Brentwood planning approval rate
Brentwood council approved 84.0% of planning applications and refused 16.0%, based on 12,129 decisions analysed. Ranked 38th out of 300 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
84.0%
overall approval rate
12,129
Decisions analysed
10,186
Approved
1,943
Refused
17
Wards covered
Planning in Brentwood? 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 Brentwood. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
79.9%
97.2%
96.3%
81.5%
80.9%
79.3%
78.8%
73.9%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Brentwood, mined from 12,129 proposal descriptions.
84.2%
83.5%
82.4%
74.2%
83.4%
81.1%
86.4%
71.8%
84.1%
79.9%
77.1%
79.1%
82.0%
81.0%
67.4%
58.8%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Brentwood. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Ingatestone, Fryerning And Mountnessing
84.5%
Shenfield
87.7%
Warley
84.3%
Hutton South
90.0%
Herongate, Ingrave And West Horndon
84.0%
Brizes And Doddinghurst
80.2%
Brentwood South
82.4%
Brentwood West
83.0%
Pilgrims Hatch
77.9%
Brentwood North
82.6%
Hutton East
80.4%
Tipps Cross
82.8%
Hutton North
88.3%
Hutton Central
88.4%
South Weald
78.1%
Brizes, Stondon Massey And South Weald
82.9%
Blackmore And Doddinghurst
81.8%
Wards in Brentwood
Ingatestone, Fryerning And Mountnessing
84.5% approval · 1,404 decisions
Shenfield
87.7% approval · 1,330 decisions
Warley
84.3% approval · 947 decisions
Hutton South
90.0% approval · 917 decisions
Herongate, Ingrave And West Horndon
84.0% approval · 868 decisions
Brizes And Doddinghurst
80.2% approval · 788 decisions
Brentwood South
82.4% approval · 754 decisions
Brentwood West
83.0% approval · 696 decisions
Pilgrims Hatch
77.9% approval · 692 decisions
Brentwood North
82.6% approval · 660 decisions
Hutton East
80.4% approval · 602 decisions
Tipps Cross
82.8% approval · 545 decisions
Hutton North
88.3% approval · 522 decisions
Hutton Central
88.4% approval · 509 decisions
South Weald
78.1% approval · 433 decisions
Brizes, Stondon Massey And South Weald
82.9% approval · 269 decisions
Blackmore And Doddinghurst
81.8% approval · 181 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Brentwood, showing how the council decides real applications.
Replacement of the three front first floor windows and external cladding due to · Herongate, Ingrave And West Horndon · Fri 07 Aug 2026
Construct single storey front extension, side and rear dormers, alterations to r · Shenfield · Fri 07 Aug 2026
Single storey rear extension. · Shenfield · Fri 07 Aug 2026
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Brentwood, 1 in 6 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 Brentwood
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Brentwood →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Brentwood
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 12,129 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Brentwood
What is the planning approval rate in Brentwood?
Based on 12,129 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Brentwood approved 84.0% of applications and refused 16.0%. The council is ranked 38th out of 300 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Brentwood?
Brentwood refuses 16.0% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 6. That is higher than the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 12,129 decided applications since 2020, 1,943 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Brentwood have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Brentwood are in Hutton South (90.0%), Hutton Central (88.4%), and Hutton North (88.3%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Brentwood?
The most common planning application types in Brentwood are: Full (7,373 decisions, 79.9% approved), Trees (1,605, 97.2%), and Discharge of Conditions (1,370, 96.3%).
How long does a planning application take in Brentwood?
Planning applications in Brentwood take an average of 9.4 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 12,114 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is slower than 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. Brentwood decides approximately 2,022 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Brentwood?
You can search planning applications in Brentwood directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 12,129 historical decisions in Brentwood to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Brentwood calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Brentwood'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.