UK Planning Applications Scraper

Extract planning applications from 425+ UK councils — every permitted development, housing project, and commercial build across England, Scotland, and Wales. Get structured, export-ready data with site addresses, decision dates, planning agent contacts, dwelling counts, and direct links to council portals.

No API key needed. No login required. Just configure your filters and run.

Why use this actor?

UK planning data is scattered across 425 separate council portals, each with a different interface. Enterprise providers like Glenigan charge £10,000–£50,000/year for access to the same data.

This actor gives you the same coverage for a fraction of the cost — structured, filterable, and exportable to JSON, CSV, or Excel in one click.

Coverage: 425+ local authorities across England, Scotland, and Wales. Over 20 million historical records.

Who is this for?

• Construction companies — find newly permitted developments before your competitors. Contact the planning agent directly from the data.
• Building material suppliers — track large developments (10+ dwellings) to time your outreach when projects get the green light.
• Property developers — monitor planning decisions by area, spot trends, and identify sites.
• Recruitment agencies — large permitted projects mean hiring. Target construction firms with active permissions.
• Planning consultants — benchmark competitor win rates across councils and track market share.
• Property investors — analyse permitted dwelling counts by region to spot growth corridors.
• Researchers & journalists — track housing supply, infrastructure projects, and local development patterns at scale.

What data do you get?

Each planning application includes:

Field	Description	Example
council	Local authority name	Croydon
address	Full site address	Land Rear Of 13 To 73 Stafford Road
postcode	UK postcode	CR0 3PH
description	Full application description	Demolition of existing buildings and erection of residential development comprising 211 units
appType	Application type	Full Planning Permission
appSize	Development scale	Large
appState	Decision status	Permitted
decidedDate	Decision date	2026-02-10
startDate	Submission date	2025-11-15
agentCompany	Planning agent / consultancy	Savills
agentTel	Agent phone number	020 7499 8644
applicantCompany	Developer / applicant	Stafford Road Developments Ltd
dwellings	Proposed residential units	211
latitude	Site latitude	51.3726
longitude	Site longitude	-0.0998
portalUrl	Link to council planning portal	https://publicaccess.croydon.gov.uk/...
planitUrl	Link to PlanIt record	https://www.planit.org.uk/planapplic/...

How to use it

1. Find permitted developments in specific councils

Search one or more councils for recently approved large developments:

{
    "councils": ["Croydon", "Tower Hamlets", "Westminster"],
    "appSize": ["Large"],
    "appState": ["Permitted"],
    "daysBack": 180,
    "maxResults": 500
}

2. Nationwide search for large housing projects

Find all large permitted developments across the entire UK in the last 90 days:

{
    "appSize": ["Large"],
    "appState": ["Permitted"],
    "daysBack": 90,
    "appTypes": ["Full", "Outline"],
    "maxResults": 2000
}

3. Postcode radius search

Find all planning applications within 15km of a specific location:

{
    "postcode": "EC2A 4NE",
    "radiusKm": 15,
    "appSize": ["Large", "Medium"],
    "appState": ["Permitted"],
    "daysBack": 90,
    "maxResults": 500
}

4. Track undecided applications (pipeline)

Monitor applications still awaiting a decision — useful for forecasting upcoming projects:

{
    "councils": ["Manchester", "Birmingham", "Leeds"],
    "appSize": ["Large"],
    "appState": ["Undecided"],
    "daysBack": 365,
    "maxResults": 1000
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
councils	string[]	(nationwide)	Council names to search. Leave empty to search all 425+ councils.
appSize	select[]	Large, Medium	Large = 10+ dwellings or 1,000+ sqm. Medium = minor. Small = householder.
appState	select[]	Permitted	Permitted, Undecided, Conditions, Rejected, Withdrawn, Referred, Appeal
daysBack	integer	90	How far back to search (by decision date). Range: 1–365.
searchText	string	—	Free text search across description, address, and reference number.
postcode	string	—	UK postcode as centre point for radius search.
radiusKm	number	10	Search radius in km (requires postcode).
appTypes	string[]	(all)	Filter by type: Full, Outline, Reserved, Hybrid, Demolition, etc.
maxResults	integer	500	Cap on total results. Maximum 5,000.

Rate limiting

The underlying data source enforces a rate limit of approximately 1 request per minute. This actor respects this automatically. Timing:

• 1 council: ~1 minute
• 10 councils: ~10 minutes
• Nationwide (no council filter): ~1–2 minutes (single API call)

Multi-council queries run sequentially with a 62-second delay between each council to stay within limits.

Example output

{
    "council": "Croydon",
    "address": "Land Rear Of 13 To 73 Stafford Road, Duppas Hill Road, Croydon",
    "postcode": "CR0 3PH",
    "description": "Demolition of existing buildings and erection of residential development comprising 211 units with associated landscaping and parking",
    "appType": "Full Planning Permission",
    "appSize": "Large",
    "appState": "Permitted",
    "decidedDate": "2026-02-10",
    "startDate": "2025-11-15",
    "agentCompany": "Savills",
    "agentTel": "020 7499 8644",
    "applicantCompany": "Stafford Road Developments Ltd",
    "dwellings": 211,
    "latitude": 51.3726,
    "longitude": -0.0998,
    "portalUrl": "https://publicaccess.croydon.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=ABC123",
    "planitUrl": "https://www.planit.org.uk/planapplic/Croydon/25/03826/LE/"
}

How it compares

Feature	This actor	Glenigan (enterprise)	Other Apify actors
Councils covered	425+	400+	3 (single portal only)
Application types	All	All	3 types
Pricing	Pay-per-result	£10K–£50K/year	£49/month rental
Data export	JSON, CSV, Excel	Locked platform	Limited
Filters	Size, status, postcode, text, type, council	Similar	Basic
API access	Full Apify API	Restricted	Limited
Nationwide search	Yes	Yes	No

Data source

All data comes from PlanIt, which aggregates publicly available planning data from UK local authority portals. The data is published by councils under statutory obligation — this actor provides structured, filterable access to it.

Tips for best results

1. Start with a single council to verify the data matches your needs, then scale up.
2. Use appSize: Large for the highest-value leads — these are major developments with the biggest contracts.
3. Combine with a contact enrichment actor — take the agentCompany and portalUrl fields and feed them into a contact scraper to get email addresses.
4. Set up a scheduled run (weekly or monthly) to automatically track new permissions as they're granted.
5. Export to CSV for easy import into your CRM or outreach tool.