We are architects who tried our hand at development — and found out the hard way that the system is set up so that only those who understand every single element of it can succeed.
We went far enough to launch our own development company. What we found was a structural problem with how deals are done: the industry celebrates cold-letter campaigns — send a thousand letters to landowners who never asked to hear from you, sort whoever replies, and discover last whether the site was ever viable. Backwards at every step, and enormously wasteful — the industry tolerates it because the profit at the end covers the waste along the way. It is also part of why developers carry a reputation the good ones don't deserve. And it isn't only professionals who pay for the opacity: people buy ‘development opportunity’ sites at auction that anyone with the record open would have known could never be built on. Development done well is a public good; the way the system hides its own information is what breeds the mistrust and the losses.
The right way round is obvious once you see it: find the facts first, find the people who actually want to engage first, and work from there — willing landowners coming to you instead of unwilling ones being chased. And make the record itself accountable: when policy and the people applying it are readable by everyone, the whole system answers for its decisions. That is why we built this platform: not new data, but the existing public record made searchable, cross-referenced and interpretable, so decisions can be read before money and months are committed.
The platform launched publicly in August 2026, covering all 33 London boroughs: 1.19 million application records, more than 10,000 Planning Inspectorate appeal decisions, and over 800,000 ownership and intent signals.
On top of that record sit two types of signal on one platform — on-market and off-market — so developers start from insight instead of wasted weeks.
On-market signals, planning history, comparable outcomes.
Planning history cross-referenced with appeal outcomes, officer track records, committee behaviour, and policy citation patterns. Every site is evaluated against comparable decisions in the same borough by the same decision-makers. Not raw data — interpretation.
Landowners who come forward, or whose behaviour suggests willingness.
A site only appears in our off-market feed once an owner has come forward directly, or signals are strong enough to justify classification. Assessed before you see it, introduced on terms agreed up front. Not an agent. An introducer.
Find and appraise sites, see off-market opportunities, and understand the planning, delivery and financial risks before you commit.
Find the evidence faster, understand what actually works, and give clients better-informed advice with less time spent researching.
Register interest, get your site pre-assessed, and connect with developers actively looking for opportunities.
Understand how planning risk affects lending, delivery timelines, viability and financial returns before capital is committed.
RIBA chartered architect and co-director of The DHaus Company, the London practice he has run with David since 2010. Daniel led the development side of the practice and experienced firsthand the problems of the acquisition and planning system — the experience Development Intent is built from.
Founder and director of The DHaus Company, the architecture practice he and Daniel have co-run for fifteen years. David has led planning schemes across London — and felt, project after project, the opacity and inconsistency in the planning system that this platform exists to change.
Development Intent Ltd is incorporated in England and Wales (December 2025). Company number: 16883070.
We know what a good site looks like, which arguments work, and how planning committees behave on the day. The platform is built from that knowledge, not around it.
The scoring methodology was developed with practising architects and planning consultants. The off-market assessment framework was built with developers who have completed deals in London. Every data point is tested against real decisions.
Officer profiles, borough rankings, consultant track records, and Universal Development Scores are generated from public planning records. No profile can be altered by payment. No borough can be made to appear more or less active than the data shows.
Claimed profiles (consultants, agents, developers) let subscribers enrich their own pages — add a bio, photo, featured schemes. They cannot alter performance data or rankings.
We earn on completed introductions, not on listings. That points our incentive at accuracy: bad data costs us money.
Unlike agent-led platforms, we don't earn from listing a site. We earn from a successful deal. That is the alignment between our interests and yours. Introductions are assessed before they reach subscribers. We have no incentive to introduce anything that doesn't stand up.
No registration required. Every borough, ward, officer, consultant, and inspector in London.