You do not need more tabs open. You need a manageable way to recognise proposed work that fits your business. Trade Watch Alerts brings selected extension-related planning opportunities into one app, giving you a focused starting point for that research.
1. Check your working area
Start with the places your team can realistically serve. A county name is not a guarantee that every council is covered. Review the configured council list and confirm the current coverage in the app before choosing paid access.
A sensible working area reflects travel, current jobs, the size of your team and the type of project. A promising description outside that area may still be a poor fit.
2. Explore the account preview
Create an app account to explore the available preview. The preview restricts lead details; it is not unrestricted access to every opportunity. Check the current access rules and plan information inside the app.
The website’s public updates panel is more limited still. It presents broad locations, generic project categories and aggregate discovery totals. It does not expose property addresses, applicant names, application references or private contact details.
3. Review the available projects
Use the app’s weekly and monthly views to review proposed work. Start with relevance, then investigate the records worth a closer look. A larger reporting window is useful for perspective, but weekly and monthly totals should not be added together as separate jobs.
On this website, the public panel’s totals follow the app’s UK calendar-week and calendar-month discovery counts. The snapshot date matters: first discovery by the app is not necessarily the application’s submission date, approval date or building start date.
4. Check the detail before acting
Paid access unlocks available full lead details. These may include the application reference, address, source-document links and published agent information. Availability varies by record; a missing field is not a promise that the information can be supplied later.
Use the council’s current record to confirm the proposal and its status. Establish commercial questions separately: budget, programme, who is already involved and whether there is an appropriate opportunity to discuss the work.
Our extension-lead qualification checklist gives you a consistent set of questions.
5. Give each promising project a next step
Keep notes in the system you already use. Decide whether to investigate, revisit or set a project aside. These are suggested working practices, not claims that the app includes a CRM or automatic follow-up tools.
Use the weekly planning-lead routine to make research a repeatable part of the week rather than an occasional rush when the diary looks quiet.
Know what the information does—and does not—mean
A planning application is evidence of proposed work. It does not establish that a homeowner is requesting quotations, that no builder has been appointed or that the work will proceed. Planning approval itself is not a contract award.
Publicly available personal information is not blanket permission for marketing. Check the requirements relevant to your proposed contact method and circumstances; see the ICO’s guidance on collecting information and generating leads.
See whether it fits your business
Judge the service by the relevance of the opportunities and the usefulness of your review process—not a promise of guaranteed work. Start with coverage, explore the preview, then review current commercial terms before subscribing.
For a fuller overview, read our complete guide to planning leads.