Last Updated on November 4, 2026
Resi scores highest of the ten UK architecture and planning practices compared, at 5.7 out of 10 on the Whito leaderboard.
Opinion and analysis. Whito read every brand below by hand, using publicly visible activity only: the first five on 12 October 2026 and the five added to make this a top ten on 22 October 2026, against the same fixed anchors and the same ten searches. Each channel is scored 0 to 10, set out under How we scored, so a score describes what we could see on the day, not the quality of the service. Brands cannot pay to appear or to change a score. Where a figure is not published, we say so.
Most architects assume good drawings sell the next job. On the public evidence, homeowners are shown little proof. Two of the ten practices have no Trustpilot reviews at all, and five capture no email.
Resi leads at 5.7 because it does the visible basics at volume: 727 Trustpilot reviews with a reply on each of the latest 20, six social platforms and about 200 Google ads. 4D Planning and Urbanist Architecture follow on 4.7. 4D Planning holds 5.0 from 300 Trustpilot reviews, the best rating here.
Architect Your Home and Extension Architecture share the lowest score, 2.9. Architect Your Home publishes fixed fees from £699 + VAT, yet showed no social links and had no reviews when read on 12 October.
What can your business learn?
Who’s leading? Resi, with 5.7 out of 10 across seven channels.
Why are they leading? Its highest-scoring channels are Paid (8/10) and Social (7/10).
Where’s the opportunity? Email is the weakest channel on this board. The ten brands average 1.9 out of 10 on it, and 7 of them score 3 or less.
What can you copy? Three of the lessons further down this page:
- Ask every client for a review
- Publish a from fee
- Write the planning guide people search for
Read all five lessons · Scores measure visible marketing, not sales, profit or market share.
The leaderboard
| Rank | Brand | Social | Website | SEO | Paid | Reviews | Brand | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Resi | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 5.7 |
| 2 | 4D Planning | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.7 |
| 2 | Urbanist Architecture | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 4.7 |
| 4 | Build Team | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4.6 |
| 5 | Homz | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4.4 |
| 6 | Extension Plans UK | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4.3 |
| 7 | MDT Design | 4 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4.0 |
| 8 | Plansing | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3.3 |
| 9 | Architect Your Home | 0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2.9 |
| 9 | Extension Architecture | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.9 |
Average is the simple mean of the seven channel scores, rounded to one decimal place. Brands on the same average share a rank and are listed A to Z. Resi, Urbanist Architecture, Build Team, Architect Your Home and Extension Architecture read 12 October 2026; 4D Planning, Homz, Extension Plans UK, MDT Design and Plansing read 22 October 2026. Meta Ad Library counts for brands added on 22 October were read on 23 October 2026, after the library was unavailable on 22 October.
Company verdicts
Resi, 5.7
Resi scores 5.7, the highest of the ten. Reviews score 7 from 4.5 on 727 Trustpilot reviews, with a reply on every one of the latest 20. Social scores 7 for six platforms plus Houzz, and paid 8 for about 200 Google ads and 2 Meta ads, read on 12 October. Its website has a page per extension type, an instant quote form and an advice-call calendar, but names its packages without prices. resi.co.uk appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
4D Planning, 4.7
4D Planning scores 4.7, level with Urbanist Architecture. Reviews score 8, the best here, from 5.0 on 300 Trustpilot reviews with replies to 17 of the latest 20. Social scores 6 for seven platforms including Houzz. Its website scores 6 for a phone number, a page per planning service and a quote request, with no prices. Paid scores 4 with 3 Google ads. It is a planning consultancy rather than an architecture practice, which is how many homeowners now buy planning drawings.
Urbanist Architecture, 4.7
Urbanist Architecture scores 4.7, level with 4D Planning. SEO scores 5, the best here: urbanistarchitecture.co.uk appeared in 2 of 10 UK searches on 12 October, and again for ‘house extension architect’ and ‘architect London extension’ when the searches were run on 22 October. Email scores 5 for several lead magnets, and brand 6 for a clear line and named staff. Its Trustpilot profile has no reviews.
