How Approvl works.
A knowledge graph built from public planning records, connected to sites, outcomes, and ownership — so you can query intelligence before you apply.
The Graph
Planning decisions don't exist in isolation.
Every application is connected — to the LPA that decided it, the site it affects, the outcome it produced, and the ownership chain behind it. Approvl maps these relationships into a single graph, making patterns visible that no portal search can surface.
What You Get
Three outputs from a single query.
Approval Probability
A site-specific probability score based on historic decisions at the relevant LPA, comparable sites, and case officer precedent.
Site Constraint Context
Every material constraint on the site: conservation area, flood zone, listed building proximity, Article 4 directions, and more — aggregated from authoritative sources.
Beneficial Ownership
The full ownership chain behind a site, resolved from HMLR CCOD/OCOD and Companies House — including offshore and layered structures.
The Data
Public records. Structured and connected.
planning.data.gov.uk
Planning application decisions from all English LPAs, normalised into a consistent schema.
Updated: Varies by LPA — typically monthly. Some London LPAs lag by 3–6 months.
HMLR CCOD/OCOD
HM Land Registry Corporate and Overseas Ownership datasets, used to resolve corporate and leasehold ownership chains.
Updated: Quarterly.
Companies House
Director and shareholder relationships used to trace beneficial ownership through corporate structures.
Updated: Monthly.
UPRN (GeoPlace)
Unique Property Reference Numbers used to resolve site identifiers consistently across all data sources.
Updated: Annual refresh.
Known Limitations
LPA data lag
Some London LPAs publish decisions weeks after issue. Approvl reflects source data as received — not real-time.
Residential freehold ownership
HMLR OCOD covers leasehold and corporate freeholds only. Privately-held residential freeholds are not in the public dataset and cannot be resolved.
Coverage at launch: London LPAs only. Full England coverage in 2026.
The Advantage
The graph compounds as it grows.
Every new application processed deepens the graph. Entity resolution improves as more sites, owners, and case officers accumulate relationships. The intelligence Approvl delivers on day one becomes more precise with every planning cycle — not because the model changes, but because the graph does.
Request Early Access
Built on every UK planning application submitted since 2010, connected by the entities behind every decision.