Free accounts, Pro access, keyword search, costs decisions, and how Appeal Scout works.
If you research often, yes. Pro gives ongoing access to the archive throughout the month, so you can come back to it whenever a new case comes up, rather than a single visit. Downloads remain subject to our Fair Use terms.
Open your Account page and use Manage subscription (Stripe customer portal) to update payment details or cancel. Access normally continues until the end of the current billing period.
Householder appeals are free to browse in full, no account needed. A free account adds success-rate data, inspector analytics and PDF downloads on any case type. Full decision text, site addresses and analytics on every other appeal type need an active Pro subscription.
A free account costs nothing and never expires. On top of the free householder archive, it unlocks success-rate data, inspector analytics and PDF downloads across every appeal type.
Sign up from Get Started and pick the free plan — you go straight to the archive, no payment step.
Both. Homeowners often use Appeal Scout for a single project. Architects and planning agents more often choose Pro for regular research. If you would rather someone run the appeal for you, our sister consultancy Planzo offers fixed-fee householder representation.
Yes. Open the Scout archive and type keywords into the search box — for example side extension, green belt, or dormer height. We index decision text so you can find issues inside the letter, not only in a title.
Refine with filters for council, appeal outcome, development type, procedure and date range. The map shows geocoded matches where coordinates are available.
Search keywords that match the proposal (for example rear extension, dormer, ridge height), filter to Householder (or your development type), and optionally limit to your council. Compare both Allowed and Dismissed decisions to see how inspectors reasoned. Star useful cases to save them to My Cases.
PINS systems are the official channels for appeals and case documents. Appeal Scout is an independent research tool on published decision data. It focuses on full-text search, filters, maps, council outcome indicators and inspector context so you can find usable precedents faster.
We are not affiliated with the Planning Inspectorate and do not replace official portals or legal advice.
A costs decision deals with whether one party should pay another’s appeal costs — often where the inspector finds unreasonable behaviour. It is separate from whether the appeal itself is allowed or dismissed.
On Appeal Scout, appeals that include costs material are marked in search and on the case page so you can read that decision alongside the main appeal decision.
A £ badge means a costs decision is stored with that appeal. On the case page, open the Costs decision section to read it when you have active Pro access. The main inspector’s decision stays separate so the page stays easy to scan.
Householder appeals are free in full for everyone. For every other appeal type, full reasoning, some references and addresses are limited to users with an active Pro subscription. That funds maintaining and improving the archive. Once you have access, those restrictions lift across the site for the life of your subscription.
No. Appeal Scout is a private research product. It is not the Planning Inspectorate, not a law firm, and not a substitute for reading the official decision or taking professional advice on your own case.
They are calculated from historical Allowed and Dismissed outcomes in our archive for the relevant council and development type (sample size is shown on the case page). Treat them as a research guide, not a forecast or guarantee of any future result.
Published decisions are public sector information. Use of material under the Open Government Licence must follow that licence. Always verify against the official decision letter. Appeal Scout does not provide legal advice on how to run your appeal.
We can help with archive access, billing, or whether Planzo representation is a better fit.
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