Build Team, 4.6
Build Team scores 4.6. Its Instant Quote tool emails a personalised PDF estimate, and email scores 6, the highest here, for a newsletter, brochure and client log-in. Reviews score 4 from 4.2 on 17 Trustpilot reviews. No ads were found on 12 October.
Homz, 4.4
Homz scores 4.4. Paid scores 6 with 70 Google ads, the most of the five added on 22 October. Social scores 6 for five platforms. Reviews score 6 from 4.7 on 118 Trustpilot reviews, with no replies on the latest 20. Brand scores 4 for the line ‘One-Stop Solution for UK Planning Applications’. Email scores 0.
Extension Plans UK, 4.3
Extension Plans UK scores 4.3. Its website scores 8 for prices on the homepage, from £995 plus VAT, an ARB reference and free consultation booking. Reviews score 7 from 4.7 on 357 Trustpilot reviews, with replies to 2 of the latest 20. Social scores 2, for Houzz only, and email 0.
MDT Design, 4.0
MDT Design scores 4.0. Reviews score 5 from 4.9 on 93 Trustpilot reviews, with no replies on the latest 20. Paid scores 6 with 14 Google ads. Its website offers free consultation booking with no prices, and email scores 0. It is a Southampton practice, the only one here based outside London and the Home Counties.
Plansing, 3.3
Plansing scores 3.3. Its website scores 10, the best here, for an instant quote tool. Everything else is thin: no social links, no email capture, no Google ads found, and 3.5 from 139 Trustpilot reviews.
Architect Your Home, 2.9
Architect Your Home scores 2.9, level with Extension Architecture. Its website scores 8 for fixed fees from £699 + VAT and Calendly booking, and paid 6 for 11 Google ads, read on 12 October. It showed no social links, its Trustpilot profile had no reviews and it appeared in none of 10 UK searches.
Extension Architecture, 2.9
Extension Architecture scores 2.9, level with Architect Your Home. Social scores 6 for four platforms. It had two Trustpilot reviews averaging 3.3, no way to collect an email and no appearance in any of 10 UK searches when read on 12 October.
What the channels show
Reviews are the gap
4D Planning holds 5.0 from 300 Trustpilot reviews and Resi 4.5 from 727. Urbanist Architecture and Architect Your Home have none, and Extension Architecture has two. Resi replies to all of its latest 20; Homz and MDT Design reply to none.
Prices are rare but powerful
Architect Your Home publishes fixed fees from £699 + VAT, Extension Plans UK from £995 plus VAT, and Plansing runs an instant quote tool. Most of the ten route homeowners to a call or a form first.
Search goes to specialists, magazines and directories
When the ten searches were run again on 22 October, only Urbanist Architecture appeared among the ten brands, twice. Other practices with strong blogs, magazines, MyBuilder and the RIBA directory took the rest.
Lead magnets are thin
Urbanist Architecture offers several planning ebooks and checklists and Build Team a brochure. Five of the ten capture no email at all.
Key lessons for any architecture practice
Ask every client for a review
4D Planning has 300 reviews at 5.0. Ask when planning is granted, while the client is happiest.
Publish a from fee
Fixed fees from £699 or £995 answer the first question a homeowner has. A from price is a filter, not a promise.
Write the planning guide people search for
Urbanist Architecture ranks with plain pages on house extension architects. A page per project type, with costs and timelines, is how a small practice appears.
Give away a planning checklist
Urbanist’s planning ebook is the best email capture here. A one-page permitted development checklist does the same job.
Link your social profiles
Architect Your Home and Plansing link none. Houzz and Instagram are where homeowners look at past work.
Steal this playbook
Five moves from this leaderboard, ranked by return on effort.
- Ask for a review when planning is granted. Two of the ten have no Trustpilot reviews at all.
- Publish a from fee. Architect Your Home and Extension Plans UK do; most do not.
- Offer a planning checklist for an email. Five of the ten capture none.
- Write one page per project type. Only Urbanist Architecture appeared in the 22 October searches.
- Link Houzz and Instagram. Two of the ten link no social platform at all.
The evidence behind the scores
One line per channel, as read on the date shown for each brand. Review figures change daily; these are the numbers on the day we looked.
Resi
Read 12 October 2026.
