It's the question every homeowner asks before they pick up the phone to an architect. What are the odds? Is planning permission something most people get, or is it a gamble?
The short answer: most applications are approved. The longer answer is more interesting — and more useful.
Roughly 87 out of every 100 planning applications that reach a decision in England are approved. That's a reassuring headline figure. But it's a national average, and national averages are where nuance goes to die.
The Number That Matters Is Your Council's Number
That 86.7% is an average of 160+ very different councils. Some approve almost everything. Others refuse more than one in four applications.
At the permissive end, councils like City of London (98.8%), LLDC (98.6%), and OPDC (97.3%) approve at rates that make refusal almost unheard of. At the other end, councils like Uttlesford (72.4%), East Hertfordshire (73.1%), and Maldon (75.3%) refuse a meaningful chunk of what comes through the door.
That's a 26-point gap between the easiest and hardest councils. If you're in an area where three in ten applications get refused, your approach to planning should be fundamentally different than if you're somewhere that says yes to almost everything.
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Approval Rates by Project Type
The type of project you're proposing matters almost as much as where you live. Different extensions and development types face very different levels of scrutiny.
| Project Type | Approval Rate | Decisions |
|---|---|---|
| Conservatory | 93.2% | 28,345 |
| Wraparound extension | 90.8% | 21,370 |
| Rear extension | 90.6% | 186,137 |
| Side extension | 89.8% | 102,146 |
| Front extension | 88.5% | 26,453 |
| Outbuilding | 87.9% | 46,069 |
| Garage | 86.9% | 136,603 |
| Hip-to-gable | 86.9% | 9,310 |
| Basement | 86.3% | 8,802 |
| Loft conversion | 86.0% | 28,968 |
| Dormer | 85.7% | 58,175 |
| Annex | 84.8% | 9,724 |
| New build | 81.3% | 44,856 |
| Change of use (residential) | 80.2% | 51,407 |
| HMO | 78.6% | 10,481 |
| Flat conversion | 75.3% | 3,766 |
The pattern is logical. Projects that are smaller, more familiar to planning officers, and less impactful on neighbours get approved at higher rates. Conservatories and rear extensions — straightforward, well-precedented — sit near the top. Flat conversions and HMOs — which change the character and occupancy of a building — sit near the bottom.
Dormers are worth noting. At 85.7%, they're below rear extensions by nearly five points. That's partly because front dormers attract much more scrutiny than rear ones — they change the roofline visible from the street.
The Ward Effect
Even within a single council, approval rates can swing by 15 to 20 percentage points between wards. A conservation area ward in an otherwise permissive council might have rates more like a tough inner London borough. A suburban ward in an otherwise strict council might be surprisingly relaxed.
Your council's overall rate sets the scene. Your ward's rate tells you what's actually happening on your street. That's why PlanningLens breaks every council down to ward level — because the averages you read in newspaper articles don't capture what matters: the planning environment around your specific property.
What's the approval rate near your property?
PlanningLens analyses 2,500,000+ real decisions — broken down by council, ward, and project type. See where you stand before you spend a penny on drawings.
Check Your Postcode — Free & Instant →Why "87% Get Approved" Isn't the Whole Story
That national figure includes every type of application — from a garden shed to a 200-home development. It includes councils where planning departments rubber-stamp almost everything and councils where they scrutinise every brick. It includes applications that were carefully designed after months of research and applications that were thrown together on a napkin.
The applications that get refused tend to share certain traits. They're often too large for the plot, they overlook neighbours, they clash with the local character, or they're in areas with restrictive policies. None of those are random — they're all things you can identify and avoid before you apply.
That's the real takeaway from this data. The approval rate isn't a lottery. It's a landscape, and the more you understand your specific part of that landscape, the better your odds.
How to Use This Data
Start with the macro picture. Your council's overall approval rate tells you whether you're operating in a permissive or restrictive environment. Then go local — what's the rate in your ward? And then go specific — what's the rate for your type of project in your area?
Each layer of detail gives you more useful information than the last. A national average of 86.7% is interesting. Your ward's approval rate for rear extensions is actionable.
That's what PlanningLens was built to do. We've analysed over 2,500,000 planning decisions from 226 councils, broken down by every dimension that matters. Enter your postcode and you'll see exactly where you stand — in seconds, for free.
Explore the full rankings: All 226 councils ranked by approval rate
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