UK Planning Applications API
Search, classify, and send UK planning application data into your app, CRM, spreadsheet, dashboard, or AI workflow - without checking council websites yourself.
- 392 councils monitored
- 129,000+ applications (last 90 days)
- Updated daily
- Classified types
- Official council links
- Millisecond query times
- REST JSON & CSV
$ curl "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/applications?postcode=SW11&category=extensions&date_from=2026-06-01" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key"Try it live - no key needed
Run a real request against the API right now. This public demo is capped at 3 results and heavily rate-limited - grab a free demo key for full access.
Click "Run request" to see live data from the API.Planning application data for the tools your team already uses
Plota monitors UK council planning portals daily and turns fragmented records into structured, classified, source-linked data you can route anywhere.
Apps & products
Build planning search, local intelligence, due-diligence, or AI-assisted property tools on top of structured Plota data.
CRMs & pipelines
Send new planning matches into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Airtable, or a custom CRM as leads, deals, or tasks.
Spreadsheets & dashboards
Export planning records into Google Sheets, Excel, Power BI, Looker, Tableau, or internal dashboards.
Alerts & automation
Trigger workflows when new matching applications appear in an area, council, postcode, or category.
What you can build
A planning signal feed for product, sales, research, and AI workflows.
| Use case | Who it’s for | What the API gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Planning alerts into CRM | Architects, planners, agents | Create leads, tasks, or review items from classified applications |
| Local planning monitor | Consultants, councils, researchers | Track application activity by area, category, or authority |
| Property intelligence dashboard | Developers, analysts | Combine planning activity with your own internal datasets |
| AI planning assistant | Proptech, data teams | Feed structured, source-linked planning records into LLM workflows |
| Competitor activity monitor | Developers, agents | Watch specific councils, postcodes, or application types |
| New project signal feed | Architects, builders, consultants | Find relevant local planning activity earlier |
Search, retrieve, filter and export planning data
Everything here is live today on the /v1 API - classified, source-linked UK planning applications as JSON or CSV.
Planning application search
Search by postcode, place, council, nation, date range, keyword, category, and status. Cursor-paginated JSON or CSV.
Application details
Retrieve a full record: reference, authority, address, description, category, planning route, dates, status, coordinates, Plota URL, and council source URL.
Nearby search
Find applications around a coordinate or postcode within a radius, ordered by distance.
Category filtering
Filter by Plota’s classifier across 15 categories - extensions, new homes, change of use, listed buildings, commercial, telecoms, solar, trees, signs, community uses and more.
Saved alert feeds
Turn any saved Plota alert into a reusable API feed - read its current matches as JSON or CSV. Connects the free product to the API.
CSV & bulk export
Add format=csv to any search, or POST /v1/exports for plan-sized bulk pulls as CSV or JSON, within your plan’s monthly row allowance.
Webhooks
Register a signed HTTPS endpoint and receive application.match.created events for a saved alert, with HMAC signatures and automatic retries.
MCP server
A Model Context Protocol server so Claude and other AI tools can query Plota planning data directly. Zero-dependency, open-source.
Self-serve dashboard
Sign in by email to view usage, regenerate or revoke keys, and manage webhooks - no account setup needed.
Status & decision history
Retrieve an application’s status timeline and decision via /v1/applications/{id}/history.
A clean API surface for planning workflows
Versioned REST endpoints, bearer-token auth, cursor pagination, a consistent error shape, and rate-limit headers on every response. Data is held in memory and fully indexed, so most queries are answered in single-digit milliseconds.
| Endpoint | Method | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
/v1/applications | GET | Search planning applications |
/v1/applications/{id} | GET | Retrieve one application |
/v1/applications/nearby | GET | Find applications near a location |
/v1/councils | GET | List covered councils and metadata |
/v1/categories | GET | List Plota planning categories |
/v1/alerts | GET | List your saved alert feeds |
/v1/alerts/{id}/matches | GET | Applications matching a saved alert |
/v1/applications/{id}/history | GET | Status & decision timeline |
/v1/exports | POST | Bulk export as CSV or JSON |
/v1/webhooks | POST | Register a signed webhook for new matches |
/v1/webhooks/{id}/test | POST | Send a test webhook event |
/openapi.json | GET | Machine-readable OpenAPI 3 schema |
/v1/demo/applications | GET | Public, no-key, rate-limited demo |
Full reference, parameters, and error codes in the developer docs and OpenAPI schema.
