Across a frozen panel of 77 English councils, applications for two-storey extensions fell by almost half between 2021 and 2025, drawn from the councils’ own planning registers. Reported by This is Money, 13 October 2026.
From the evidence
Planning decisions pile up on day 56 of the eight‑week window. 106,988 householder decisions, 25 English councils. Read the research
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02 The England leagueCheck a postcode
Every council in England that meets the published eligibility rules, placed by the share of substantive applications it approved between January 2020 and October 2026. Half the councils sit above 86.67%.
70.15%
Brent
the lowest, 15,743 decisions
95.98%
Rushmoor
the highest, 2,664 decisions
Rates and decision counts as published on the rankings page. 801,743 substantive development-control decisions dated 1 January 2020 to 11 October 2026, from the frozen data extract of 11 October 2026. The shaded band holds the middle 46 councils, 80.86% to 91.03%. 1st has the highest approval rate. See all 92 councils ranked. How the league is built.
03 ResearchCheck a postcode
Original analysis of the councils’ own decisions. Every figure links to the record it came from; every briefing states the date its data was frozen.
New research, September 2026
Official figures show England’s recorded approval rate down 1.3 points between 2021 and 2025, while across 30 London boroughs it rose 2.9 points. The sharpest falls in PlanningLens records were outside the capital.
Data feature, September 2026
What four million UK planning application descriptions reveal about local words for buildings, extensions and places.
sunroom
Northern Ireland
conservatory
England
attic
Scotland
loft
London
cart lodge
Suffolk
Briefing 06, September 2026
Outside heavily Green Belt areas, councils below 75% on the 2025 Housing Delivery Test approved 81% of major housing decisions; so did councils at 95% or above.
Research, August 2026
Elected councillors decide only a small share of planning applications. When they do, the approval rate drops.
Independent benchmark
A pre-registered benchmark of the government’s £8.2M Augmented Planning Decisions pilot at Barnet, Camden and Dorset, published before the results were known.
04 ServicesCheck a postcode
Everyone sees the same numbers. Core statistics stay free and citable. No VAT chargeable.
Approval patterns for your postcode, then a property-specific PDF report in your inbox within minutes: the 20 nearest comparable decisions, refusal patterns in your ward, approval rates by project type.
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Comparable decisions, refusal reasons and portal records for one site, compiled into an appeal-ready pack.
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A metered planning data API and data products, built from the same records as every page on this site. Everything for sale works with the data; nothing for sale changes it.
Meteredsee the Data page
05 The indexCheck a postcode
Every council with a published page, with the number of decided applications on its record. Type a name to find it, or open the full list; each name opens the council’s page.
312 councils with published pages
Decision counts as published on each council’s page at the 20 October 2026 release. The headline figures on this page cover England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The England league. Project types. Methodology.
06 The recordCheck a postcode
A sample result for Bradford BD20, live from the council’s planning register, as the free check returns it. Every line is a council decision you can open yourself.
79%
of nearby applications approved
1 in 5 refused. Typical decision 8 weeks. From 1,504 decisions in the BD20 area, data to 9 Sep 2026.
Sample result, Bradford Council, BD20, data to 9 Sep 2026. The free property report that follows by email covers the 20 nearest comparable decisions, refusal patterns in the ward and approval rates by project type.
Now yours
See what has been approved and refused near your address, from the council’s own records. The free property report follows by email.
Leave your email and postcode to register your interest in your area.
Notes
A comprehensive PDF report compiled specifically for your property and council. It includes an executive summary, approval trend analysis, time-to-decision data, extension-by-extension approval breakdown, refusal pattern analysis, appeal outcome statistics, delegated vs committee decision patterns, comparable planning decisions with council portal links, and recommended next steps. Report depth varies by council based on the data each authority publishes. The report is emailed to you within minutes of submitting your request.
An architect gives you one person’s experience. PlanningLens gives you the actual pattern across thousands of real decisions near you, which project types get refused, in which wards, and how long they take. Use both: the data to plan, the architect to design.
From the public planning portals the councils publish themselves. Every result links to the council’s own record, so every figure can be checked at source.
No. Every application is decided on its own merits. PlanningLens shows patterns from past decisions to help you plan, not predict.
Built from the same public records the councils publish themselves, so our figures track the government’s own data. When we measured Canterbury’s householder decision times, we landed within two points of the official figure.
Questions, corrections or press enquiries: hello@planninglens.co.uk