What's new

New features and improvements to Plota.

29 Oct Introducing Plota Sites: a new way to find landPlota Sites is free land search and site sourcing for England and Wales: describe the site you want in your own words, start from a recipe, and see where every figure comes from. FeatureData 25 Oct Every planning committee councillor, and how they votePlota now has a page for about 8,000 planning committee councillors, with their voting record, attendance and party, and committee decisions show who decided them and how each councillor voted. FeatureData 18 Oct Search licensed premises and licence applicationsA free search and map of premises licences, club certificates and new licence applications from council licensing registers, each licence linked to the planning applications at its address. FeatureDataAPI 10 Oct My Home: what is planned around you, and what you could buildA new tab in My Areas follows one home: what is being planned on its road, how work like yours has fared there, and what applies before you build. FeatureData 3 Oct Planning committee decisions, searchable and explained in fullPlota has shown on application pages since July whether a committee decided an application. Those decisions are now searchable, and each has its own page telling what happened at the meeting. FeatureDataAPI 1 Oct Freehold owners on planning applicationsPlota joins each freehold owner to the planning applications on its land, in every council in England and Wales, traces it to its group through Companies House, and alerts you when it applies for anything new. FeatureDataPro
27 Sep Search and map the UK's licensed HMOsA free search and map of licensed HMOs from each council's public register, with HMO planning proposals on the same map and an API for the licences. FeatureDataAPI 24 Sep Sale prices and freehold boundaries on planning applicationsApplication pages in England and Wales now show what the property sold for and, where we can identify it with confidence, draw its freehold boundary. Paid plans can filter any search by the last sale price. FeatureDataAPI 19 Sep Planning data inside ChatGPT and ClaudeConnect ChatGPT, Claude or any AI assistant to UK planning data through the Plota MCP server. Investigate a site in one call, set alerts from the chat, and pass the records on to your other tools. FeatureAPI 11 Sep Check the planning constraints on any spotDrop a pin anywhere in England, Wales or Scotland. Plota reads up to 43 registers at that point, says what applies out of what it read, and emails you the report. FeatureData 11 Sep Site constraints in the planning APIEvery application record on Pro and above carries what the national datasets put at its coordinates, and a new endpoint checks any coordinate or postcode. One record per point, whatever is on it. APIPro 6 Sep Map layers for planning application constraintsFlood risk, listed buildings, protected habitats, London's industrial land and 42 more, on every map in England, Wales and Scotland, on desktop and on a phone. FeatureData 2 Sep Associated applications: the chain, where it can be shown, on one pageApplication pages now show the family an application belongs to, from outline to reserved matters to discharges, worked out from what councils write and how they number their files. FeatureAPI
28 Aug Pro filters: who is behind an application, what class, how contestedA new Pro tab in the filter panel: search by agent or applicant, by stated use class, and by how many neighbours objected. FeaturePro 26 Aug Filter by application routeFull, outline, reserved matters, discharge of conditions, prior approval - the consent path is now a filter, everywhere. FeatureAPI 21 Aug Planning application sentiment filtersApplication pages now show how many neighbours objected, supported, or wrote in - with the national picture for comparison. FeatureAPIPro 16 Aug See what an applicant or agent is involved withClick a name on any application and see the applications we hold for that company: homes awaiting decision, approval rate, category mix, mapped. Feature 11 Aug One builder for spreadsheets and alertsFilter once, see the count live, then take the data as a CSV download or as a nationwide email alert. No code. FeatureAPIPro 1 Aug Rethinking planning referencesOne reference can be live in 34 councils. Plota now handles that everywhere - search, pages, and the API. FeatureAPIPro
20 Jul Embed live planning applications on your own websiteA feed, map, search box, or application card on your own website, with one snippet. Feature 15 Jul Search got sharperExact addresses, road-aware queries, stage tabs, and nearest-first sorting. Improvement 6 Jul Application pages, rebuilt: decisions, documents, and trackingDecisions, documents, timelines - and tracking on every application page. Feature
26 Jun Smart search: just say what you're looking forDescribe what you're looking for in plain English. Feature 12 Jun The Plota planning applications APIStructured UK planning data for your own tools, as JSON or CSV. APIPro
26 May Full UK council coverageEvery planning authority across all four UK nations. Data 6 May A new home for your alertsEvery alert you've set up, managed from one dashboard. Improvement 5 May Filter applications by typeFifteen application categories, filterable everywhere. Feature
19 Apr Planning Authority ScoreHow your council performs, scored out of 10 from official data. Data 2 Apr Draw your own alert areaDraw your own alert boundary on the map in hexagons. Feature
1 Mar Daily and weekly email alertsDaily, weekly, or fortnightly digests for any area. Feature

Frequently asked questions

Can I track an individual planning application?

Yes. Press Track application on any application page and Plota will email you when it changes - you choose whether to hear about status changes, the decision, or new documents. Everything you track is managed from the Tracked applications tab in your My areas dashboard.

Does Plota show planning application decisions and documents?

Yes. Application pages show the outcome, a progress timeline from received to decision, key dates including the comment deadline, and the application's documents grouped by type - decision notices, officer reports, plans and drawings, statements, and forms - each linking to the file on the council register. Pages are re-checked automatically so decisions and new documents appear shortly after the council publishes them.

Can I filter planning applications by type?

Yes. You can filter by 16 categories - new homes, extensions, change of use, listed buildings, trees and landscaping, solar and renewables, admin / procedural, and more. Use the type pill on the homepage or the Filter button on any results page. Combine multiple types and the map and list update instantly. Your selection is saved in the URL so you can bookmark or share filtered views.

What is the Planning Authority Score?

A rating out of 10 for each English council, calculated from official MHCLG government data. It combines approval rate, decision speed, and how often the council extends the statutory time limit. A high score means the council is fast, approves most applications, and rarely extends deadlines.

How does the draw area feature work?

Search for a location, click Draw area, then click or drag to paint hexagons on the map. Use the eraser to remove any you don't want. Hit Done, enter your email, and we'll send you alerts when new planning applications appear inside your boundary.

Why does Plota use hexagons instead of circles?

Hexagons tile uniformly without gaps or overlaps, unlike circles or squares. Plota uses the H3 hexagonal grid system (developed by Uber) to give you precise, flexible alert boundaries that can follow roads, rivers, and neighbourhood edges - not just a fixed radius around a postcode.

How many councils does Plota cover?

390 planning authorities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We check for new applications daily and add them to the map within hours of councils publishing them.

Is Plota free?

Yes. Searching, browsing, and setting up email alerts is completely free. You can set up to 10 alert areas per email address.