BuildAlert helps loft conversion companies find homeowners planning a loft conversion through live UK planning applications. Simply search by postcode, choose the projects you want to target, and we'll print and post personalised letters on your behalf directly to the homeowner.
Most homeowners submit a planning application weeks or even months before choosing a loft conversion company. During that time they're comparing quotes, researching local businesses and deciding who to trust. BuildAlert helps you reach them while they're still making that decision.
Unlike shared lead websites, you decide exactly which homeowners to contact. There are no subscriptions, no recycled enquiries and no bidding against other companies. You only pay when you choose to send a personalised letter, and we take care of the printing and postage for you.
Ready to see what loft conversion projects are happening in your area? Create a free BuildAlert account and start browsing live planning applications today.
Ready to see what is happening in your area? Create a free BuildAlert account and start browsing live loft conversion leads today.

Example: BuildAlert highlighting loft conversion planning applications by postcode and project type
Loft conversion companies use BuildAlert to build a predictable pipeline of local work without relying on referrals, expensive ad campaigns or shared lead marketplaces. Here is what that looks like in practice:
“You choose which loft conversion leads to act on - no bidding for enquiries and no paying for projects that were never a good fit.”

Dormer conversions account for more loft planning applications than any other type in the UK, because they add full head height and genuinely usable floor space to almost any pitched roof.
BuildAlert flags dormer applications - rear dormers, box dormers and hip-to-gable-plus-dormer combinations - as soon as they are logged by the local authority, together with the elevations and roof plans submitted alongside them.
Because dormers are so common, they are also where competition is fiercest. Reaching the applicant in the first week gives you a genuine head start over companies still waiting on referrals.

Homes with hipped roofs - typically 1960s and 1970s semis and detached houses - often need a hip-to-gable conversion before the loft can be used at all, extending the roof to a vertical gable wall and unlocking significant extra volume.
Many hip-to-gable projects still need full planning permission or a lawful development certificate, particularly where a dormer is added on top, which means BuildAlert can track them from the moment the application is submitted.
These are higher-value jobs that reward loft conversion companies who can handle the roof structure as well as the internal fit-out, so they are worth targeting directly rather than waiting on a referral from a roofer.

Mansard conversions replace the whole rear roof slope with a near-vertical wall and a shallow-pitched top, giving the most usable head height of any loft conversion - and they almost always need full planning permission, especially on terraced houses and properties in conservation areas.
Because mansards rarely qualify as permitted development, they leave a clear paper trail in the planning register, and BuildAlert surfaces them automatically so you can review the drawings and scope before quoting.
Mansard projects typically carry the highest contract values of any loft conversion type, making them worth prioritising if your business has the scaffolding and roofing capability to deliver them.

The simplest loft conversions add rooflights or Velux windows without altering the roof's shape at all, making them faster to plan, price and build than a dormer or mansard.
Even straightforward rooflight conversions usually appear in planning data, either as a full application or a lawful development certificate, and BuildAlert picks up the relevant keywords in the description so you don't have to search manually.
These are ideal projects for filling gaps in your schedule between larger dormer and mansard contracts, especially for loft conversion companies who also handle general roofing work.

Many homeowners combine a loft conversion with a rear or side extension in a single planning application, creating a larger, more valuable project than either scheme on its own.
BuildAlert highlights these combined loft extension applications so you can see the full scope - extra floor space downstairs as well as upstairs - before you make contact.
Spotting these early gives you the chance to quote for the whole project rather than just the loft element, increasing the average value of every job you win.