Sample response
A real GET /v1/applications record. Every field is nullable where a council omits it; each record links back to the official source.
{
"data": [
{
"id": "a1b2c3d4",
"reference": "2026/2284/FUL",
"authority": {
"slug": "wandsworth",
"name": "Wandsworth"
},
"address": "81 Example Road, London SW11 6HB",
"postcode": "SW11 6HB",
"description": "Single storey rear extension and associated alterations.",
"category": {
"slug": "extensions",
"label": "Extensions & alterations"
},
"categories": [
{
"slug": "extensions",
"label": "Extensions & alterations"
}
],
"planning_route": "Full planning permission",
"status": "Pending",
"stage": "pending",
"date_received": "2026-06-18",
"date_validated": "2026-06-20",
"date_decided": null,
"location": {
"lat": 51.4601,
"lng": -0.1702
},
"links": {
"plota": "https://plota.co.uk/application/a1b2c3d4",
"council": "https://planning.wandsworth.gov.uk/..."
}
}
],
"meta": {
"limit": 25,
"count": 1,
"next_cursor": "eyJzIjoiMjAyNi0wNi0xOCIsImkiOjE4fQ"
}
}Create the search in Plota. Automate it through the API.
Start in the free Plota app to scope an area and filter by type, then use that same alert as an API feed, CSV export, or webhook source.
Search by postcode, town, street, or council
Use Plota’s public search to find the area you care about.
Filter by application type
Narrow to extensions, new homes, change of use, solar, telecoms, and more using the classifier.
Draw or save the area
Draw a custom area or save a postcode, town, or council.
Create an alert
Save it once - it becomes a stable, reusable feed.
Use that alert via the API
Read its current matches as JSON or CSV, ready for your CRM, dashboard, or workflow.
Send planning matches where your team works
The API returns CRM-ready records - reference, authority, address, description, category, status, dates, location, Plota URL, and council source URL. Connect via the API, signed webhooks, Zapier, Make, n8n, or CSV.
Plus Salesforce, Zoho, n8n, Power BI, custom CRMs and data warehouses - via the API, webhooks, or CSV.
Step-by-step integration guides → for Zapier, Make, Slack & Teams, Google Sheets, Airtable, HubSpot and Pipedrive.
Structured planning data for AI-assisted workflows
AI tools work best with structured, current, source-linked data. The API gives teams classified planning records with council source links, dates, categories, locations, and descriptions - ready for internal assistants, report generators, due-diligence tools, and research workflows. We publish an open-source MCP server so AI tools can query Plota directly. Plota provides data access, not legal or planning advice.
Built on source-linked council planning data
UK planning data is fragmented across hundreds of local authority portals. Plota normalises these records into a consistent structure, classifies them by type, and links back to the official council record so your team can inspect the source. See the coverage page.
- Over 10 million applications going back to 2016 in the Plota archive (paid plans). Deep classification runs on live data from 2026 onward, so category filters apply to recent records; older records carry a broad, council-based type.
- Some council portals publish richer metadata than others - fields are nullable and clearly marked.
- Update frequency can depend on council portal availability; Plota checks daily and retries. Each council's last successful check is on the coverage page.
- Plota's deep classification adds a category on top of the council's own application type - over 99% measured accuracy (how we measure it), and every record carries both so you can verify.
Simple pricing for developers and teams
Plota stays free for public search and email alerts. The API is paid when Plota becomes infrastructure for software, automation, CRMs, dashboards, exports, and AI workflows. The free tier is for testing, not production.
| Feature | Demo | Starter | Pro | Business | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Application details | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Category filters | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Council source links | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Nearby search | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Saved alert feeds | 1 | 5 | 25 | 100 | Custom |
| CSV & bulk export | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bulk export rows / month | - | 25k | 100k | 500k | Custom |
| Webhooks | No | 1 | 10 | 50 | Custom |
| Commercial use in your product | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Support | Docs | Priority | Priority + setup | SLA | |
| Resell raw data | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Bulk data delivery | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Contact Data add-on +£29/mo
Add applicant and agent details to your responses - applicant name, agent name and company, and the agent's email and phone where the council publishes them. Contact fields on up to 10,000 records a month; individuals are masked, organisations and professional agents are shown. Available on Starter and above.
These come straight from councils' public registers, so they're there wherever the council publishes them - see live coverage, or validate it yourself on the free demo key. Usage rules are in the API terms.
Developer quickstart
From zero to your first request in a couple of minutes.
