# UK Planning Applications — Source-Linked API Data (`planwire/uk-planning-applications-api`) Actor

Search UK planning applications and decisions across every monitored council. Every record links back to the council's own register, with freshness metadata so you can see when it was last checked.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/planwire/uk-planning-applications-api.md
- **Developed by:** [Ben Roy](https://apify.com/planwire) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## UK Planning Applications API — Source-Linked Data From Every Monitored Council

Search UK planning applications and decisions by council, postcode, radius or keyword, and export them as JSON, CSV or Excel. Every record carries a direct link back to the council's own planning register, so any result can be checked against the source.

This actor is an **API client, not a scraper**. It calls [PlanWire](https://planwire.io), which monitors council planning registers continuously and normalises them into one consistent response shape. Nothing here touches a council portal directly, so you are not exposed to portal changes, rate blocks or captcha walls.

### What you get

- **375 monitored local planning authorities** across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- **17.6 million applications**, with history reaching back to the 1990s for many councils
- **Decisions and decision dates** where the council has published them
- **A source URL on every record**, pointing at the council's own page for that application
- **Freshness metadata** — when PlanWire last checked the source, kept separate from when the record was last written

### Search modes

| Mode | What it does | Example |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `council` | Everything from one authority | `wokingham`, `city-of-london` |
| `postcode` | A full postcode or an outward code | `SW1A 1AA`, or `SW1A` for the district |
| `nearby` | Radius around a point | `lat 51.5019`, `lng -0.1275`, `radiusKm 1` |
| `keyword` | Free text across councils | `loft conversion`, `change of use` |

Leave `council` blank in `council` mode to list every council PlanWire covers, with its identifier — useful as a first run.

### Output

Each record includes:

```
reference          council's own application reference
councilId          which authority holds it
address            site address
postcode           where the council publishes one
description        the proposal text
applicationType    householder, full, listed building consent, and so on
status             the council's own status wording
decision           decision text where published
decisionOutcome    normalised: approved, refused, withdrawn, unknown
receivedDate       when the council received it
validatedDate      when the council validated it
decisionDate       when it was decided
lat, lng           coordinates where available
uprn               UPRN where matched, for joining to property datasets
url                link to the application on the council's register
```

Export straight to JSON, CSV, Excel or XML, or pull the dataset through the Apify API into your own pipeline.

### You need a PlanWire API key

Get one free at [planwire.io](https://planwire.io) — no card required.

- **Free** — 25 requests per day, sample records, for checking the response shape
- **Developer** (£49/mo) — 1,000 requests per day, live and historic data, one signed webhook
- **Production** (£199/mo) — 10,000 requests per day, 100 webhooks including nationwide coverage
- **Business** (£499/mo) — 50,000 requests per day, priority on coverage fixes

Keep `maxRecords` low on a free key: the daily allowance is 25 requests, and each page of results is one request.

### Typical uses

- **Property and proptech products** — put planning history behind an address lookup
- **Construction and trade lead generation** — find works approved near your service area
- **Due diligence** — assemble the full planning history of a site before purchase
- **Market research** — track application volumes, approval rates and decision times by authority
- **Monitoring** — watch a postcode area and pick up new applications as they appear

### Notes and limits

- Coverage, history depth and field completeness vary by authority. Some councils publish far more than others, and PlanWire reports per-council freshness rather than claiming uniform coverage.
- A planning application is not evidence that construction has started.
- Free keys return sample records rather than live data. Use a paid plan for current applications.
- Radius size and result limits vary by plan.

### Beyond this actor

The same data is available through the [REST API](https://planwire.io/docs), signed webhooks that push new applications to your endpoint, and an [MCP server](https://planwire.io/mcp) so assistants like Claude and Cursor can query UK planning data directly.

***

Run by [PlanWire](https://planwire.io) · [API documentation](https://planwire.io/docs) · [Council coverage](https://planwire.io/coverage)

# Actor input Schema

## `apiKey` (type: `string`):

Free key at planwire.io — no card required. Leave blank to return a live coverage summary instead of application data.

## `searchMode` (type: `string`):

How to select applications.

## `council` (type: `string`):

Council identifier, for example wokingham or city-of-london. Run with searchMode 'council' and leave blank to list every council.

## `postcode` (type: `string`):

Full postcode (SW1A 1AA) or outward code (SW1A). Used when searchMode is 'postcode'.

## `lat` (type: `string`):

Centre latitude for radius search.

## `lng` (type: `string`):

Centre longitude for radius search.

## `radiusKm` (type: `string`):

Radius for the 'nearby' mode. Plan limits apply.

## `query` (type: `string`):

Free-text match against description and address, for example 'loft conversion'.

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

ISO date, for example 2026-01-01. Filters on received or validated date.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

ISO date, for example 2026-12-31.

## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many records. Keep it low on a free key — the free allowance is 25 requests per day.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchMode": "council",
  "radiusKm": "1",
  "maxRecords": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

One row per planning application, with reference, council, address, proposal, decision and a link to the council's register.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("planwire/uk-planning-applications-api").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("planwire/uk-planning-applications-api").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call planwire/uk-planning-applications-api --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,planwire/uk-planning-applications-api"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/EhqIPsflM5X8g1WCL/builds/poR619bQBXQ6F364Q/openapi.json