Who we are
Permitted Development Checker (“the site”) lets you check whether a house in England still has permitted development rights, free of charge, and offers an optional paid Permitted Development Report. This policy explains how we handle information when you use either.
If you have any questions or want to exercise your data rights, contact us at hello@permitteddevelopmentchecker.co.uk.
What we collect
Searches you run. When you check a postcode or address we record the search so we can understand how the site is used and keep it working and secure. This includes the postcode (never the full address you typed), the result (the verdict and which designations were found), the council area, your IP address, your approximate location (town and country, derived from your IP by our host), your browser and device (user-agent), the website that referred you and any campaign tags on the link you followed, and the date and time. We do not ask you to log in and we do not knowingly collect special-category data.
Report purchases. If you buy the paid report, payment is handled entirely by Stripe — we never see your card details. We store your email address, the postcode and any house number and street you give us, the house type and what you told us you're planning, the order reference, the planning data found for the address at the time, and the order's status, so we can show you the report, find it again if you lose the link, and process refunds. Your report is available at a private link that only you (and anyone you share it with) can open.
Cookies & local storage
We use a small number of first-party cookies and browser storage. When you first visit, a cookie notice lets you accept or decline optional analytics. Analytics cookies are only set if you accept; you can change your mind at any time from Cookie settings in the footer.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdc_consent | Essential | Remembers your analytics choice so our servers can respect it. | 1 year |
| pdc.cookie-consent | Essential (local storage) | Remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics. | Until cleared |
| pdc_admin | Essential | Keeps a site administrator signed in to the admin area. Never set for normal visitors. | 12 hours |
| _ga, _ga_* | Optional analytics | Set by Google Analytics (only if you accept) to measure how the site is used. IP addresses are anonymised. | Up to 2 years |
| ph_* | Optional analytics | Set by PostHog (only if you accept) to measure how the site is used and capture errors so we can fix them. | Up to 1 year |
Stripe sets its own cookies on its payment page to prevent fraud; those are covered by Stripe's privacy policy.
Data sources & third parties
To work, the site sends some information to the services below. The first two are public data sources we query on your behalf; the others help us host and operate the site.
| Service | Used for | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Postcodes.io | Turning your postcode into map coordinates and a council area. | The postcode you entered. |
| planning.data.gov.uk | The national planning datasets we check (conservation areas, Article 4, listed buildings and more). | The coordinates derived from your postcode. |
| Mapbox | Map tiles on the results page, and matching a typed address to its postcode. | Your IP address, the map area viewed, and any address you type into the search box. |
| Google Analytics (Google) | Optional usage analytics — only if you accept cookies. | Anonymised usage data (pages viewed, approximate region). |
| PostHog | Optional usage analytics and error monitoring — only if you accept cookies. | Usage data (pages viewed, clicks, searches run) and technical error details. |
| Stripe | Payment processing for the paid report. Card details go directly to Stripe and never touch our servers. | Your email, payment details, and the postcode named on the order. |
| Supabase | Database that stores searches and orders, hosted in the EU (Ireland). | The search and order data described above. |
| Vercel | Hosting and serving the website. | Standard request data (including IP) needed to deliver pages. |
Some of these providers are based in the United States and process data there under UK-approved safeguards. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.
Legal basis & retention
Under UK data protection law, we rely on legitimate interests to log searches and keep the site secure and working, on your consent for optional analytics cookies, and on performance of a contract when you buy a report (we need your email and the property details to provide it, and we keep order records to meet our accounting obligations).
We keep search logs only as long as needed for these purposes and then delete or anonymise them. Order records are kept for as long as the law requires for accounting.
Your rights
You have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, to object to or restrict its processing, and to withdraw consent for analytics at any time. To make a request, email hello@permitteddevelopmentchecker.co.uk.
If you are in the UK and are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the site evolves. Material changes will be reflected by the “last updated” date at the top of this page. See also our Refund policy for the paid report.