Those totals look impressive, but a bigger website is no use if people cannot find a clear answer when they need one. The work behind the figures was about building a more practical resource: current planning news, easier routes through detailed guidance, and useful explanations that connect the law to what applicants, agents, owners and planning officers actually have to do.
This September update brings the month’s headlines together with the pages where you can explore each change in more detail.
As at 1 October 2026, Planning Geek has 1,336 published items across its three core content types: 709 Pages, 310 Posts and 317 Case Law entries.
The newsletter reported 316 Case Law entries when it was sent; the published site count is now 317. During September, separately, we published 205 Planning News stories and added 43 evergreen pages.
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September update: 205 Planning News stories with practical consequences
Planning News has grown into a regular service covering decisions and developments that can change what happens on the ground. During September that meant appeals, enforcement, housing, permitted development, HMOs, Local Plans, national policy and legislation, alongside the court judgments and consultations that planners need to keep an eye on.
The useful point is not simply that there were 205 stories. Each report aims to tell readers what happened, who is affected and what the practical point may be. Recent examples include a Greenwich HMO appeal where one extra occupier proved decisive, a Class Q barn conversion appeal, and the wider housing context behind the fall in housing approvals. For smaller housebuilders, our coverage also looked at how planning delays are squeezing SME housebuilders.
For applicants and agents, decisions on matters such as the replacement of a Green Belt house show why outcomes often turn on the evidence and the precise facts, rather than a headline policy label. We are trying to keep that reporting useful after the initial announcement or decision. The Planning News archive lets you browse the full coverage and return to stories as new developments emerge.
A larger Case Law library, with the documents easier to use
As at 1 October, the Planning Case Law library contains 317 published entries. This September update also reflects ongoing work to make the original judgments easier to locate. The September work has been about more than adding names to a list: the aim is to give each case a clear public summary, explain the point in plain English and make the source judgment easier to locate.
That matters because a case can be cited for a proposition that is narrower than people assume. A useful summary should say what the court or tribunal actually decided, what facts mattered and where the decision should not be stretched too far. The growing Planning Case Law library is designed to help readers get from a judgment to that practical understanding.
Public summaries are available to everyone. Underlying judgments and other source documents are being organised for Gold members, so the material is easier to retrieve and keep alongside the explanation. One recent example is the John Lund Grampian condition judgment, which examines whether there was a real prospect of the required highway works being delivered.
Major work on permitted development and Article 4
The permitted development section received a substantial refresh as part of the September update. Work covered the householder rights in Part 1, rural and other parts of the GPDO, and the detailed rules that are easy to misread when a project sits close to a limitation or condition.
You can read the revised Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 on legislation.gov.uk. The changes were intended to make the route through each class clearer, while correcting older material where the law or guidance had moved on.
We also rebuilt and expanded the Article 4 section. Article 4 Directions can remove permitted development rights in defined areas, but it is the exact wording, boundary, property and operative date that determine what a particular owner can do.
The section brings the general explanation together with continuing coverage of HMO and Class MA restrictions. For anyone considering a change of use, the Class MA guidance was refreshed too. That route can be attractive, but eligibility, prior approval, the floorspace limit and local restrictions all need checking against the actual proposal. The purpose of the updated material is to make those checks easier to follow before time and money are committed.
New guides for real projects and current obligations
The September update also brought practical guides beyond the GPDO. The new Town Centre Sequential Test guide explains an assessment that can be decisive for certain main town centre uses outside designated centres. It is the reasoning and evidence behind the search for suitable sites that matter, not simply the fact that an alternative location is less convenient.
We added a new guide to party wall agreements under Common Projects, and updated the Building Safety Levy page ahead of the levy coming into force on 1st October 2026. The latter is a live example of why evergreen guidance needs to be maintained: a page about a forthcoming obligation can become misleading as soon as the operative date arrives unless it is checked and updated.
Across the 43 new evergreen pages, and the hundreds of existing pages reviewed, the same principle applies: explain what the rule means for a real proposal, identify the details that can alter the answer, and make it easier to move to the next relevant part of the site.
P L A N: a clearer route to paid planning help
The September update also introduced a clearer way to find the right professional support. The P L A N route on our contact page is intended to help people choose an appropriate first step, rather than assume every enquiry needs the same service.
- P: Problem or project, explain what is happening and we will point you towards a sensible next step
- L: Let’s talk, book a paid Zoom or telephone consultation to compare options or work out a strategy
- A: Analyse, request a written Planning Review where one defined, site-specific question needs investigating
- N: Next step, ask for a fee proposal if you already know the work you want us to undertake
You can start wherever makes sense. A consultation is useful when you need to discuss competing options; a Planning Review is for a defined question that needs an answer in writing; and a fee proposal is the right route when the task is already clear. If you are not sure, start with the problem and we can help identify the sensible route.
This is also a reminder that Planning Geek remains a working planning consultancy as well as a growing online resource. September included work on applications, appeals, enforcement, lawful use, HMOs, rural development and planning strategy. If you need project-specific advice, the P L A N page explains how to start.
More people are finding Planning Geek
The September update also showed encouraging movement in visitor numbers at month end. In the Analytics comparison used for the newsletter, traffic on 28th September was up 226.1% against the previous month, and on 29th September it was up 346.1%. Those are two daily comparisons, not proof that the whole month was up by the same amount or that the increase will continue.
Still, the figures point in the right direction and suggest that more people are finding the material when they need it.
Planning Geek also gained 32 YouTube subscribers during September, moving from 690 to 722 without a new upload. That is a useful nudge to get the camera back on: video has a role alongside written guidance, especially when a complicated point is easier to explain by talking it through.
What comes next
The GPDO work will continue, and Planning News and the Case Law library will keep growing. The next stage is to make the material easier to navigate and keep it useful as new decisions, legislation and guidance arrive. Courses and more video content are also on the list, although I am not going to invent launch dates for work that is not ready.
If you have not visited for a while, take a look at the latest Planning News, browse the updated permitted development guidance or explore the Case Law library. If you have a planning issue of your own, the P L A N route helps you choose the next step.
Thank you for reading, using the site, sharing its pages and trusting us with your planning work. September was busy, but the point of all that activity is simple: to make Planning Geek more useful when you need it.
Ian Walmsley Planning Geek
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