How to find Reading planning applications on the council's public register, how long you get to comment, what counts as an objection, and who decides.

If someone proposes an extension next door, a shop conversion on your parade or a block of flats at the end of the road, you have a right to see the drawings and a right to comment before it is decided. Reading planning applications are all published on one free online register run by Reading Borough Council, and you do not need an account or a reason to look. This is a plain guide to where the register is, how long you get to have your say, what the council can and cannot take into account, and who actually makes the decision.

Where to find Reading planning applications

Reading does not use the Idox “Public Access” system that most neighbouring councils run. It has its own public register, and this is the address:

You can “search for and view details of planning control applications” and submit comments while an application is out for consultation (search planning applications). Three practical points about it:

  • How far back it goes. Application records run from October 1988, but the scanned documents and drawings only go back to December 2005. For anything older, the entry will exist without the plans attached.
  • It is not up around the clock. The council states that “the service is available from 05:00 Monday to 23:00 Sunday”, so an overnight search may fail.
  • It is not a legal search. The council is explicit that the online records are incomplete and “should not replace formal Land Charges Searches”. If you are buying, your solicitor’s search is the one that counts.

The yellow notices

The council’s other route to you is physical. It “displays site notices so please look out for yellow site notices being displayed and make use of the QR code to access the information about the application to see if you want to make a comment”. If you spot a yellow notice on a lamppost near a site, scanning the code takes you straight to that application rather than making you search for it.

How long you have to comment

Reading’s own pages do not put a number on the consultation window, but the national rule applies here as everywhere in England. Government planning guidance states that “the formal consultation period will normally last for 21 days” from the date publicity starts, with a shortened 18 day period for public service infrastructure applications made on or after 1 August 2021 (consultation and pre-decision matters).

The deadline that binds is the one printed on the site notice or shown against the application on the register, so check there rather than counting from when you happened to hear about it. Comments arriving after the date are often still read if no decision has been made, but that is a courtesy rather than a right.

What counts, and what does not

This is where most objections are wasted. A planning decision can only turn on material planning considerations. The council publishes both lists, and they are worth reading before you write a word (planning objections).

Things the council can take into account “can include, but are not limited to”:

  • Overlooking and loss of privacy
  • Loss of daylight or sunlight, and overshadowing
  • Scale and dominance
  • The appearance and design of the development and the materials proposed
  • Highway safety, traffic and parking
  • Noise, dust and fumes
  • Impact on the character or appearance of the area
  • Effect on listed buildings and conservation areas

Things the council cannot take into account:

  • Loss of a view
  • Loss of property value
  • Loss of trade or increased competition
  • The strength or volume of local opposition
  • Personal circumstances

What it means for you: the fifth one on that second list is the one people find hardest to accept. A petition with 400 signatures carries no more weight than one well-argued letter, because volume of opposition is not a planning consideration. What changes decisions is a specific, evidenced point about privacy, daylight, highway safety or design. Write one of those instead of organising a petition.

Two more things to expect. Your comment goes on the file: the council says comments “will be provided to the case officer for their consideration and placed on file”. And you probably will not hear back, in the council’s own words, “please do not be offended if you do not get a reply from the case officer”. It also warns plainly that objecting “may not result in permission being refused” where other factors outweigh the objection.

Who decides

Most applications never reach a politician. They are decided by planning officers under delegated powers, and government guidance expects authorities to determine applications “within a time period of 5, 8, 10, 13 or 16 weeks (depending on the type of development)”, with eight weeks the standard for ordinary applications and thirteen for major schemes.

The rest go to the Planning Applications Committee, where elected councillors vote in public. That is the route that decided the works at Caversham Court Gardens on Wednesday 22 July 2026: repairs and conservation to the listed buildings and structures there, covering replacement of the main gates, gazebo repairs, causeway improvements, reconstruction of the stable block courtyard wall and conservation of the eastern boundary wall. The council noted that part of the scheme “formed part of a previous planning application and listed building consent granted last year” (council announcement). It is a useful illustration of two things: heritage work usually needs listed building consent as well as planning permission, and big local schemes often arrive in instalments rather than as one application.

The Local Plan behind the decisions

Individual applications are judged against the Reading Borough Local Plan, adopted in November 2019, which “contains planning policies to manage development in Reading up to 2036”. The council carried out a Local Plan Review in March 2023 and is now “preparing a partial update to the Local Plan” (planning policy).

What it means for you: the Local Plan is the more powerful document. An objection that points to a specific policy in the adopted plan carries far more weight than one that simply says a scheme is unwelcome, and the partial update is where the rules for the next decade get written.

One detail that catches applicants out on residential schemes is refuse storage. The council publishes waste management guidelines for developers and landlords covering where bins go and how crews reach them, and those requirements are checked as part of the application, as our guide to Reading bin collection days sets out.

Reporting work that has no permission

If something is being built that you do not think has permission, that is enforcement rather than an objection. Reading takes all enquiries through an online form and says it aims “to complete investigations within 4 weeks”, while noting it is currently dealing with a high volume of cases (planning enforcement).

One boundary trap worth knowing

Not every address with a Reading postcode is decided by Reading Borough Council. Large parts of Tilehurst sit inside West Berkshire, and applications there go to West Berkshire Council and will never appear on Reading’s register. The council asked the Government to move three of those wards into the borough and was refused on 16 July 2026, so the split stands. Our guide to Reading council tax bands explains the same boundary from the billing side. If a search on the Reading register turns up nothing for an address you know exists, check which council covers it before assuming the application is not there.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find planning applications in Reading?

Search the council’s public register at publicregister.reading.gov.uk. No account is needed to look. Application records go back to October 1988 and scanned documents to December 2005. The service runs from 05:00 Monday to 23:00 Sunday.

How long do I have to comment on a Reading planning application?

Normally 21 days from the start of the consultation, per government planning guidance, or 18 days for public service infrastructure applications. The exact deadline appears on the site notice and against the application on the register.

What can I object to on a planning application?

Overlooking and loss of privacy, loss of daylight, scale and dominance, design and materials, highway safety, traffic and parking, noise, dust and fumes, the character of the area, and the effect on listed buildings and conservation areas. Loss of a view, loss of property value, competition and the sheer number of objectors cannot be taken into account.

Will the council reply to my objection?

Probably not personally. The council says comments are passed to the case officer and placed on file, and asks residents not to be offended if the case officer does not reply.

Who decides planning applications in Reading?

Most are decided by planning officers under delegated powers, within eight weeks for ordinary applications and thirteen for major ones. Significant or contested cases go to the Planning Applications Committee, where councillors vote in public.

How do I report building work with no planning permission?

Use the council’s online planning enforcement form. Reading aims to complete investigations within four weeks, though it says it is currently handling a high volume of cases.

Sources

Deadlines and application statuses change. Always confirm the consultation date on the council’s public register before relying on it. Last checked 4 August 2026.