Reading the planning register and tracking a decision
Every council keeps a public register of planning applications. Here is how to search it, what the tabs contain, and how to be told when something changes.
Every council in England has to keep a public register of planning applications, and almost all of them now publish it through an online portal with a name like Public Access or Planning Explorer. You can search it by address or postcode, read every document that was submitted, see the consultation responses as they arrive, and read the decision notice and its conditions. There is no charge and you do not need an account for the reading.
The register is required by article 40 of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, which is why the content is broadly the same from council to council even though the website design is not.
What the statutory register must contain
The register has two parts. Part one holds applications that have not yet been decided, so it is the live picture. Part two holds every application and its outcome, which is the historic record.
For each entry you should find the application reference and date, the name of the applicant or agent, the site address, a description of the proposal, the submitted plans and documents, the decision, the date of the decision and the conditions attached. Appeals, and the appeal outcome, are recorded too. Where a section 106 agreement was completed, its existence is recorded, and most councils publish the document itself.
Councils also hold registers for related matters, kept separately in practice even where the law treats them together: enforcement notices, tree preservation orders, and certificates of lawful development. Ask for these by name if you cannot find them on the portal. The precise legal requirements for the register are set out in the statutory planning register and what must be on it.
Finding the documents on a council portal
Search by postcode first. It is more reliable than a street name, because councils record addresses inconsistently, and a search for "14 Mill Lane" may miss an application recorded as "land adjacent to 14 Mill Lane".
Once you have the application, work through the tabs in this order.
- Details. The reference, the description, the case officer, the target decision date and the current status.
- Documents. Everything submitted, plus everything the council has produced, including the officer report.
- Comments or representations. Neighbour letters and consultee responses, usually split into separate lists.
- Related cases. Earlier applications on the same site, and any condition discharge or amendment applications that followed.
- Map. Useful for checking the red line boundary against what you expected.
Two habits save time. Download the documents rather than reading them in the browser viewer, because portals time out and lose your place. And note the full application reference including the year and suffix, since a site with a long history will have several references that differ by two characters.
If a document you expect is missing, it may have been withheld. Bat roost locations, security layouts and personal contact details are routinely redacted or withheld, and that is lawful.
Weekly and decided lists
Most councils publish two weekly lists: applications validated in the past week, and applications decided in the past week. These are the lists to use if you want to know what is happening near you rather than to look up one site.
The validated list is the one that matters for objecting, because the 21 day consultation period runs from publicity rather than from validation, and a weekly list gives you the earliest practical notice. The decided list tells you outcomes without checking each case.
Some councils publish the lists by ward, which makes them far more usable. Others publish a single district-wide PDF, which does not. Where the list is unhelpful, the portal's advanced search normally allows a date range plus a ward or parish filter, and that produces the same result.
Tracking consultee responses as they arrive
Consultee responses drive the outcome more than neighbour letters do, and they arrive at different points in the eight or thirteen week period. Highways, the lead local flood authority, the environmental health team, the conservation officer, the county ecologist and the parish council each comment in their own time.
Check the documents tab weekly rather than once. A highways objection in week four often produces an amended layout in week six, and amended plans can trigger a fresh round of publicity, which is explained in re-consultation after amended plans during determination.
Watch also for an extension of time agreement. When the target date passes without a decision and the status stays open, the council and applicant have usually agreed more time, and the portal will often show a revised target date rather than an explanation.
Historic applications and paper records
Digital records generally start somewhere between the late 1990s and the mid 2000s, and the cut-off varies by council. Before that, the register exists on paper or microfiche.
To get at an older record, send the council a written request with the site address, the approximate date and any reference you have from a deed or a local land charges search. Councils charge for retrieval and copying, and turnaround is measured in weeks. A local studies library or county record office sometimes holds the same material and is quicker.
Older permissions matter more than people expect. A condition imposed in 1974 restricting occupancy, or a permission granted for a use that never started, can still control what happens on a site today. When a planning history is being assembled for an application, that historic search is what the planning history section of a Planning Statement rests on.
Data available through national datasets
Council portals are for individual cases. For anything comparative, use the national planning data service, which publishes datasets collected from local authorities and from national bodies in a consistent format.
| Dataset | What it answers |
|---|---|
| Conservation areas | Whether a site is in one, with boundaries |
| Listed buildings | Grade and location of designated buildings |
| Article 4 directions | Which permitted development rights are removed, and where |
| Brownfield land registers | Sites the council considers suitable for housing |
| Tree preservation orders | Where councils have published them |
| Local plan boundaries | Settlement boundaries and allocations, where published |
Coverage varies because it depends on what each council has published, so treat an absence in the data as an absence of published data rather than an absence of the designation. For appeals, the Planning Inspectorate maintains its own searchable record of decisions, which is the place to look for how similar proposals have been treated.
Setting up alerts for a site
Three practical routes, in order of reliability.
The portal's own tracking function, where it exists, emails you when a document is added or the status changes. Sign up to it for the specific application rather than relying on memory.
A saved search on the portal, set to a postcode area or a ward, run weekly. Some portals email saved searches automatically; others require you to log in and run them.
The weekly list by email, where the council offers it. This is the coarsest option but it is the most reliable, because it does not depend on the portal's notification system working.
None of these replaces checking the register directly before a committee date. Officer reports and late consultee responses appear in the final days, and a report published five days before committee is the document that shapes the decision.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which reports a site like yours is likely to need if you are the one applying.
PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is the planning register free to search?
Yes. Councils must keep a public register under article 40 of the Development Management Procedure Order 2015, and almost all publish it online at no charge. You do not need an account to read applications, plans, officer reports, consultee responses or decision notices, although some portals require registration before you can submit a comment.
Why can I not find an application at a particular address?
Address recording is inconsistent, so search by postcode rather than street name. An application may be registered as land adjacent to a number, or under a former site name. If that fails, use the portal map search, or search a date range for the ward. Older applications may exist only on paper or microfiche.
How do I know when the consultation period ends?
The portal usually shows a consultation end date on the details tab, and the standard publicity period is 21 days. The weekly list of validated applications is the earliest practical notice. Comments received after the stated end date are normally still considered if they arrive before the decision is issued, but do not rely on that.
Why has the target decision date passed with no decision?
The council and applicant have usually agreed an extension of time in writing, and many portals show a revised target date without explaining the change. Amended plans, a late consultee response or a committee cycle can each cause it. Check the documents tab for newly uploaded plans, which often explain the delay.
Where do I find appeal decisions on a site?
The council portal records that an appeal was made and its outcome. The Planning Inspectorate maintains its own searchable record of appeal decisions, which is where you find the full decision letter and the inspector's reasoning. That is the better source if you want to understand how similar proposals have been treated elsewhere.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.