Planning by council

Every council decides differently

The same extension can sail through in one authority and be refused in the next. These are real approval rates from 303 English planning authorities, taken from their own statutory returns.

303Authorities covered
151,807Householder decisions analysed
91.0%Average approval rate
92.4%Decided within eight weeks

Figures cover 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1 and come from the MHCLG district planning application statistics, the returns every English planning authority is required to file. Article 4 and conservation area counts come from the government Planning Data platform. Last refreshed 2026-08-16.

Highest approval rates

Authorities deciding 300 or more householder applications a year, so the percentages mean something.

CouncilApprovedDecisionsIn 8 weeksRegion
Fareham99.2%39499.7%South East
North Kesteven98.7%31098.7%East Midlands
Hammersmith and Fulham98.6%56090.3%London
Breckland98.2%34294.8%East of England
North Devon97.7%30198.0%South West
South Oxfordshire97.6%87196.4%South East
Amber Valley97.5%36299.6%East Midlands
Cheltenham97.5%57096.9%South West

Toughest to get through

A lower rate usually means more constraints, not a hostile council. It does mean the design has to work harder.

CouncilApprovedDecisionsIn 8 weeksRegion
Barking and Dagenham68.0%406100.0%London
Rotherham70.6%402100.0%Yorkshire and the Humber
Windsor and Maidenhead73.5%97094.1%South East
Hounslow74.7%70497.3%London
Mole Valley76.0%53474.0%South East
Epping Forest76.1%77795.3%East of England
Gravesham77.5%40095.7%South East
Greenwich77.6%64794.2%London
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East Midlands 35

Amber Valley · 97.5%Ashfield · 86.5%Bassetlaw · 88.6%Blaby · 96.3%Bolsover · 98.5%Boston · 96.3%Broxtowe · 96.3%Charnwood · 88.1%Chesterfield · 89.4%Derby · 91.0%Derbyshire Dales · 92.6%East Lindsey · 94.0%Erewash · 97.4%Gedling · 94.6%Harborough · 92.0%High Peak · 88.8%Hinckley and Bosworth · 93.6%Leicester · 85.3%Lincoln · 99.1%Mansfield · 96.7%Melton · 94.1%Newark and Sherwood · 96.2%North East Derbyshire · 93.1%North Kesteven · 98.7%North Northamptonshire · 88.4%North West Leicestershire · 97.4%Nottingham · 89.8%Oadby and Wigston · 77.4%Rushcliffe · 94.7%Rutland · 92.2%South Derbyshire · 96.7%South Holland · 89.4%South Kesteven · 93.7%West Lindsey · 94.2%West Northamptonshire · 93.0%

East of England 45

Babergh · 90.8%Basildon · 84.2%Bedford · 86.3%Braintree · 91.9%Breckland · 98.2%Brentwood · 85.2%Broadland · 97.2%Broxbourne · 92.9%Cambridge · 93.9%Castle Point · 83.6%Central Bedfordshire · 90.5%Chelmsford · 90.1%Colchester · 83.8%Dacorum · 91.1%East Cambridgeshire · 88.7%East Hertfordshire · 84.4%East Suffolk · 95.3%Epping Forest · 76.1%Fenland · 93.2%Great Yarmouth · 92.2%Harlow · 79.2%Hertsmere · 94.0%Huntingdonshire · 95.3%Ipswich · 98.3%King’s Lynn and West Norfolk · 95.2%Luton · 85.6%Maldon · 90.9%Mid Suffolk · 95.1%North Hertfordshire · 94.7%North Norfolk · 96.0%Norwich · 97.3%Peterborough · 88.8%Rochford · 81.2%South Cambridgeshire · 95.4%South Norfolk · 95.3%Southend-on-Sea · 87.7%St Albans · 88.4%Stevenage · 96.2%Tendring · 89.0%Three Rivers · 91.0%Thurrock · 82.0%Uttlesford · 81.7%Watford · 81.0%Welwyn Hatfield · 86.3%West Suffolk · 95.3%

London 32

Barking and Dagenham · 68.0%Barnet · 82.2%Bexley · 95.3%Brent · 85.5%Bromley · 79.0%Camden · 88.4%Croydon · 87.3%Ealing · 87.7%Enfield · 83.1%Greenwich · 77.6%Hackney · 84.3%Hammersmith and Fulham · 98.6%Haringey · 90.9%Harrow · 82.7%Havering · 82.8%Hillingdon · 90.2%Hounslow · 74.7%Islington · 92.8%Kensington and Chelsea · 94.3%Kingston upon Thames · 82.0%Lambeth · 81.3%Lewisham · 90.4%Merton · 92.2%Newham · 86.8%Redbridge · 81.5%Richmond upon Thames · 81.7%Southwark · 94.8%Sutton · 92.8%Tower Hamlets · 92.1%Waltham Forest · 79.3%Wandsworth · 92.3%Westminster · 81.3%

National Parks 9

Dartmoor National Park · 93.1%Exmoor National Park · 98.2%Lake District National Park · 94.4%New Forest National Park · 91.7%North York Moors National Park · 95.7%Peak District National Park · 89.3%South Downs National Park · 93.5%The Broads Authority · 95.6%Yorkshire Dales National Park · 96.6%

North East 12

County Durham · 97.2%Darlington · 97.9%Gateshead · 94.4%Hartlepool · 93.2%Middlesbrough · 81.1%Newcastle upon Tyne · 94.7%North Tyneside · 96.9%Northumberland · 91.1%Redcar and Cleveland · 96.4%South Tyneside · 98.3%Stockton-on-Tees · 96.9%Sunderland · 93.9%

