Planning guidance for applicants across the UK
About Planning Handbook
Planning Handbook helps applicants understand planning and building regulation requirements in plain English, with local authority context.
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Planning guidance for applicants across the UK
Planning Handbook helps applicants understand planning and building regulation requirements in plain English, with local authority context.
Planning applications rarely end with understanding the rules. Most applicants reach a point where specialist input is required — whether that's design, drawings, surveys, construction, or compliance.
Planning Handbook exists to bridge that gap. We produce and distribute planning and building regulation guidance to local planning applicants, while also connecting them with relevant local professionals involved in the planning process.
By combining clear guidance with access to appropriate local expertise, we help applicants move from uncertainty to informed action without relying on generic searches or incomplete information.
We gather national policy, local authority planning requirements, validation checklists, and supporting guidance relevant to each area.
We organise this information into a consistent handbook format that applicants, architects, builders, and consultants can use without needing to interpret policy documents.
We distribute handbooks directly to local planning applicants and make them available to professionals involved in the planning process, so guidance is used at the point decisions are made.
Guidance content and local contacts are presented separately.
Planning Handbook established
UK-wide handbook distribution across local authorities
Ongoing production and updates supporting applicants nationwide
Planning Handbook established
UK-wide handbook distribution across local authorities
Ongoing production and updates supporting applicants nationwide
Operating continuously since 2016 with a focus on clarity, accuracy, and usability.
No. Planning Handbook is a guidance resource. Planning decisions are made by the relevant local planning authority.
No. We do not assess, approve, or influence planning applications. All decisions sit with the local authority.
We provide general guidance to help applicants understand planning and building regulation requirements. For complex or site-specific matters, professional advice may be required.
Planning requirements, constraints, and validation expectations vary between local authorities. Using guidance that reflects the correct authority helps reduce delays and avoid common mistakes.
Planning Handbook includes local professional contacts within each handbook to help planning applicants identify relevant expertise at the right stage of the process.
Our handbooks are distributed to local planning applicants and used by architects, builders, consultants, and other professionals involved in planning and development.