How to View and Filter Planning Permit Information

Planning permit information (also called development applications or DAs) can be challenging to access because each local council has its own system for sharing this data.

Landchecker consolidates permit information from councils across Australia into one map-based interface, making it faster and easier to access.

Planning permit data shows approved, pending, and rejected applications for property developments. This includes information about residential extensions, subdivisions, multi-level developments, and other building projects that require council approval.

Real estate agents use permit information to identify listing opportunities. Architects and town planners use the filters to find planning precedents that support their applications.

To view planning permits on the map:

Once activated, properties with recent permits appear highlighted on the map using a traffic light colour system:

To see permit information for a specific property, hover your cursor over any highlighted property on the map. A pop-up displays details about the most recent permit, including:

If a property has multiple permits in its history, you will see a View More link to access older applications.

You can filter which types of permits appear on the map based on their approval status:

For example, if you only want to see approved permits, deselect the Pending and Rejected options. The map will update to show only properties with approved applications.

In Victoria, you can filter permits by whether they have been appealed at VCAT:

Only one option can be selected at a time. This filter is available to Advanced and Enterprise plan members.

Some developments are assessed outside the standard local council process. You can filter to these permit types where relevant to your state:

This is useful for tracking major projects assessed directly by state planning ministers or authorities rather than local councils. Filtering by permit type is available to Advanced and Enterprise plan members.

You can narrow your search to permits within specific timeframes:

This is useful when you want to see recent permit activity or compare approval patterns over time.

To find specific types of developments, you can filter permits using keywords:

The map will update to show only permits that include your keyword in the application description. If you enter multiple keywords, Landchecker will only show permits that include all of the keywords you specified.

To narrow results to specific types of development, filter by category:

The map will update to show only permits that match your selected categories.

Planning permit data can also be downloaded as part of a Premium Property Report, which includes a Planning Permit History section and a Nearby Planning Permits section.

The Planning Permit History section shows, for the subject property:

The Nearby Planning Permits section shows, for surrounding properties:

If you only need permit data rather than a full property report, click Select data for custom report and choose the Planning Permits section — this generates a report that only includes the permit history and nearby permits for the property, without the other report sections.

Different property professionals use permit filtering for different purposes:

Permit descriptions typically include:

Reading permit descriptions helps you understand the scope and nature of proposed developments in your area.

If you don't see any permits when searching an area:

Some councils issue fewer permits than others, so the number of results varies significantly by location. Regional areas typically have fewer permits than metropolitan areas.