How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Planning Permission

The national approval rate is 86.7%. That sounds encouraging — until you realise that the 13.3% who get refused have typically spent thousands on architects, surveys, and application fees before receiving the bad news.

The difference between approval and refusal is rarely luck. It's preparation. Here's what the data tells us about the applications that succeed — and the mistakes that lead to refusal.

1. Check What's Been Approved Nearby

This is the single most powerful thing you can do before spending a penny on drawings. If your neighbour got planning permission for a rear extension last year, that's strong evidence that a similar proposal from you will succeed.

Planning officers value consistency. If they've approved similar projects on your street, refusing yours would be difficult to justify. Conversely, if similar proposals have been refused, you know exactly what obstacles you'll face.

Don't just look at your immediate neighbours. Check the whole ward. Planning officers think in terms of character areas, not individual streets. A pattern of approvals across your ward tells you the planning culture of your area.

Check what's been approved near your postcode →

2. Know Your Council's Approval Rate

Not all councils are created equal. Some approve over 93% of applications. Others refuse nearly a quarter. That gap represents a fundamental difference in planning culture — and it affects every application that goes through the system.

If you're in a high-approval council, a reasonable application with no major issues is very likely to succeed. If you're in a tougher council, you need to work harder on design quality, policy compliance, and pre-application engagement.

Knowing where your council sits on the spectrum lets you calibrate your expectations — and your investment in the application — accordingly.

3. Choose the Right Project Type

Our data shows that some project types are refused far more often than others. If you have flexibility in what you're proposing, this matters.

If you're deciding between a single storey and two storey extension, the single storey is significantly more likely to get approved. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for two storeys — but go in with eyes open about the additional scrutiny.

4. Design With Policy in Mind

Every council has a local plan with policies that guide planning decisions. These policies aren't suggestions — they're the framework that planning officers use to assess your application. An application that conflicts with local plan policy starts at a significant disadvantage.

Common policy requirements that trip people up:

• Setback requirements for side extensions (usually 1 metre from the boundary at first floor level)
• Subordinate design — extensions should look secondary to the original house
• Matching materials — officers want extensions that look like they belong
• Parking standards — additional bedrooms may require additional parking spaces
• Garden space retention — many councils require a minimum percentage of garden to remain

Read your council's local plan policies on residential extensions before briefing your architect. A good architect will know them already, but checking yourself costs nothing and could save you from a fundamental design mistake.

5. Talk to Your Neighbours

Neighbours can't veto your application, but their objections can influence the outcome — especially if those objections align with genuine planning concerns. A five-minute conversation before you submit can prevent weeks of complications afterwards.

Show them what you're planning. Ask if they have concerns. If they mention something fixable — a window that would overlook their garden, for instance — addressing it before you apply is far easier than dealing with a formal objection.

6. Consider Pre-Application Advice

Most councils offer a pre-application service where you pay a fee (typically £100–£300) and get informal feedback from a planning officer before submitting your formal application. This is one of the most underused tools available to homeowners.

Pre-application advice tells you what the officer thinks of your proposal in principle, flags any policy conflicts, and often suggests modifications that would make approval more likely. It's not binding — the officer who gives pre-app advice might not be the one who decides your application — but it dramatically reduces the risk of an unexpected refusal.

7. Get the Drawings Right

This sounds obvious, but poor quality drawings are a surprisingly common reason for delays and refusals. Planning officers need to understand exactly what you're proposing. If your drawings are ambiguous, they'll err on the side of caution.

Invest in a competent architect or architectural technician. Cheap drawings that require multiple rounds of clarification end up costing more than good drawings that get approved first time.

Essential drawings for a householder application: location plan (1:1250), site plan (1:500), existing and proposed floor plans, existing and proposed elevations. All clearly labelled with dimensions.

8. Submit a Design and Access Statement

Not always required for householder applications, but always helpful. A brief statement explaining what you're proposing, why, and how it respects the character of the area gives the planning officer context that drawings alone can't provide.

Mention any precedent you've found — "similar extensions have been approved at numbers 14, 22, and 35 on this street." Reference the relevant local plan policies and explain how your proposal complies. This makes the officer's job easier and signals that you've done your homework.

The Bottom Line

Planning permission isn't a lottery. The applications that succeed are the ones that are well-designed, policy-compliant, and informed by what's already been approved locally. The ones that fail are usually the ones that ignored the council's policies, didn't check local precedent, or tried to get too much from the site.

Do your homework first. The data is there. Use it.