North West 35

Blackburn with Darwen · 98.2%Blackpool · 78.2%Bolton · 83.0%Burnley · 89.9%Bury · 94.0%Cheshire East · 90.9%Cheshire West and Chester · 93.9%Chorley · 94.6%Cumberland · 96.7%Fylde · 97.8%Halton · 100.0%Hyndburn · 78.1%Knowsley · 94.6%Lancaster · 87.1%Liverpool · 91.6%Manchester · 94.5%Oldham · 91.6%Pendle · 87.2%Preston · 97.7%Ribble Valley · 90.5%Rochdale · 87.5%Rossendale · 87.9%Salford · 94.7%Sefton · 95.8%South Ribble · 98.5%St. Helens · 96.8%Stockport · 96.2%Tameside · 93.6%Trafford · 89.1%Warrington · 79.5%West Lancashire · 85.2%Westmorland and Furness · 93.3%Wigan · 86.6%Wirral · 90.2%Wyre · 88.3%

South East 64

Adur · 95.7%Arun · 94.3%Ashford · 91.8%Basingstoke and Deane · 96.3%Bracknell Forest · 92.1%Brighton and Hove · 95.0%Buckinghamshire · 85.9%Canterbury · 97.4%Cherwell · 93.5%Chichester · 95.3%Crawley · 82.0%Dartford · 80.1%Dover · 92.3%East Hampshire · 91.4%Eastbourne · 94.1%Eastleigh · 91.9%Elmbridge · 79.4%Epsom and Ewell · 88.6%Fareham · 99.2%Folkestone and Hythe · 87.5%Gosport · 96.6%Gravesham · 77.5%Guildford · 85.5%Hart · 86.1%Hastings · 89.9%Havant · 95.5%Horsham · 97.3%Isle of Wight · 95.2%Lewes · 94.1%Maidstone · 91.0%Medway · 95.9%Mid Sussex · 92.5%Milton Keynes · 92.2%Mole Valley · 76.0%New Forest · 95.9%Oxford · 89.2%Portsmouth · 89.0%Reading · 92.3%Reigate and Banstead · 92.8%Rother · 95.1%Runnymede · 88.8%Rushmoor · 97.8%Sevenoaks · 90.3%Slough · 82.5%South Oxfordshire · 97.6%Southampton · 93.4%Spelthorne · 87.5%Surrey Heath · 87.1%Swale · 93.9%Tandridge · 89.6%Test Valley · 96.2%Thanet · 93.7%Tonbridge and Malling · 96.5%Tunbridge Wells · 95.8%Vale of White Horse · 96.1%Waverley · 92.8%Wealden · 88.5%West Berkshire · 93.4%West Oxfordshire · 97.2%Winchester · 97.4%Windsor and Maidenhead · 73.5%Woking · 84.1%Wokingham · 96.5%Worthing · 94.4%

South West 26

Bath and North East Somerset · 97.2%Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · 88.1%Bristol, City of · 91.7%Cheltenham · 97.5%Cornwall · 97.2%Cotswold · 91.6%Dorset · 95.1%East Devon · 93.7%Exeter · 86.4%Forest of Dean · 98.2%Gloucester · 78.5%Mid Devon · 94.7%North Devon · 97.7%North Somerset · 92.9%Plymouth · 93.9%Somerset · 94.2%South Gloucestershire · 82.6%South Hams · 92.5%Stroud · 91.8%Swindon · 91.3%Teignbridge · 82.2%Tewkesbury · 92.9%Torbay · 89.8%Torridge · 97.6%West Devon · 93.1%Wiltshire · 95.6%

West Midlands 30

Birmingham · 85.6%Bromsgrove · 95.8%Cannock Chase · 92.7%Coventry · 90.1%Dudley · 88.3%East Staffordshire · 94.5%Herefordshire, County of · 95.4%Lichfield · 85.1%Malvern Hills · 87.1%Newcastle-under-Lyme · 97.7%North Warwickshire · 96.6%Nuneaton and Bedworth · 96.7%Redditch · 97.7%Rugby · 94.0%Sandwell · 88.1%Shropshire · 92.5%Solihull · 94.1%South Staffordshire · 91.4%Stafford · 89.7%Staffordshire Moorlands · 76.5%Stoke-on-Trent · 90.8%Stratford-on-Avon · 94.9%Tamworth · 98.9%Telford and Wrekin · 91.3%Walsall · 88.7%Warwick · 93.4%Wolverhampton · 94.9%Worcester · 90.8%Wychavon · 90.9%Wyre Forest · 96.1%

Yorkshire and the Humber 15

Barnsley · 94.1%Bradford · 89.4%Calderdale · 87.0%Doncaster · 93.8%East Riding of Yorkshire · 92.3%Kingston upon Hull, City of · 92.2%Kirklees · 93.5%Leeds · 84.5%North East Lincolnshire · 96.9%North Lincolnshire · 91.1%North Yorkshire · 94.2%Rotherham · 70.6%Sheffield · 88.8%Wakefield · 94.5%York · 87.4%

Common questions

Which UK council approves the most planning applications?

Of authorities deciding 300 or more householder applications a year, Fareham tops the list at 99.2%. The national average across all 303 authorities we track is 91.0%, which is far higher than most homeowners expect.

Which councils are hardest to get permission from?

Barking and Dagenham has the lowest householder approval rate among busy authorities at 68.0%. A low rate usually reflects more constraints and more marginal submissions rather than hostility. A well judged scheme in a difficult borough still beats a careless one in an easy borough.

Where does this data come from?

The district planning application statistics that every English planning authority files with MHCLG each quarter, covering 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q1. Article 4 and conservation area counts come from the government Planning Data platform. We refresh it quarterly when the new returns are published.

How do I find which council covers my address?

Your postcode determines it. Enter it into the free feasibility sketch tool and we will tell you which authority decides your application, along with its approval rate and local constraints.

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