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Division · Planning Handbook group

Planning guidance people can read, ask about and check.

Planning Handbook has published planning and building-regulation guidance for applicants since 2016, organised by region and local authority. Two tools sit beside it: Planning Assist and Planning Consult. Together they follow one path — read the rules, ask a question, check a site.

Freestart plc
  1. Freestart

    Websites, online shops and getting found, for businesses across the UK.

  2. Planning Handbook group

    Planning and building-regulation guidance, organised by region and local authority.

    planninghandbook.com home page: a navy header with the Planning Handbook name and two buttons into the guidance
  3. SiteWorks group

    The platform behind our websites, and the products built on it.

One path

Read, ask, check

  1. ReadPlanning Handbook
  2. AskPlanning Assist
  3. CheckPlanning Consult
Planning Handbook

Read

Planning Handbook

Planning Handbook handbooks page: a search band and the two publications with their covers
Cover of the East Cornwall Planning Handbook, volume 3
East Cornwall Planning Handbook, volume 3
Cover of the Belfast, Ards & North Down Planning Handbook, volume 3
Belfast, Ards & North Down Planning Handbook, volume 3
Cover of the Cheshire West & Chester Planning Handbook, volume 2
Cheshire West & Chester Planning Handbook, volume 2

Plain-English planning and building-regulation guidance for homeowners, developers, architects, builders and consultants. Two publications: the Planning Handbook and the Guide to Planning & Building Regulations.

Planning Handbook doesn’t make planning decisions, give legal advice or guarantee outcomes.

Visit Planning Handbook

Planning Assist

Ask

Planning Assist

Planning Assist home page: a question box for a planning question, with a sourced answer panel

Ask a planning question in plain English and give a postcode. Planning Assist answers with reference to the local plan and national policy, and lists the sources so you can read them yourself. Free to ask.

Visit Planning Assist

Planning Consult

Check

Planning Consult

Planning Consult: a postcode box beside a constraints report with a row and a status for each check

A postcode check of fifteen statutory planning layers — conservation areas, listed buildings, flood zones, Article 4 directions, tree preservation orders, green belt and more — read from council data, with the source cited for every flag. Free to start, with a full report and a drafted planning statement available.

Visit Planning Consult

How it is funded

Free to read and ask

The guidance is free to read and ask.

  • One editorial frameworkPlanning Assist and Planning Consult are published under the Planning Handbook editorial framework.
  • Contact020 3951 0814 (Planning Handbook)