Why planning data is valuable to proptech
Every year, around 500,000 planning applications are submitted across the UK. Each one represents a signal: a property about to be extended, a site about to be developed, a building about to change use. For proptech companies, that's a dataset of intent — earlier and more actionable than anything in the Land Registry.
Planning data tells you where development is happening before it happens. It tells you who owns land that's being developed, what type of work is planned, and what the decision was. That's valuable to estate agents, architects, builders, lenders, insurers, and anyone else whose business is affected by what gets built.
Until recently, accessing this data at scale meant maintaining custom integrations across ~380 council portals — a significant engineering burden that only large enterprises could justify. Commercial APIs from Glenigan and Barbour ABI have existed for years, but they're priced for enterprise sales teams, not developer tools. PlanWire is built to change that: a developer-first REST API with a free tier, instant signup, and pricing that scales from prototype to production.
The 6 most common proptech use cases
Builders, architects, roofers, landscapers, and other tradespeople are the most common commercial buyer of planning data. When a householder extension application is approved, it's a warm lead: someone who's definitely going to spend money on a project. Filtering by application type (Householder), status (Approved), and location gives you a continuously updated list of project leads.
The PlanWire webhook API means you can receive these leads the moment they're decided — not days or weeks later via a data dump.
Homeowners, landlords, and property investors want to know when planning applications are submitted near their properties. A neighbour's rear extension, a new development on the adjacent plot, or a change of use on the ground-floor retail unit — all of these have implications for property value. Radius search + webhooks is the standard pattern: set a watch area, get notified when new applications arrive.
Land buyers and developers use planning history to assess a site's potential. A track record of approved applications in an area signals that the LPA is permissive. Refused applications signal constraints. Full-text search across application descriptions lets you find sites with relevant history — "residential conversion", "permitted development", "prior approval" — across the whole country.
Construction lenders, investors, and analysts want to monitor the volume and type of development activity in specific areas. Aggregated planning data — applications by status, type, council, and date range — gives a leading indicator of construction activity months before a project starts on site. This is the core value proposition of enterprise tools like Glenigan, now accessible at a fraction of the cost.
Solicitors, surveyors, and online conveyancing platforms include planning history in property reports. What applications have been made on this property? What was approved or refused? Are there any live applications that could affect the neighbourhood? This is a point-in-time lookup — simple, high value, easy to integrate.
Consumer-facing apps that help homebuyers and renters understand what's planned for a neighbourhood — new housing, commercial development, infrastructure changes. Combined with a map, planning data lets users see the development pipeline in any area before they commit to a purchase or lease.
Key API endpoints for proptech
Search by area (radius)
The core spatial query — find applications within a radius of a lat/lng point:
GET /v1/applications?lat=51.5074&lng=-0.1278&radius=1000&status=Pending
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEYFilter by application type
Focus on the application types relevant to your product. Common types include Householder, Full, Prior Approval, Change of Use, Listed Building:
GET /v1/applications?lat=52.4862&lng=-1.8904&radius=5000&application_type=Householder&status=Approved
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEYFull-text search
Search across address, description, and reference number — useful for finding applications related to specific development types or keywords:
GET /v1/applications?q=loft+conversion&council_id=camden&received_after=2026-01-01
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEYWebhook — real-time notifications
Register a webhook to receive a POST request when new applications matching your criteria are submitted. This is the pattern for alert products and lead generation tools:
POST /v1/webhooks
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json
{
"url": "https://your-app.com/webhooks/planning",
"filters": {
"lat": 52.4862,
"lng": -1.8904,
"radius": 5000,
"application_type": "Householder"
}
}Pricing for proptech teams
PlanWire is designed to scale with your product — start free, pay as you grow:
- Free — 100 requests/day. Enough to prototype and demo.
- Lite (£9/mo) — 300 requests/day + one webhook. Useful for light monitoring and early validation.
- Starter (£29/mo) — 1,000 requests/day + webhooks. Right for early-stage products.
- Growth (£99/mo) — 10,000 requests/day. Production-scale for most proptech products.
- Enterprise (£299/mo) — Unlimited requests, unlimited webhooks, and SLA + Slack support.
Compare this to the enterprise alternatives: Glenigan starts at several hundred pounds per month with a sales contract, Barbour ABI at £400+, Searchland at £195+. PlanWire is the only option with a free tier, instant self-serve access, and developer-first tooling.
Getting started in 5 minutes
1. Get a free API key — no credit card required.
2. Make your first spatial query against real UK planning data.
3. Read the full API documentation for all available filters and endpoints.
4. Set up a webhook to receive real-time notifications.
Most developers have a working prototype within an afternoon.