For trades
Planning application alerts for builders and trades.
We watch the planning register for your patch. You get an email when work is submitted near you, when we pick up a decision. 14 days free, then £29 a month (founding rate). Cancel any time.
Not ready for the trial? Watch one area free, no card needed.
Follow proposed work through to a decision
A householder application is someone wanting to change their own home. An extension, a loft, a garage conversion.
A new application shows proposed work. An approval tells you the council has granted permission. Watching both stages helps you follow potential projects without repeatedly searching each council portal.
The register does not tell you whether a contractor has been chosen, what the budget is or when work will start. Use the proposal and the linked council documents to decide whether a project fits your business.
The Trade plan is 14 days free, then £29 a month (founding rate). Preview your area before starting to see whether the volume and kinds of work are useful to you.
We hold 2,113,082 applications from 373 councils, current to October 2026. How busy your patch is depends on your postcode. Watch one area free and find out before you pay.
How it works
Three decisions, then it runs by itself
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01
Pick your patch
Start with a postcode in your service area. Free accounts cover up to 1 mile; Trade covers up to 5 miles per area and five watched areas.
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02
Pick your work
Filter to the kinds of job you do. A tree surgeon doesn't need to read about shop signs. Leave it open to see everything.
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03
Get the email
One email a day, and nothing on a quiet day. On Trade you also get an approval alert when a grant is picked up from the register.
Check the coverage where you work
We collect published council records daily. Publication delays, missing fields and interruptions at a council can affect when an application or decision appears. Council pages show the dates of the data we hold; a council being listed does not mean its history is complete.
Browse council coverage or preview recent applications in your patch without creating an account.
What you receive
An alert links to the application address, proposal, recorded status and dates, and the source council portal. Drawings stay on that portal. Trade adds filters, decision alerts, business entities where available and exports; personal contact details are not supplied.
Compare PlanIndex with SiteLens or compare the Free, Trade and Pro plans.
Free and Trade
Start free. Move up when you want the approval alerts
Free
One watched area, one email a day. Upgrade for more areas, category filters and approval alerts.
No card, no expiry.
- One watched area
- Daily digest of new applications
- A radius of a quarter mile, half a mile or 1 mile
Trade
For builders, roofers and trades working a patch.
Two months free. Or £29 a month.
14 days free, then £29 a month (founding rate)
42 places left at £29 a month. £49 a month once they're gone. Keep the plan and your rate never moves.
- Five watched areas
- A radius up to 5 miles, not just 1
- Filter by application category, or by keyword
- Approval alerts the day a decision lands
- Work-starting-soon alerts, for suppliers and scaffolders
- See who is behind schemes: agent and applicant companies, and their track record
- Watch a developer or agent by name
- Export your matches to a spreadsheet
- Daily digest across every area
By trade
What to watch, and why, for the work you do
- Builders: Planning applications are your earliest lead source
- Roofers: See the lofts, dormers and extensions before the scaffolding goes up
- Tree surgeons: Find published proposals for protected tree work
- Glaziers: Windows and doors are specified on the register before they are ordered
- Landscapers: Landscaping is a condition on most schemes worth having
- Groundworkers: Dropped kerbs, driveways and foundations all start on the register
- Kitchen fitters: Find extensions that may include a new kitchen
- Bathroom fitters: Loft and extension work almost always adds a bathroom
- Loft conversion specialists: Dormers and loft conversions are decided months before the work starts
- Electricians: Find extensions and conversions with potential electrical work
- Plumbers: New bathrooms and kitchens show up on the register first
- Scaffolders: Every approved loft, extension and re-roof needs scaffolding
- Architects: The register shows what gets approved near you, and what does not
Straight answers
What does a planning application actually tell me?
The address, the work proposed in the owner's own words, the dates and the decision. That's useful, and it's limited. It doesn't tell you the budget, the start date, or who they've booked.
Do you give me the homeowner's phone number?
No. We never show personal details, not even to paying subscribers. You get the address and the work proposed, which is what the council publishes. What you do with a public address is your call and your responsibility.
Where are the drawings?
On the council's own portal. Every application page here links straight to it. We list the facts of an application, not the drawings.
Does approved mean the work is happening?
Not always. Permissions lapse, people move and budgets change. Some approvals only ever existed to help sell the house. It's a strong signal, not a promise.
What if my patch is quiet?
Then you get quiet weeks. The email says nothing rather than padding it out. A rural half-mile radius can go days without an application. Watch one area free first and see what your postcode produces.
Can I cancel?
Yes, from your account, at any time. You keep the plan until the end of the period you've paid for. Then you drop to the free tier and keep one watched area.
Not sure it's worth it for your patch? Ask us before you pay and a person will answer.