit included
2. Open this actor and configure your input
3. Click Start — export results as JSON, CSV, or Excel

Need more later? See Apify pricing.

Disclaimer

This actor accesses only publicly available data on planit.org.uk. You are responsible for how you use the extracted data — in particular any personal information such as names, phone numbers, or email addresses — and for complying with PlanIt's terms of use, applicable data-protection law (including the GDPR where it applies), and the anti-spam rules of your jurisdiction.

This actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by PlanIt or any of its subsidiaries. All trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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