What a brief looks like
Below: one real site page from a Torbay review pack, then the skeleton of a full weekly issue. The address, planning reference, unit count and decision dates are withheld — those are the facts that would let anyone find the site on the public register, and the seats that pay for the brief get them. Every other figure is real and carries its method.
Site 06 · xxxxxxxxxxxx Road, Torquay
A full permission for a residential conversion of the existing building [scheme and unit count withheld], granted [date withheld], with an estimated expiry [date withheld] · reserved matters / commencement: none found on the register · reference [withheld]
A full permission for a residential conversion on this parcel shows no evidence of commencement — no later application within 25 m and no new energy certificate since the decision — and its three-year time limit is estimated to expire within the brief's watch window. The parcel offers 868 m² (9,340 sq ft) of undeveloped area behind a 491 m² building, with 37.8 m (124 ft) of boundary against the road (estimate) and a workable ~10% slope. The site sits in a conservation area and a tree preservation zone, both design factors rather than bars. The most important next step is approaching the owner before the permission lapses.
Area 1,359 m² (14,626 sq ft) · footprint 491 m² (36%) · undeveloped 868 m² (9,340 sq ft) · boundary against a mapped road 37.8 m (124 ft) (estimate) · slope median ~10% (1 in 10.1) (estimate)
Flood Zone 1 · conservation area · TPO zone · no listing on or within 50 m · no Article 4 · outside tourism-retention areas
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [company name, number and register status withheld; on a real page the match method is stated] · no matched freehold sale since 1995 (sale-to-certificate match coverage ~78%)
The permitted scheme: the consented conversion, before its time limit runs out.
Title register and plan (£7, on request) · site visit and measured check · plot appraisal
What a real page carries that this one hides
- The street address and the parcel outline on a map with buildings, roads, a scale bar and a north arrow.
- The planning reference, the scheme as permitted, the unit count, the decision date, the time-limit condition read from the decision notice, and whether the notice was verified.
- The company owner's name, number and Companies House status, and how the title was matched to the parcel (address-level or postcode-level).
- Planning history on the site and within 100 m, with references; the nearest allowed appeal.
- Which signals were withdrawn in checking, and why — the page shows its working.
The structure of a weekly issue
TORBAY OPPORTUNITY BRIEF — Week 36
Dated events on watched parcels since last Monday — a permission entering its final months, an appeal allowed within 500 m, a sale at well under the street's £/m², a company owner entering administration. When nothing dated has happened, the section says so.
1. Street, town — primary signal — score — days on list
2. …
10. …
Followed by one page per site in the format above.
Permissions lapsing within 90 days (reference, expiry estimate) · appeals decided in the last month · disposals announced · notable applications on adjoining land · policy changes, dated.
What happened to sites from earlier issues — sold, application lodged, approved, refused — and the running hit rate: the share of surfaced sites with a transaction or application within twelve months.
Reply with the reference to mark it pursuing. It is withheld from the other seats in the territory for 30 days.