What we do
Find the route to consent on sites others have written off, and make sure it's a consent worth having.
We take on the sites others turn down.
A specialist planning consultancy for developers, landowners and property investors — at our best on schemes that have been refused, stalled or written off.
0%of new clients come to us after a refusal
Our story
Who we are and why clients bring us the hard cases
Most planning consultancies are built for volume: straightforward applications, processed quickly. We built Breakthrough Planning for the opposite.
Our clients usually come to us after something has gone wrong — a refusal, an enforcement notice, or another consultant telling them the site can't be done. Nine times out of ten, that's how a new instruction starts.
We work out why the scheme failed, what the council actually needs to see, and the strongest route to a yes — a revised application, an appeal or a different strategy altogether.
What makes us different
Good sites get dismissed every day because they look difficult. A refusal gets treated as final. An enforcement notice gets treated as the end of the road.
We see it differently because we've seen it from the other side. Our Head of Planning, Basya Markovits, was a planning and enforcement officer at Barnet Council. She knows how officers assess an application, where the real objections lie, and what it takes to change a decision.
Add a commercial eye — we care whether the consent makes the project work, not just whether it's granted — and you get advice built around the outcome you need.
Specialists in the difficult
90% of our new clients come to us after a refusal, or after being told it couldn't be done. Difficult is our normal.
We know how councils decide
Our Head of Planning was a planning and enforcement officer at Barnet Council. We know what officers look for, and what gets them to yes.
Commercial awareness
A consent is only worth having if the numbers work. We plan for value and viability, not just approval.
Straight answers, early
If a scheme won't work, we'll tell you before you spend money on it. If it can, we build the case properly.
Our approach
How we work
Straight answers, early. If a scheme won't work, we'll tell you before you spend money on it. If it can, we build the case properly and see it through.
Who we work with
Developers, landowners and property investors, usually after a refusal, an enforcement notice or a pre-app that's gone nowhere.
Refusals overturned and consents secured — a few recent examples
All case studies
In their words
“Two other firms turned this down. Breakthrough Planning not only took it on — they secured two major extensions and approval for a 5-bed HMO in an Article 4 area. The additional value created dwarfs their fee. They're now our go-to consultants whenever a project looks complicated.”
Reach out
Stuck on a site?
Let's talk it through
Tell us about the site, what you want from it and where it's stuck. We'll tell you, plainly, what's achievable.
