Bolton Council approves 85.5% of planning applications, based on 4,796 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.6%. Bolton sits 3.1 percentage points below the national average.
According to PlanningLens analysis of 361 decided applications, Bolton Council approved 79.5% of planning applications in 2025. Across 4,796 decisions analysed since January 2020, the overall approval rate in Bolton is 85.5%; the national average across UK councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.6%.
Source: PlanningLens (planninglens.co.uk) analysis of Bolton council planning portal records · Updated August 2026 · Quote freely with attribution
Enter your postcode for a free, personalised approval pattern report, based on your ward and application type.
Not all applications are treated equally. Extension types, listed building consent, and change of use applications each have very different success rates in Bolton.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 1,431 | 247 | 1,678 | 85.3% |
| Trees | 973 | 90 | 1,063 | 91.5% |
| Change of Use | 509 | 97 | 606 | 84.0% |
| Other | 365 | 120 | 485 | 75.3% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 258 | 52 | 310 | 83.2% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 222 | 14 | 236 | 94.1% |
| Advertisement | 191 | 23 | 214 | 89.3% |
| Prior Approval | 104 | 41 | 145 | 71.7% |
| Listed Building | 48 | 11 | 59 | 81.4% |
A loft conversion in one ward can have a 90% approval rate. In the next ward, 55%. The free check tells you which side you're on, your free property report is emailed in minutes.
Check My PostcodeWard-level data reveals where planning applications are most and least likely to succeed. Officers, local policies, and neighbourhood character all play a role.
| Ward | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heaton And Lostock | 418 | 46 | 464 | 90.1% |
| Bromley Cross | 368 | 44 | 412 | 89.3% |
| Great Lever | 263 | 52 | 315 | 83.5% |
| Astley Bridge | 252 | 51 | 303 | 83.2% |
| Smithills | 223 | 43 | 266 | 83.8% |
| Hulton | 205 | 39 | 244 | 84.0% |
| Halliwell | 206 | 32 | 238 | 86.6% |
| Bradshaw | 194 | 26 | 220 | 88.2% |
| Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor | 183 | 25 | 208 | 88.0% |
| Horwich And Blackrod | 184 | 16 | 200 | 92.0% |
| Crompton | 139 | 32 | 171 | 81.3% |
| Rumworth | 131 | 26 | 157 | 83.4% |
| Queens Park & Central | 105 | 36 | 141 | 74.5% |
| Westhoughton North | 123 | 16 | 139 | 88.5% |
| Tonge With The Haulgh | 109 | 26 | 135 | 80.7% |
| Westhoughton South | 108 | 23 | 131 | 82.4% |
| Kearsley | 114 | 16 | 130 | 87.7% |
| Horwich North East | 114 | 14 | 128 | 89.1% |
| Little Lever And Darcy Lever | 104 | 18 | 122 | 85.2% |
| Breightmet | 113 | 9 | 122 | 92.6% |
| Horwich North | 77 | 22 | 99 | 77.8% |
| Westhoughton North & Hunger Hill | 79 | 14 | 93 | 84.9% |
| Horwich South & Blackrod | 70 | 13 | 83 | 84.3% |
| Harper Green | 64 | 12 | 76 | 84.2% |
| Farnworth North | 51 | 13 | 64 | 79.7% |
Showing top 25 of 27 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Bolton’s planning approval rate has changed year by year, down 8.6pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Bolton council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 01056/26 Bradshaw | DEMOLITION OF EXISTING SINGLE STOREY SIDE EXTENSION AND DETACHED GARAGE TOGETHER | Approved |
| 00891/26 Hulton | ERECTION OF FIRST FLOOR REAR EXTENSION. | Approved |
| 00457/26 Horwich North | ERECTION OF TWO STOREY SIDE EXTENSION AND SINGLE STOREY REAR EXTENSION | Approved |
| 01023/26 Tonge With The Haulgh | ERECTION OF SINGLE STOREY SIDE EXTENSION | Approved |
| 00904/26 Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor | ERECTION OF TWO STOREY SIDE/REAR EXTENSIONS WITH JULIET BALCONY | Approved |
| 01072/26 Horwich North | DEMOLITION OF EXISTING OUTRIGGER AND ERECTION OF SINGLE STOREY REAR EXTENSION | Approved |
| 00723/26 Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor | ERECTION OF FRONT EXTENSION, PORCH AND CONVERSION OF LOFT TO HABITABLE ROOM WITH | Approved |
| 01024/26 Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor | ERECTION OF TWO STOREY SIDE EXTENSION | Approved |
| 01028/26 Smithills | ERECTION OF FRONT PORCH | Approved |
| 01006/26 Astley Bridge | INSTALLATION OF HARDSTANDING FOR CREATION OF 3 NO. CAR PARKING SPACES. | Refused |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your free property report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Bolton's 4,796 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Bolton's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Bolton's planning statistics, by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Bolton. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 4,796 real decisions from Bolton council. The full property-specific report is also free and emailed within minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanningLens for a free instant check based on Bolton's real planning decisions. The free property report goes further: it analyses the 20 nearest comparable decisions to your property, ward-level refusal patterns, and approval rates by application type. Free and emailed within minutes.
Based on 4,796 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Bolton is 85.5%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.6%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 4,796 planning decisions from Bolton council. 4,101 were approved and 695 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Bolton is 85.5%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the free PlanningLens postcode check to get a personalised score.
Writing about planning in Bolton? These figures are free to republish with attribution. Copy the one-line citation, or paste the stat box into any website, CMS or newsletter, it carries its own styling and links back to this page for verification.