- Social 7: Links to Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn from resi.co.uk, plus Houzz.
- Website 7: A page per extension type, phone, instant quote form, advice-call calendar and an ARB statement; three packages named without prices.
- Email 4: Account creation to save projects; no newsletter or guide download seen on the homepage.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned resi.co.uk in the top ten; plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
- Paid 8: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain resi.co.uk: about 200 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads naming the brand: 2.
- Reviews 7: Trustpilot 4.5 from 727 reviews; 20 of the latest 20 have a company reply.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Extend Easy’); no long-running asset, named people or three recent news mentions found.
4D Planning
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Pinterest, plus Houzz, seven platforms in all; recent posting and video not checked.
- Website 6: A phone number (0203 1500 183), a page per planning service and a quote request; no prices.
- Email 2: A single email sign-up field; no account or app seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned 4dplanning.com in the top ten, plus credit for a planning advice blog.
- Paid 4: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain 4dplanning.com: 3 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from a 4D Planning page found.
- Reviews 8: Trustpilot 5.0 from 300 reviews, with a company reply on 17 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Chartered Planning Consultancy’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Urbanist Architecture
Read 12 October 2026.
- Social 6: Links to Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn from urbanistarchitecture.co.uk; no Facebook, X or TikTok link found.
- Website 7: 13 service pages, phone, contact form, a published fee range of 10% to 15% of build cost and a cost calculator; no fixed prices.
- Email 5: Several lead magnets, including a planning permission ebook, Green Belt book, development audit, builders checklist and cost calculator.
- SEO 5: 2 of 10 UK web searches returned urbanistarchitecture.co.uk in the top ten; plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
- Paid 4: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain urbanistarchitecture.co.uk: 4 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads naming the brand: none found.
- Reviews 0: Trustpilot profile for urbanistarchitecture.co.uk has no reviews, so there is no rating, volume or reply record to score.
- Brand 6: Same name everywhere, a clear positioning line (‘London-based RIBA chartered architecture firm with unrivalled residential design expertise’) and named staff; no long-running asset or three recent news mentions found.
Build Team
Read 12 October 2026.
- Social 6: Links to Instagram, Facebook and X from buildteam.com, plus Pinterest and Houzz.
- Website 7: Instant Quote tool emails a personalised PDF estimate, free 30-minute consultation calendar, extension cost calculator and a page per extension type.
- Email 6: Newsletter form, brochure download, quote PDF sent by email and a client log-in.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned buildteam.com in the top ten; plus 1 for an advice or guides library.
- Paid 2: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain buildteam.com: no ads found. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads naming the brand: none found.
- Reviews 4: Trustpilot 4.2 from 17 reviews; 9 of the latest 17 have a company reply.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘House Extensions in London’); no long-running asset, named people or three recent news mentions found.
Homz
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, Houzz, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube, five platforms in all.
- Website 6: A page per planning service, including pre-planning advice, and an enquiry route; no prices.
- Email 0: No newsletter, guide download or account seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned homz.uk in the top ten, plus credit for planning guides and advice.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain homz.uk: 70 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from a Homz page found.
- Reviews 6: Trustpilot 4.7 from 118 reviews, with no company reply on the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘One-Stop Solution for UK Planning Applications’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Extension Plans UK
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 2: Links to Houzz only.
- Website 8: Prices on the homepage (from £995 plus VAT), an ARB reference and free consultation booking; no registration number shown.
- Email 0: No newsletter, guide download or account seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned extensionplansuk.co.uk in the top ten, plus credit for a blog and advice.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain extensionplansuk.co.uk: 12 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from an Extension Plans UK page found.
- Reviews 7: Trustpilot 4.7 from 357 reviews, with a company reply on 2 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘We are with you all the way’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
MDT Design
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 4: Links to Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, three platforms in all.
- Website 6: A phone number, a page per service and free consultation booking; no prices.
- Email 0: No newsletter, guide download or account seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned mdtdesign.co.uk in the top ten, plus credit for a blog and advice.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain mdtdesign.co.uk: 14 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from an MDT Design page found.
