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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