Planning Applications Now Include Flood Risk and Sold Prices

Until now, getting a complete picture of a planning application meant three separate requests: one to PlanWire for the application itself, one to the Environment Agency for flood risk, and one to Land Registry for comparable sold prices. That's three APIs, three authentication systems, and a lot of glue code.

We've collapsed that into one. When you fetch a single planning application from the PlanWire API, you now get flood risk and nearby sold prices back in the same response — sourced directly from official government datasets, cached on our side, and returned instantly.

What's included

EA Flood Zone NEW

We query the Environment Agency's Flood Map for Planning — the same dataset used by planners and surveyors when assessing development viability. The response tells you which flood zone the application site falls in:

low — annual flood probability below 0.1%. Suitable for most development.
zone 2 — medium probability (0.1–1%). Sequential test required.
zone 3a — high probability (above 1%). Exception test required for vulnerable uses.
zone 3b — functional floodplain. Development severely restricted.

This matters. A full planning application in flood zone 3a faces a materially different path through the system than one in a low-risk area — different consultees, different requirements, a higher chance of refusal. Knowing the flood zone at query time means your users don't have to look it up separately.

Land Registry Sold Prices NEW

We also pull the last two years of price paid data for the same postcode from the Land Registry. You get the average sold price and transaction count — enough to give immediate comparable context without needing to build your own Land Registry integration.

For property developers, planning consultants, and estate agents, this is the number they reach for the moment they open a planning application. Now it's already there.

What the response looks like

GET /v1/applications/:id — response
{
  "data": {
    "id": "8f6fac3a-d93a-453e-b5db-6c5ecc631bf0",
    "reference": "25/0421/FUL",
    "address": "14 Church Lane, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8DE",
    "postcode": "HX7 8DE",
    "application_type": "Full",
    "status": "Pending",
    "received_date": "2026-03-12",
    "description": "Erection of 4 dwellings following demolition of existing outbuilding",

    "floodRisk": {
      "zone": "3a",
      "description": "High probability flood zone — annual probability >1%"
    },

    "nearbyPrices": {
      "avgPrice": 287500,
      "count": 4,
      "postcode": "HX7 8DE",
      "periodYears": 2
    }
  }
}

No extra parameters. No second request. The enrichment is automatic on any single-application fetch.

How it works

The first time you fetch an application, we trigger background requests to the EA's OGC Features API and the Land Registry SPARQL endpoint. The data is cached against the application for 30 days — so your first call gets a fast response and subsequent calls return the enrichment instantly.

Both data sources are official UK government open data, updated regularly. The EA flood zone data reflects the current published Flood Map for Planning. Land Registry price paid data is updated monthly.

Who this is for

Property developers and land promoters

Instant viability signal on any new application. Flood zone 3a means an uphill planning battle. Nearby prices give you a quick GDV anchor before you pull the full appraisal together.

Planning consultants

Your clients' applications now come with the flood risk classification already attached. Spot sequential test requirements at a glance when monitoring competitor applications or tracking pipeline across a region.

PropTech and estate agency platforms

Enrich your property listings or search results with live planning activity and flood context — without building integrations against three separate government APIs. We've already done that part.

Construction lead generation tools

Filter new planning applications by flood risk, cross-referenced with comparable prices in the area, to prioritise which leads are worth pursuing. The data is in the API response — no post-processing required.

Getting started

Flood risk and sold prices are available on all paid plans and included in the free tier for single-application lookups. If you already have an API key, the enrichment is live now — just fetch any application by ID or council reference.

Quick start
curl "https://api.planwire.io/v1/applications/ref/camden/2026%2F0421%2FFUL" \
  -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY"

No changes needed to your existing integration. The floodRisk and nearbyPrices fields appear alongside the existing application fields — treat them as optional enrichment and handle null for applications where coordinates or postcode data isn't available.

Full field documentation is in the API reference. Free API key available below — no credit card required.