- Reviews 5: Trustpilot 4.9 from 93 reviews, with no company reply on the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Architect Services Southampton’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Plansing
Read 22 October 2026 (Meta read 23 October 2026).
- Social 0: No social platforms linked from plansing.co.uk, including at the foot of the page.
- Website 10: An instant quote tool, with an example price on the homepage (£23,400), and a page per service.
- Email 0: No newsletter, guide download or account seen.
- SEO 3: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned plansing.co.uk in the top ten, plus credit for a blog.
- Paid 2: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain plansing.co.uk: no ads found. Meta Ad Library, UK, read 23 October 2026: no active ads from a Plansing page found.
- Reviews 4: Trustpilot 3.5 from 139 reviews, with a company reply on 7 of the latest 20.
- Brand 4: Same name everywhere and a clear positioning line (‘Architectural Design & Structural Engineering’); no long-running asset or named people confirmed, and three recent news mentions not checked.
Architect Your Home
Read 12 October 2026.
- Social 0: No social platform links found on architect-yourhome.com, so there is nothing to score for social.
- Website 8: Fixed prices published (Vision Sketch Sprint from £699 + VAT; 7-hour £999; 2-hour turbo £500), Calendly call booking, WhatsApp and a fee calculator.
- Email 2: A single newsletter form on the site; no lead magnet, guide download or account capture seen.
- SEO 2: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned architect-yourhome.com in the top ten.
- Paid 6: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain architect-yourhome.com: 11 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads naming the brand: none found.
- Reviews 0: Trustpilot profile for architect-yourhome.com has no reviews, so there is no rating, volume or reply record to score.
- Brand 2: Seven named architects on its team page; no social profiles to compare, no clear positioning line, long-running asset or three recent news mentions found.
Extension Architecture
Read 12 October 2026.
- Social 6: Links to Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn; the X handle appears only in page metadata, spelt @EArchiteture.
- Website 6: Long service list, phone, email, quote form with budget bands and free video meeting booking; pricing pages linked but no figures seen.
- Email 0: No newsletter, guide download or account capture found on the homepage.
- SEO 2: 0 of 10 UK web searches returned extensionarchitecture.co.uk in the top ten.
- Paid 4: Google Ads Transparency Centre, UK, last 30 days, by domain extensionarchitecture.co.uk: 7 ads. Meta Ad Library, UK, active ads naming the brand: none found.
- Reviews 0: Trustpilot 3.3 from 2 reviews; 0 of the latest 2 have a company reply.
- Brand 2: A clear positioning line (‘RIBA ARCHITECTS IN LONDON’); handles not consistent, and no long-running asset, named architects or three recent news mentions found.
How we scored
Who is on the board. Ten UK practices a homeowner or small developer planning an extension, loft or conversion is likely to meet. Models: Resi (online-first national residential architecture platform with in-house ARB architects), Architect Your Home (network of local architects across London and the Home Counties, sold by fixed-fee sprints), Urbanist Architecture (RIBA chartered specialist practice for difficult sites and developers), Extension Architecture (high-volume extension and planning practice), Build Team (design-and-build firm whose in-house architectural design is sold to homeowners), 4D Planning (London chartered planning consultancy), Homz (planning application service), Extension Plans UK (extension and planning drawings service), MDT Design (Southampton architecture practice) and Plansing (London architectural design and structural engineering service). The five added on 22 October were taken from the UK practices with the most Trustpilot reviews in the architect category, chosen before the searches were run; one listed firm turned out to be a quantity surveyor and one a wallpaper brand, so MDT Design, the next relevant practice, was added. Honest limit: the consumer-facing residential architecture market is London-heavy. Chosen for relevance and size, not marketing strength.
When we looked. The board launched with five brands, read on 12 October 2026. Five more were added on 22 October 2026 to make a top ten, read against the same anchors below, with the same ten searches run again on that date. The first five were not re-read, so their figures are as of 12 October 2026. Meta Ad Library counts for brands added on 22 October were read on 23 October 2026, after the library was unavailable on 22 October. The first five keep the Paid scores read with both libraries on 12 October 2026.
- Social: which platforms the brand links to from its own site, and whether we could see recent posting and video.
