Bedford planning approval rate
Bedford council approved 92.4% of planning applications and refused 7.6%, based on 119 decisions analysed. Ranked 163rd out of 279 councils for strictness.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
92.4%
overall approval rate
Planning in Bedford?
Check your postcode to see approval rates specific to your ward and street.
Approval rate by application type
Different application types have different approval rates in Bedford. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Bedford — mined from 119 proposal descriptions.
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Bedford. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Wards in Bedford
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Bedford, showing how the council decides real applications.
Single storey rear extension to existing garage and garage conversion to family · Brickhill · Thu 25 Jun 2026
One and two storey rear extension and loft conversion · Castle & Newnham · Thu 25 Jun 2026
Annexe to rear garden · Kingsbrook · Thu 25 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 62 comparable decisions. See all 62 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Bedford, 1 in 13 applications are refused. Your PlanningLens Full Planning Analysis gives you 17 pages of intelligence specific to your property:
✓ Ward-level approval rates for your exact area
✓ Common refusal reasons in Bedford
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Bedford →
Free. Based on 119 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Bedford
What is the planning approval rate in Bedford?
Based on 119 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Bedford approved 92.4% of applications and refused 7.6%. The council is ranked 163rd out of 279 UK councils for approval rate.
Which areas of Bedford have the highest planning approval rates?
Approval rates in Bedford vary by ward — see the ward breakdown above for detailed figures for each area.
What types of planning application are most common in Bedford?
The most common planning application types in Bedford are: Full (44 decisions, 95.5% approved), Other (41, 85.4%), and Discharge of Conditions (16, 100.0%).
How long does a planning application take in Bedford?
Planning applications in Bedford take an average of 8.0 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 102 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is inside the 8-week statutory target for householder applications (the statutory targets are 8 weeks for householder applications and 13 weeks for major developments). PlanningLens measures the actual time each application takes, not just the target. Bedford decides approximately 20 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Bedford?
You can search planning applications in Bedford directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 119 historical decisions in Bedford to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Bedford calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Bedford's official planning portal and analyses every published decision since January 2020. The approval rate is calculated as approved decisions divided by total decided applications, excluding withdrawn and pending applications. The full methodology, data sourcing, and Creative Commons BY 4.0 licensing terms are published at
planninglens.co.uk/methodology.