RainPlan
A daily water coach that keeps UK households within hosepipe ban rules and their gardens alive.
UK households in or near the seven Environment Agency drought regions
- Tracks metered or estimated household water use against local restriction thresholds
- Friendly nudges before you cross daily or weekly limits during a hosepipe ban
- Garden-specific advice suggesting drought-tolerant swaps for the plants you actually have
- Postcode-based restriction map that updates whenever the Environment Agency declares or lifts drought
Half of England is officially in drought with millions under hosepipe bans, and the rules are buried across multiple council pages with no single daily-use app.
BBC and GOV.UK confirm 8M+ households under hosepipe bans, half of England officially in drought after the driest spring since 1893 — a real, large, time-pressured user base.Hosepipe ban in force for millions of households - is your area affected? ↗2025 drought: how it developed in England - GOV.UK ↗
No dedicated hosepipe-ban compliance app found; rules are scattered across council/water company pages (evidenced by third-party explainer sites like ukwaterbills.co.uk and lawnbyseason.com existing). Adjacent competitors (RHS Grow, Growli, smart irrigation timers) cover plant care or hardware but not the specific 'am I allowed to hosepipe today?' job-to-be-done.Best Plant Care App UK 2026 — Free & Paid, 7 Tested ↗Hosepipe Ban Rules UK: What You Can and Can't Do - UK Water Bills ↗
Plant care apps monetise (RHS Grow £5.99/mo or £39.99/yr), but a compliance/coaching app has weaker willingness-to-pay — users in drought regions face fines up to £1,000 and may balk at subscriptions, and once they learn the rules the daily-engagement hook fades. Garden care subscription kits exist but are physical product plays, not software benchmarks.Best Plant Care App UK 2026 — Free & Paid, 7 Tested ↗Best Lawn Care Subscription UK (2026): Honest Comparison ↗
Met Office UKCP18 and a University of Birmingham statement call 2025 the 'tip of the dry iceberg', with hotter drier summers projected through 2050 — but as drought normalises, consumers may stop needing a specialised app and rely on habit or water-company comms.UK drought is "tip of the dry iceberg" in future water security concerns ↗UK Climate Projections (UKCP18) - Met Office ↗
Trivially buildable: postcode lookup + Met Office weather feed + per-water-company rules table + push notifications. No ML, no hardware, no regulation — content maintenance is the only real ongoing cost.Drought: how it is managed in England - GOV.UK ↗