Our sources
Where our information comes from
Every fact in a plot report comes from a named public source. Here is each one, who publishes it, how up to date it is, and what we do when it has nothing to say.
The one rule we always follow
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. If a source is down, does not cover the plot, or has not been published by the council, we say “not checked” and tell you who to ask. We never treat a gap as good news, and we never fill it with a guess about access, ownership, a connection or a cost.
Where we can check most
Supported means: in England, the council planning register runs software we can search (Idox or Agile), and that register answered our own check. England-wide open sources then add constraints, flood, ground and services, each with its own gaps.
Right now that is 25 councils and national parks: Babergh Mid Suffolk, Babergh Mid Suffolk, Cannock Chase, Cornwall, Dudley, East Devon, East Suffolk, Exeter, Islington, Lake District, Mid Devon, Middlesbrough, New Forest (Park), Northumberland (County), Old Oak Park Royal, Peterborough, Redbridge, Richmond, Rugby, Sevenoaks, Slough, Torridge, Tunbridge Wells, West Suffolk, Yorkshire Dales. A further 167 English councils use software we can search and will be added once we have checked them. Elsewhere we still show the England-wide checks below and link you to the council’s own planning search.
Each source
| Who publishes it | What it tells you | Licence and credit | Where it covers | How fresh | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The selling agent Estate and land agent listings |
The plot for sale: price, description, photos and the agent’s contact details. | agent-public-page Licence check still to do. Listing details from the selling agent’s website; each listing links to the original. |
Agents we have added so far; not every plot for sale in the UK. | Re-checked against the agent’s page regularly. Each listing shows the date we last checked it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. If the agent page has gone we mark the listing as possibly sold and ask you to confirm with the agent. |
| Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (planning.data.gov.uk) Planning Data (MHCLG) |
Conservation areas, listed buildings, green belt, tree preservation orders, Article 4 directions, brownfield land, council boundaries and some planning applications. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright and database right. |
England, but each layer comes from councils that have published it. Many councils have not, so a gap is "not published", never "none". | Collected nightly from council publications. Each entry carries its entry-date and the dataset its last-collected date. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We say we could not check the council's register and link you to it to search by hand. |
| Office for National Statistics, via postcodes.io Postcodes.io (ONS Postcode Directory) |
Where a postcode is and which council and ward it is in. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right. Contains Royal Mail data © Royal Mail copyright and database right. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. |
England, Wales and Scotland. | ONS Postcode Directory, quarterly. ONSPD release loaded by postcodes.io. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Each local council (planning register run on Idox Public Access) Idox Public Access (council planning registers) |
Planning applications and decisions for a site: reference, proposal, status, decision date and decision notice. | council-public-register Licence check still to do on 3 October 2026. Planning register information from the local planning authority’s public access site. |
Tested on Torridge. Other Idox councils are configured but each must answer a probe before we rely on it. | Live: the council updates its register as applications move. Fetched live; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We say we could not check the council's register and link you to it to search by hand. |
| Each local council (planning register run on Agile Applications) Agile Applications Citizen Portal (council planning registers) |
Planning applications and decisions for a site: reference, proposal, status, decision date and decision notice. | council-public-register Licence check still to do on 3 October 2026. Planning register information from the local planning authority’s public access site. |
18 council and national park registers whose Agile search answered on 3 Oct 2026; other councils use other systems. | Live: the council updates its register as applications move. Fetched live; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We say we could not check the council's register and link you to it to search by hand. |
| OpenStreetMap contributors OpenStreetMap Nominatim (reverse geocoding) |
Place names near a point, used only to help search council records. | ODbL-1.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0. https://osm.org/copyright |
Worldwide; quality varies by area. | Continuously edited by volunteers. Live; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Natural England Natural England |
Protected landscapes, SSSI impact risk zones, priority habitats, ancient woodland and great crested newt risk zones. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. © Natural England copyright. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right. |
England only. Newt risk zones exist only for counties in the district licensing scheme. | Layers revised by Natural England every few months. Layer last-edit date in the ArcGIS service; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Mining Remediation Authority (formerly the Coal Authority) Mining Remediation Authority |
Whether the site is in a coal mining reporting area or a development high-risk area. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence not stated by the publisher; we have chosen to use it and say so here on 4 October 2026. Contains Mining Remediation Authority data © Crown copyright and database right. |
Coalfields of England, Wales and Scotland. Outside them the answer is "not in a reporting area". | Updated by the authority several times a year. Service has no edition date; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Stream (Water UK) and Ofwat Stream (Water UK open data) |
Which water and sewerage companies serve the area, and the sewer catchment. It does not say a sewer reaches the plot. | CC-BY-4.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains data from Stream (streamwaterdata.co.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Undertaker boundaries digitised by Ofwat with Ordnance Survey, OGL v3. |
England and Wales. Catchments only where the water company has published them. | Boundaries change rarely; catchments as each company republishes. Dataset modified date on the Stream record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| Environment Agency Environment Agency |
Flood zones from rivers and the sea, surface-water flood risk, and groundwater source protection zones. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right. All rights reserved. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
England only. Wales and Scotland have their own agencies, which we do not yet check. | Flood Map for Planning updated quarterly; other layers as the agency revises them. Service has no per-answer date; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Environment Agency Environment Agency (landfill registers) |
Known historic and authorised landfill sites on or near the plot. | EA-Conditional-Licence Licence checked on 3 October 2026. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right. All rights reserved. Used under the Environment Agency Conditional Licence. |
