What the snapshot contains
| Catalogue measure | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Planning records | 205,094 | 100.0% |
| Received/start date field present | 67,340 | 32.8% |
| Decision date field present | 168,180 | 82.0% |
| Neither of those date fields present | 15,625 | 7.6% |
| Link to a source page or document page present | 204,045 | 99.5% |
Date categories overlap: a record may have both dates. A stored link is a route to check the source; this analysis did not test whether every link still works.
The catalogue has 451 authority labels, or 443 after ignoring differences in case and surrounding spaces. These labels have not been reconciled to today's council boundaries and names, so they are not a count of current councils covered.
Coverage differs by area
These nearby areas illustrate the variation. They were selected around our Portsmouth base and are listed alphabetically, rather than ranked by opportunity.
| Authority label | Records held | Latest received/start field | Latest decision field |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Hampshire | 40 | 16 March 2026 | Unavailable |
| Eastleigh | 414 | 9 September 2026 | 18 September 2026 |
| Fareham | 307 | 14 September 2026 | 16 September 2026 |
| Havant | 357 | 11 September 2026 | 15 September 2026 |
| Portsmouth City Council | 155 | 9 March 2026 | 24 April 2026 |
These are dates recorded in the catalogue, not dates when each council was last successfully checked. PlanIt, the planning-data aggregator recorded as the source for this snapshot, also reports collection gaps, including Portsmouth after April 2026. Read the PlanIt coverage notes.
How to use planning dates
An application can have a received date, a validation date and a later decision date. Our received/start field can come from received, validation, registration or derived start dates. The decision field can sometimes fall back to source status or update dates. The catalogue's general date can instead be a decision, received/start, discovery or creation date.
Use the named fields and the council's original record when timing matters. PlanIt's field definitions explain the distinction between received, validated and derived dates.
We found 4,715 records where the decision field predates the received/start field. Those records need source checking before calculating application durations. We have not calculated approval speeds or monthly growth from this snapshot.
For national or local-authority application totals in England, use the government's planning statistics and their definitions.
Method and limitations
We counted every planning row in one read-only snapshot of the published catalogue, refreshed at 16:38 UTC on 20 September 2026. Percentages use 205,094 as the denominator and are rounded to one decimal place. No applicant names, property addresses, customer information or source documents are included.
All planning rows in this snapshot carry PlanIt as their recorded source. Missing fields, collection gaps, changing coverage and different date definitions prevent a reliable comparison of market demand between areas or months. A catalogue refresh time does not prove that every underlying council record has just been checked.
The same site can have multiple applications, amendments or conditions. Counting records therefore does not count separate building projects. This analysis does not classify extensions or estimate how many projects will proceed.
The download preserves these dated summary measurements and their definitions. The analysis and accompanying explanation are by Planning Data Hub; source documents and drawings are not reproduced. See PlanIt's source acknowledgements.
Check the evidence before shortlisting
An application record is a research signal: it does not establish that work will proceed or that a contractor is needed. Before shortlisting one, check its reference, proposal, status and date on the original source.
Our free planning-lead qualification checklist provides a place to record those checks. The planning leads for builders guide shows how to turn that research into a useful shortlist.
Suggested citation: Planning Data Hub, Planning data coverage snapshot: 20 September 2026. Aggregate analysis of the PDH catalogue; underlying planning source recorded as PlanIt. Counts describe the catalogue at the stated time.