Planning Approval Rates by Council: 221 UK Councils Ranked

Not all councils are created equal when it comes to planning permission. Some approve almost everything. Others refuse one in four applications. Here's every council in our dataset, ranked by approval rate.

That national average masks enormous variation. Fareham approves 99.1% of applications. East Hertfordshire approves just 73.2%. Where you are matters far more than most people realise.

The data below covers every planning application decided by each council from January 2020 to the present — scraped directly from council planning portals. Approved includes applications granted, permitted, or approved with conditions. Refused means formally refused. Withdrawn, pending, and invalid applications are excluded.

The 10 Highest Approval Rates

Scottish councils and smaller English districts dominate the top 10. Fareham is notable — nearly 2,500 decisions with only 22 refusals. The City of London makes the list too, though its applications are overwhelmingly commercial rather than residential.

For a different angle on this data, see our guide to the hardest and easiest councils for planning permission.

The 10 Lowest Approval Rates

London boroughs account for 7 of the bottom 10. East Hertfordshire and Maldon — both in Essex — are the notable non-London entries. Every council in this bottom 10 has at least 3,900 decisions — these aren't small-sample outliers. Brent, Hillingdon, and Redbridge each have over 30,000. The pattern is real and persistent.

Check your specific area — free postcode lookup →

What Drives the Differences?

Conservation areas and heritage constraints. Councils with large conservation area coverage — like Maldon, Cotswold, and many London boroughs — tend to apply stricter design standards. Applications that would sail through in a modern suburb face additional scrutiny when they affect the character of a conservation area. See our conservation area planning guide for more on this.

Application mix. Councils that process a high proportion of change-of-use and HMO applications tend to have lower overall approval rates because those types are inherently more contentious. A council that mostly handles rear extensions will look more permissive than one dealing with flat conversions.

Pre-application culture. Some councils actively steer applicants toward approvable schemes before they formally submit. This pushes up their approval rate — not because they're more lenient, but because more unsuitable applications are weeded out before they enter the system.

Political and policy context. Councils under pressure from housing targets, green belt constraints, or local opposition to development all see their approval patterns shift over time. A council that was permissive three years ago may have tightened since a new local plan was adopted.

London vs the Rest

London's average approval rate across all boroughs is 84.9% — nearly 3 points below the national average of 87.7%. But the variation within London is striking. Kensington & Chelsea approves 92.5%. Brent approves just 76.0%. That 16.5-point gap is wider than many people expect between two boroughs separated by a few miles.

For a deeper dive into London, see our London Borough Planning Rankings.

Full Rankings: All 221 Councils

Every council in our dataset, ranked from highest to lowest approval rate. Councils with fewer than 300 decisions are excluded from the rankings (5 councils). Click any council name for its full page with ward breakdowns, application type splits, and refusal patterns.

Data: PlanningLens analysis of 2,527,656 planning decisions across 221 UK councils, January 2020 to March 2026. Scraped from council planning portals. Full methodology.

What This Means for Your Project

If your council is in the top half of this table, the odds are on your side — but that doesn't mean you can submit anything and expect approval. Even in permissive councils, poorly designed extensions, conservation area conflicts, and neighbour objections still lead to refusals.

If your council is in the bottom half, it means preparation matters more. Pre-application advice, checking what's been approved nearby, and designing to policy rather than pushing boundaries will all improve your prospects.

Either way, the most useful data isn't the council average — it's what's happening in your specific ward, for your specific type of project, near your specific property. That's what the free postcode check shows you.

Related Articles

UK Planning Approval Rate: The National Picture — overall approval rates by application type, from conservatories to flat conversions.

What Are My Chances of Getting Planning Permission? — what the data tells us about individual approval prospects.

How to Improve Your Chances of Getting Planning Permission — data-backed tips for improving your approval prospects.

Loft Conversion Approval Rates by Council — 28,968 loft conversion decisions ranked council by council.

Which Planning Applications Get Refused Most? — refusal rates by application type, from the safest to the most refused.

Fastest and Slowest Councils for Planning Decisions — how long each council takes from submission to decision.