What a report is — and is not
This is a professional screening report built from official public data. It is not legal advice, a planning decision, or a substitute for pre-application advice from your local planning authority. Always confirm requirements with your authority before starting work.
A screening report
A Planning Policy report tells you what the official record shows for an address: the designations present, the policies that would apply to a described project, and how similar nearby applications were decided. It is designed to be the first money you spend on a project — so the bigger sums are spent knowingly.
Not legal advice, not a decision
Only your local planning authority can decide a planning application, and only a qualified professional advising on your specific circumstances can give you legal advice. Approval-rate statistics describe past decisions; they are evidence, not a prediction or guarantee of any outcome.
The limits of official data
We read the official datasets faithfully and verify every quote against its source — but councils publish to the national index at different rates, and a designation absent from the index is not guaranteed absent on the ground. Every report states what was checked and what was found; always confirm requirements with your local planning authority before starting work.
When to get professional help
Listed buildings, contested sites, appeals, major schemes, anything where the stakes justify it: instruct a chartered planning consultant (RTPI) or solicitor. A Planning Policy report is often the cheapest way to find out whether your project is that kind of project.
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