From Planning Application to Signed Contract: A Case Study

The business

Thames Construction is a small building company based in Uxbridge, West London. They specialise in extensions, loft conversions, and general building work within a 25-mile radius. Before PlanningIndex, they relied on word of mouth and repeat customers — which meant work was inconsistent and they had no control over their pipeline.

The challenge

Like many small construction businesses, Thames Construction faced a common problem: work was either plentiful or non-existent, with no middle ground. When word of mouth dried up, they had no way to find new opportunities. Lead-generation sites were expensive and competitive. They needed a way to find work on their own terms.

Finding the application

On a Monday morning, the owner logged into PlanningIndex and ran a saved search for "rear extension" within 25 miles of Uxbridge. The search returned 47 applications submitted in the last 30 days. He filtered by status to show only validated applications, narrowing the list to 31.

One application caught his eye immediately: a single-storey rear extension in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The description mentioned a 6m x 4m extension with bi-fold doors and a flat roof with roof lights. The application had been validated three days earlier. He opened the application, reviewed the description, downloaded the site plan, and checked the location on the map.

Adding the lead and preparing the proposal

He clicked "Add to Leads" and the application was saved to the CRM pipeline as a new lead, with the property address and planning reference automatically populated. He added a note about the project scope and set a follow-up date for two days later.

On Wednesday, he returned to the lead and used the proposal builder to create a professional proposal. The property details and planning reference were already filled in. He added the scope of works — excavation and footings, brickwork, flat roof, bi-fold doors, roof lights, and internal finishes — with quantities and pricing. He reviewed the live preview, made a few edits, and the proposal was ready.

Sending the proposal by post

On Thursday, he clicked "Send by Post." PlanningIndex printed the proposal, put it in an envelope, and posted it directly to the property in Amersham. The delivery was tracked, and the CRM pipeline was updated to show the lead had moved to "Proposal Sent."

The proposal arrived at the property on Saturday. The homeowner, who had only submitted the planning application the previous week, was impressed. A professional proposal had arrived at their door, clearly connected to the application they had submitted, from a local builder who understood their project.

Winning the work

The homeowner called Thames Construction on the following Tuesday. They arranged a site visit for that Thursday. At the site visit, the owner was already familiar with the project from the planning application documents. The homeowner had not yet contacted any other builders — Thames Construction was the first and only contractor to reach out.

By the end of the following week — less than two weeks after finding the planning application on PlanningIndex — Thames Construction had a signed contract for the extension work. The total contract value was £42,000.

The result

From finding the planning application to signing the contract took 13 days. The total cost of finding and winning the work was the PlanningIndex subscription fee — no lead fees, no commission, no competition. And because Thames Construction was the first contractor to contact the homeowner, they had no competition for the work.

This is the core PlanningIndex workflow: search, identify, add lead, create proposal, send by post, win the work. It is a direct path from planning application to signed contract, and it works for any trade in any part of the UK.