Get an API key
Request a free demo key below. Confirm your email and we generate it instantly.
Make a request
curl "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/applications?postcode=SW11&limit=10" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key"Filter by category
curl "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/applications?postcode=SW11&category=extensions" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key"Query near a coordinate
curl "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/applications/nearby?lat=51.4601&lng=-0.1702&radius=1000" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key"Read a saved alert feed
curl "https://api.plota.co.uk/v1/alerts/123/matches" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer plota_live_your_key"Generate a free demo key
Enter your email - we send a one-click confirmation, then your key is generated automatically. No sales call, no card.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an API for UK planning applications?
Yes. The Plota API gives you structured, classified, source-linked UK planning application data from hundreds of council planning portals as JSON over a REST API. You can search applications, retrieve details, query nearby a location, list councils and categories, and read your saved Plota alert feeds.
Is Plota free to use?
Yes - Plota's public planning search and email alerts stay free for people. The API is a commercial product for programmatic access: software, automation, CRMs, dashboards, exports, and AI workflows. The demo tier is free for testing the API shape.
What is a planning applications API?
A planning applications API lets software search, retrieve, and use planning application records in a structured format such as JSON, instead of relying on manual council portal searches or checking individual council websites yourself.
Can I use the Plota API with HubSpot or Pipedrive?
Yes. The API returns CRM-ready records you can map into HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Airtable, Google Sheets, Slack, or a custom CRM using API requests, signed webhooks, Zapier, Make, n8n, or your own integration code.
Can I use the Plota API for AI workflows?
Yes. The API is well suited to AI-assisted workflows that need structured, current, source-linked planning records - internal assistants, report generators, due-diligence tools, and research workflows. We publish an open-source MCP server so AI tools can query Plota directly. Plota provides data access, not legal or planning advice.
Does the API include council source links?
Yes. Where the council portal publishes one, each record includes a link back to the official council planning page for that application, alongside the Plota page.
How can I trust the data?
Transparency is the answer. Plota is one of the few enterprise-grade planning APIs that exposes its full dataset publicly through the standard Plota interface, so anyone can check accuracy before, and without, subscribing to the API. We show coverage and each council's last-checked status up front, and every record links back to the official council source so you can verify it yourself.
Does the API update in real time?
Plota monitors council portals and updates daily. New applications appear as they are processed. You can poll the API, use saved alert feeds, or register a webhook to receive new matches as they’re processed.
Does the API include historic applications?
Yes, on paid plans. Alongside the live feed, the Plota archive holds over 10 million applications going back to 2016. To include them, add a date range reaching before 2026 together with a scope (a council, nation, coordinates or keyword); historical records are returned merged with live results and flagged source: "historical". Historical records carry a broad, council-based application type rather than Plota's deep classification (which runs on live data from 2026 onward), so their category is null. The free demo tier covers live data; historical access starts on the Starter plan.
Can I resell or redistribute Plota data?
You can use Plota data inside your own product or service on any paid plan: display it to your customers, store it in your CRM, build reports and tools with it. Paid plans don't include selling the data itself - passing on raw Plota records as a dataset, running your own planning data API on it, or letting users bulk-download the database all need an Enterprise licence. The full position is in the API terms.
Can I automate access to the public Plota website instead?
No. Automated and bulk access to the public website is not permitted and is rate-limited. The API is the supported way to access Plota data at scale - it is faster, structured, and stable.
How accurate is the classification?
UK councils share no official classification standard - each authority labels its applications in its own way. Plota's classifier supplies that missing layer, adding a consistent category to each live application on top of the council's own application type, with measured accuracy above 99%. How we measure it: we draw random samples of 200 live applications at a time and check every classification by hand. Across the five most recent audit rounds (1,000 applications, latest May 2026) the current classifier scores over 99% against the human check, with no confirmed false positives. Accuracy means the assigned category matches the hand audit; it is not the same as coverage - a record whose description is too thin to classify is left uncategorised rather than guessed, and carries the council's own type only. Every record carries both the Plota category and the council's own type, so results are verifiable against the source. It's built for filtering and triage; for legal or planning advice, speak to a professional.
How do I get an API key?
Request a free demo key on this page - confirm your email and we generate it instantly. For Starter, Pro, Business, or Enterprise plans, tell us your use case and we'll set you up.
Ready to build with UK planning application data?
Start with a demo key, inspect the response shape, and see how Plota fits your workflow.