Buckinghamshire planning approval rate
Buckinghamshire council approved 85.4% of planning applications and refused 14.6%, based on 25,814 decisions analysed.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
85.4%
overall approval rate
25,814
Decisions analysed
22,043
Approved
3,771
Refused
124
Wards covered
Planning in Buckinghamshire? 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 Buckinghamshire. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
86.4%
93.4%
74.7%
78.9%
91.4%
86.4%
91.1%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Buckinghamshire, mined from 25,814 proposal descriptions.
87.7%
83.8%
88.3%
84.5%
89.1%
82.0%
84.2%
76.9%
90.1%
83.2%
89.2%
84.8%
88.3%
82.7%
79.5%
69.7%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Buckinghamshire. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Marlow
89.2%
Flackwell Heath and The Wooburns
87.5%
Abbey
87.2%
Ridgeway West
80.4%
Chiltern Villages
85.7%
Ridgeway East
79.4%
Princes Risborough
81.9%
Former Beaconsfield
90.1%
Hazlemere
90.5%
Penn, Tylers Green and Loudwater
89.3%
Former Chalfont St Giles
87.4%
Former Gerrards Cross
86.3%
Former Penn Wood & Old Amersham
88.9%
Terriers and Amersham Hill
84.0%
Former Stoke Poges & Wexham
79.0%
Former Chalfont St Peter
88.2%
Former Denham
83.3%
Former Little Chalfont & Amersham Common
83.9%
Former Amersham and Chesham Bois
90.1%
Former Chiltern Ridges
83.9%
Wards in Buckinghamshire
Marlow
89.2% approval · 1,488 decisions
Flackwell Heath and The Wooburns
87.5% approval · 1,118 decisions
Abbey
87.2% approval · 916 decisions
Ridgeway West
80.4% approval · 903 decisions
Chiltern Villages
85.7% approval · 881 decisions
Ridgeway East
79.4% approval · 844 decisions
Princes Risborough
81.9% approval · 739 decisions
Former Beaconsfield
90.1% approval · 638 decisions
Hazlemere
90.5% approval · 632 decisions
Penn, Tylers Green and Loudwater
89.3% approval · 589 decisions
Former Chalfont St Giles
87.4% approval · 557 decisions
Former Gerrards Cross
86.3% approval · 556 decisions
Former Penn Wood & Old Amersham
88.9% approval · 494 decisions
Terriers and Amersham Hill
84.0% approval · 482 decisions
Former Stoke Poges & Wexham
79.0% approval · 472 decisions
Former Chalfont St Peter
88.2% approval · 433 decisions
Former Denham
83.3% approval · 418 decisions
Former Little Chalfont & Amersham Common
83.9% approval · 417 decisions
Former Amersham and Chesham Bois
90.1% approval · 395 decisions
Former Chiltern Ridges
83.9% approval · 378 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Buckinghamshire, showing how the council decides real applications.
Permission in principle for a minimum of one and a maximum of five dwellings · Quainton · Fri 05 Jun 2026
Single storey front extension · Wendover, Halton and Stoke Mandeville · Fri 05 Jun 2026
Proposed detached double garage · Wendover, Halton and Stoke Mandeville · Fri 05 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 200 comparable decisions. See all 200 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Buckinghamshire, 1 in 7 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 Buckinghamshire
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Buckinghamshire →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Buckinghamshire
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 25,814 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Buckinghamshire
What is the planning approval rate in Buckinghamshire?
Based on 25,814 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Buckinghamshire approved 85.4% of applications and refused 14.6%.
How many planning applications are refused in Buckinghamshire?
Buckinghamshire refuses 14.6% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 7. That is higher than the UK average of 11.7%. Out of 25,814 decided applications since 2020, 3,771 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Buckinghamshire have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Buckinghamshire are in Beaconsfield North (94.5%), Ballinger South Heath And Chartridge (93.9%), and Seer Green (93.8%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Buckinghamshire?
The most common planning application types in Buckinghamshire are: Full (15,179 decisions, 86.4% approved), Certificate of Lawfulness (2,907, 77.9%), and Trees (2,700, 93.4%).
How long does a planning application take in Buckinghamshire?
Planning applications in Buckinghamshire take an average of 11.0 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 25,735 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. Buckinghamshire decides approximately 4,302 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Buckinghamshire?
You can search planning applications in Buckinghamshire directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 25,814 historical decisions in Buckinghamshire to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Buckinghamshire calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Buckinghamshire'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.