Planning application leads for UK contractors
Every planning application in the UK is public: the site, the description, the applicant, the agent, the decision and the conditions. Most lead services sell the register as it is published. A planning lead is the record matched to the company that will buy the work, with a verified decision-maker.
Planning applications are public in every UK local authority, with the applicant and agent named. A planning lead is the record matched to the company that will award the work it implies, with a verified decision-maker. We read the registers daily and send you the ones that fit what you do.
- Public in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
- Fields: site, description, applicant, agent, decision, conditions, dates
- Read daily; a Tuesday decision reaches a client on Wednesday morning
- FieldClients reads this record in your area every day and sends the leads: $800 to $2,000 a month by area size
What the record is
A planning application is submitted to the local planning authority for development that needs consent: new buildings, extensions, changes of use, demolition in conservation areas, works to listed buildings, signage and plant. The register records the site address, a description of the proposal, the applicant and the agent (usually an architect or planning consultant), the application type, the validation date, the decision and its date, and any conditions attached.
It is public because planning is a public process: neighbours must be able to comment. Every authority publishes its register online, most on one of a handful of portal systems, and national aggregators re-publish them with a search and an API. Demolition notifications under the Building Act and prior approvals are published alongside.
The register names the applicant and the agent, not the person who will buy the security, the cleaning, the fire package or the stone. Matching the record to the company behind it, then to the person who awards the work, and verifying their email, is what turns a planning application into a lead.
Where it is published
- Local planning authority registers. Every council's own portal: applications, decisions, conditions, documents and the agent's details. Scotland and Wales publish the same way; Northern Ireland runs a separate portal.
- PlanIt and other aggregators. National indexes of around 400 authorities with a free search and API, refreshed daily, with applicant and agent fields where the council publishes them.
- Demolition notifications. Section 80 notices under the Building Act, published by the council: a building about to come down and a site about to open.
- Prior approvals and permitted development. Larger extensions, changes of use and plant that need prior approval rather than a full application, published on the same register.
Which trades it predicts
The same record means different work to different trades. Each card links to the leads page for that trade.
Permission granted on a site means hoarding, patrols and CCTV before the contractor mobilises.
Full permission, reserved matters and discharged conditions time the start of works.
New builds, conversions and care or hospitality uses each need a fire strategy and alarms.
Office changes of use and fit-outs mean a builders' clean and a contract clean.
New builds, EV charging and solar consents carry an electrical package.
Hot food changes of use carry an extraction condition; new buildings need plant.
Extensions, conversions and listed building consents specify roof work.
Listed building consents with a stone sample condition name the specifier.
Timing: when to reach out
Two windows. Validation is the early one: the agent is named and the scheme is public, weeks before a decision. The decision is the strong one: a full permission or a listed building consent means the packages are being priced, and a condition that must be discharged before commencement means the site is weeks away. For the trade named in the proposal the contractor may already be chosen; for every adjacent trade the scope is open.
Planning application leads: questions
Are planning applications public in the UK?
Yes. Every local planning authority publishes its applications, decisions and conditions online, with the applicant and agent named, because neighbours have a statutory right to comment. Aggregators index around 400 authorities in one search. What is not on the register is a verified way to reach the person who will award the work.
How do I find planning applications in my area?
On your council's planning portal, by postcode or by ward, or on a national aggregator such as PlanIt with a radius search and an API. To turn the results into leads you still have to filter for your trade, match the record to a company, find the decision-maker and verify the contact. That is the part FieldClients does daily.
Is a planning application an early or a late lead?
Both. For the trade named in the proposal, the contractor may already be chosen by decision. For every adjacent trade, security, cleaning, fire, electrical, plant, the scope is still open, and the decision date starts the clock. Conditions that must be discharged before commencement tell you the site is weeks away.
How is this different from a planning alert service?
An alert service sends you the register filtered by keyword, and you work the list. FieldClients delivers the record matched to the company, with the person who awards the work and a verified email, built around what you do, from £600 a month. One is data; the other is the account.
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