England only. Many old tips were never recorded, so "none found" is not proof of clean ground. | Registers updated by the agency as permits change; historic list rarely. Collection date in the OGC API metadata; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| British Geological Survey (with UKHSA for radon) British Geological Survey |
Radon potential, the rock and soil under the site, and whether the area is mapped as prone to landslides. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains British Geological Survey materials © UKRI. Radon: BGS/UKHSA Indicative Atlas of Radon in Great Britain. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
England, Wales and Scotland. Radon is a 1 km grid, geology is 1:625,000 scale: a screen, not a site survey. | Occasional editions (years apart). Edition named in the BGS service; we stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| National Energy System Operator (NESO) NESO GB DNO licence areas |
Which electricity network company serves the area. | NESO-Open-Data-Licence Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains data from the National Energy System Operator (NESO), licensed under the NESO Open Data Licence. |
All of Great Britain. | Boundaries change rarely. File edition in the NESO download name. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| Xoserve (gas industry data service) Xoserve postcode exit zone list (gas distribution networks) |
Which gas distribution network covers the postcode. It does not say a gas main reaches the plot. | unstated Licence not stated by the publisher; we have chosen to use it and say so here on 4 October 2026. Derived from the Xoserve Postcode Exit Zone List (May 2017). |
Great Britain postcodes in the May 2017 list. Newer postcodes may be missing. | Not updated since May 2017. May 2017 (file name). |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| Ofcom Ofcom Connected Nations API |
Broadband speeds available at addresses in the postcode. | Ofcom-API-Terms-2025 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Source: Ofcom Connected Nations. |
All of the UK, by postcode. A bare plot has no address, so the nearest addresses stand in for it. | Connected Nations updates several times a year. Release named by Ofcom; we may cache answers for at most one month. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. |
| Northern Powergrid Northern Powergrid open data (capacity heat map) |
The nearest primary substation and its published spare capacity. It does not mean you can connect. | NPg-Open-Data-Licence-1.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains Northern Powergrid data licensed under the Northern Powergrid Open Data Licence v1.0. |
North East England and Yorkshire (Northern Powergrid area) only. | Heat map refreshed by the network operator, roughly quarterly. Dataset modified date on the Opendatasoft record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| UK Power Networks UK Power Networks open data (LTDS capacity heat map) |
The nearest primary substation and its published spare capacity. It does not mean you can connect. | CC-BY-4.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains UK Power Networks data licensed under CC BY 4.0. |
UK Power Networks licence area only, and only once our account key is set. | Heat map refreshed by the network operator, roughly quarterly. Dataset modified date on the Opendatasoft record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| SP Energy Networks SP Energy Networks open data (capacity heat maps SPD/SPM) |
The nearest primary substation and its published spare capacity. It does not mean you can connect. | CC-BY-4.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains SP Energy Networks data licensed under CC BY 4.0. |
SP Energy Networks licence area only, and only once our account key is set. | Heat map refreshed by the network operator, roughly quarterly. Dataset modified date on the Opendatasoft record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| Electricity North West SP Electricity North West open data (primary heat map) |
The nearest primary substation and its published spare capacity. It does not mean you can connect. | CC-BY-4.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains Electricity North West data licensed under CC BY 4.0. |
Electricity North West licence area only, and only once our account key is set. | Heat map refreshed by the network operator, roughly quarterly. Dataset modified date on the Opendatasoft record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. |
| Improvement Service Spatial Hub (Scottish councils) Spatial Hub Scotland planning applications |
Planning applications in Scotland. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. Contains data from the Improvement Service Spatial Hub, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
Scotland only; not part of the first supported cohort. | Councils upload on their own schedule, often monthly. Dataset modified date on the Spatial Hub record. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We say we could not check the council's register and link you to it to search by hand. |
| Terrain Tiles (Tilezen terrarium, AWS Open Data) Terrain Tiles (Tilezen terrarium, AWS Open Data) |
mixed-open Licence checked. Terrain: Mapzen/Tilezen Terrain Tiles. United Kingdom terrain data © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015; Europe terrain data produced using Copernicus data (EU-DEM); SRTM courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. |
GB-ENG, GB-WLS, GB-SCT, GB-NIR, WORLD | Not recorded. We stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show "not checked" with the reason and the date we tried, and list it as a question for your surveyor or solicitor. | |
| OpenStreetMap (Overpass API) OpenStreetMap (Overpass API) |
ODbL-1.0 Licence checked. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0. https://osm.org/copyright |
GB-ENG, GB-WLS, GB-SCT, GB-NIR | Not recorded. We stamp the date we read it. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. We show the service as unknown and never assume a connection, capacity or a zero cost. | |
| HM Land Registry HM Land Registry INSPIRE Index Polygons |
The approximate shape of registered land near the plot. It is not the legal boundary and does not show who owns it. | OGL-UK-3.0 Licence checked on 1 October 2026. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. |
England and Wales freehold titles only. Leaseholds and unregistered land have no shape. | Monthly release. Release month of the file we loaded. |
Unavailable means not checked, never clear. No shape means unregistered or not matched, not "no owner". Ask your solicitor for the title plan. |
| OpenStreetMap contributors OpenStreetMap base map |
The street map behind the plot. | ODbL-1.0 Licence checked on 3 October 2026. © OpenStreetMap contributors |
Worldwide; detail varies by area. | Continuously edited. Live tiles. |
If the map does not load we still show the written findings. |
| Esri and its imagery partners Esri World Imagery (aerial photos) |
An aerial photo of the area. It may be several years old. | Esri-terms Licence check still to do. Imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics and the GIS user community |
Worldwide; capture date varies by area. | Irregular. Capture date not shown to us per tile. |
If imagery does not load we fall back to the street map. |
A starting point, not advice
These sources help you ask the right questions. Maps are drawn at different scales, and an official layer can be out of date. Before you buy, check the planning position with the council and the title, boundaries, access and services with your solicitor and surveyor.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will look at it.