- Website: 2 for a brochure page, 4 with a contact route on mobile, 6 with a page per service and a one-step enquiry, 8 with prices or ranges and registration numbers shown, 10 with online booking, an online checkout or an instant priced quote.
- Email: visible capture only, as we did not subscribe test inboxes for this edition. 2 for a bare newsletter form, 4 for a customer account, 6 for an app, 7 for a newsletter plus an app, up to 10 for a loyalty or app ecosystem with personal offers.
- SEO: ten UK searches for this sector, run through a standard web search API (12 October 2026 for the first five brands, 22 October 2026 for the five added; not personalised, no location set beyond the town in the query); we counted how many returned the brand’s own site in the top ten results. 0 of 10 scores 2, 1 to 2 scores 4, 3 to 4 scores 6, 5 to 6 scores 8, 7 or more scores 10, plus 1 for a substantial advice library. The searches: house extension architect; architect for loft conversion; architect planning permission extension; how much does an architect cost for an extension; online architect service UK; architect London extension; architect Manchester extension; architect Bristol extension; architect Birmingham house extension; architect Leeds loft conversion.
- Paid: the Google Ads Transparency Centre (UK, last 30 days, by domain) and the Meta Ad Library (UK, active ads, counted by the advertiser page). 2 for nothing found in either, 4 for active in one with fewer than 10 ads, 6 for active in both or 10+ in one, 8 for active in both with 10+ in at least one, 10 for 50+ Google ads and 10+ Meta ads. Paid describes visible activity, not quality. A low paid score is not a fault.
- Reviews: a fixed formula. Rating (4.7+ scores 4, 4.5 to 4.69 scores 3, 4.0 to 4.49 scores 2, 3.5 to 3.99 scores 1) plus volume (10,000+ scores 4, 1,000+ scores 3, 100+ scores 2, 20+ scores 1) plus replies to the latest 20 reviews (half or more scores 2, some scores 1). Where Trustpilot sends a brand’s address to a parent company profile, we used that profile and say so.
- Brand: five checks worth 2 each: the same name and logo everywhere, one clear positioning line, a distinctive asset used for years, three or more independent press mentions in 90 days, and named people or expertise on the site. We award only what we could verify on the day.
These anchors are fixed for this edition, so the ten scores can be read against each other, allowing for the days between the two reading dates. Boards published before October 2026 used scores relative to the other brands on the board, so compare across boards with care.
Common questions
Which architecture practice scores highest on the Whito leaderboard?
Resi scores highest of the ten, at 5.7 out of 10, ahead of 4D Planning and Urbanist Architecture on 4.7. Resi has 727 Trustpilot reviews with a reply on each of the latest 20, links six social platforms and ran about 200 Google ads.
Which practices score lowest?
Architect Your Home and Extension Architecture share the lowest score, 2.9. Architect Your Home publishes fixed fees but showed no social links and had no reviews; Extension Architecture had two Trustpilot reviews averaging 3.3 and no email capture.
Do architects publish their fees?
A few do. Architect Your Home publishes fixed fees from £699 + VAT, Extension Plans UK from £995 plus VAT, and Urbanist Architecture a fee range of 10% to 15% of build cost. Plansing runs an instant quote tool. Most of the ten route homeowners to a call or form first.
How do architecture practices compare on reviews?
4D Planning has 5.0 from 300 Trustpilot reviews and Resi 4.5 from 727. Extension Plans UK has 357 at 4.7. Urbanist Architecture and Architect Your Home have none, and Extension Architecture has two.
What can a small architecture practice copy from these brands?
Ask for a review when planning is granted. Publish a from fee. Offer a planning checklist in exchange for an email. Write one page per project type, and link your Houzz and Instagram profiles.
Corrections and right of reply
If your business is scored here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk. We check it against the source, correct it within five working days if we are wrong, and publish your statement alongside if you want us to. Scores are never changed for payment or because a business has claimed a Whito listing. Full route: corrections, right of reply and removals.
Related: all UK marketing leaderboards · Architects on Whito
If your business is named here and you think we have a fact wrong, email hello@whito.co.uk and we will check it and correct it. If you want to respond, send us a statement and we will publish it alongside. Full detail: Corrections, right of reply and removals.