Whole-house renovations and refurbishments frequently include a loft conversion as one part of a much larger scope of work, alongside re-roofing, internal reconfiguration and structural alterations.
These applications tend to involve larger budgets and longer programmes, and BuildAlert tags the loft element even when it is buried inside a wider renovation description.
For loft conversion companies who also take on broader renovation work, these projects offer a route into bigger, longer-term contracts rather than one-off loft jobs.
BuildAlert monitors planning applications submitted to every local authority in the UK, updating its database daily. Each week, loft conversion companies using BuildAlert see thousands of relevant applications appear across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Weekly averages based on planning applications submitted across UK local authorities. BuildAlert updates this data daily, so new loft conversion leads are ready to view as soon as they are logged.
Most loft conversion companies have already tried Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or one of the big lead marketplaces - Checkatrade, Bark, MyBuilder, Rated People - before turning to planning data. The pattern is usually the same: cost per click keeps rising, the same enquiry gets sold to four or five other companies, and conversion rates fall because homeowners are comparing quotes from everyone at once.
Google and Facebook Ads can generate enquiries, but you pay for every click whether or not the homeowner is ready to commit, and costs for competitive terms like “loft conversion company near me” have climbed steadily as more businesses bid for the same clicks.
Checkatrade, Bark, MyBuilder and Rated People work in a similar way to each other: a homeowner posts a job, and it gets pushed out to multiple contractors who each pay for the chance to quote. You are not just competing on price - you are competing on speed, and a lot of the leads have already been shopped around before you see them.
BuildAlert works differently because it does not sell leads at all. You are looking at planning applications - a public record of every homeowner who has decided to build - before they have approached a single loft conversion company. There is no bidding, no auction, and no enquiry that has already been sent to your competitors. You choose which projects to approach, and the letter you send is the first contact that homeowner receives from a business like yours.
Loft conversion lead generation usually means one of two things: paying for advertising and hoping the right homeowner clicks, or buying leads that have already been sent to several other companies. BuildAlert takes a third approach, built entirely on UK planning applications.
Every loft conversion needs planning permission, a lawful development certificate, or at the very least a building regulations submission before work can start - and in almost every case, that begins with a planning application lodged with the local authority. BuildAlert monitors these applications from councils across the UK and picks out the ones tagged as dormer, hip-to-gable, mansard, rooflight or loft extension projects, so you see them the moment they are published.
This is why planning-based lead generation consistently outperforms traditional lead generation companies when it comes to loft conversion enquiries: you are contacting the homeowner while they are still gathering information and choosing a contractor, not after they have already committed to someone else. A homeowner who submitted a planning application last week has not necessarily hired anyone yet - and a well-written letter, sent quickly, puts your business in front of them at exactly the right moment.
Building a consistent pipeline is a matter of habit rather than luck. Loft conversion companies who check BuildAlert regularly, keep their postcode and radius filters up to date, and follow up promptly tend to build a steady flow of loft conversion company leads over a few months, rather than relying on the feast-or-famine cycle of paid advertising or word-of-mouth referrals.
Every search on BuildAlert starts with a postcode. Enter where you want to work, set a radius that matches how far you are willing to travel, and you will see every relevant loft conversion job submitted in that area, updated daily.
Many loft conversion companies focus their search on affluent neighbourhoods, where larger, more expensive properties are more likely to justify a mansard or a combined loft-and-extension project rather than a simple rooflight job. You can narrow your filters street by street if you know an area well, or widen the radius when you are happy to travel further for a bigger contract.
Because you are choosing the projects yourself, there is no obligation to chase every application that comes in. Skip the ones that do not suit your crew or your pricing, and focus on the loft conversion jobs that are the right size, in the right location, and within a travel distance that keeps your costs down.
This is also how loft conversion companies grow without buying expensive leads. Instead of a fixed monthly spend on advertising or lead packages, you scale your outreach up or down depending on how much capacity you have, only paying when you actually send a letter to a homeowner.
Once you have chosen a planning application to act on, BuildAlert prepares a mail-merge ready letter using the homeowner's name and address exactly as they appear on the application - no re-typing addresses or copying details between spreadsheets.
Add your logo, contact details and a short description of your loft conversion services, and BuildAlert handles the rest: professional printing on quality paper and first-class postage, all included in the £2.00 per letter cost.
For a business that wants to reach homeowners professionally without hiring a marketing team, this turns a planning application into a finished, posted letter in a couple of clicks - letting you focus on quoting and building, not on formatting mail merges.
Create a free BuildAlert account and start browsing live planning applications for dormer, hip-to-gable, mansard and rooflight conversions in your area today. There's no subscription and nothing to pay until you decide to contact a homeowner - just £2.00 per letter, printed and posted for you.
BuildAlert helps loft conversion companies across the UK find genuine loft conversion leads from real planning applications, covering everything from dormer and hip-to-gable projects to mansards and full loft extensions. If you take on wider project types, you may also want to see how BuildAlert works for builders and construction firms, tradespeople or structural engineers, browse construction leads nationwide, or check our full pricing details.