Buckinghamshire Council approves 85.4% of planning applications, based on 18,396 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%. Buckinghamshire is closely in line with the national average.
According to PlanningLens analysis of 5,066 decided applications, Buckinghamshire Council approved 81.4% of planning applications in 2025. Across 18,396 decisions on record (January 2018 to September 2026), the overall approval rate in Buckinghamshire is 85.4%; the national average across UK councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%.
Source: PlanningLens (planninglens.co.uk) analysis of Buckinghamshire council planning portal records · Data to 29 September 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 Buckinghamshire.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 13,475 | 2,117 | 15,592 | 86.4% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 2,360 | 671 | 3,031 | 77.9% |
| Trees | 2,618 | 189 | 2,807 | 93.3% |
| Prior Approval | 1,207 | 410 | 1,617 | 74.6% |
| Other | 1,009 | 263 | 1,272 | 79.3% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 1,091 | 100 | 1,191 | 91.6% |
| Listed Building | 739 | 109 | 848 | 87.1% |
| Advertisement | 311 | 29 | 340 | 91.5% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlow | 1,370 | 164 | 1,534 | 89.3% |
| Flackwell Heath and The Wooburns | 998 | 143 | 1,141 | 87.5% |
| Abbey | 811 | 120 | 931 | 87.1% |
| Ridgeway West | 739 | 180 | 919 | 80.4% |
| Chiltern Villages | 788 | 127 | 915 | 86.1% |
| Ridgeway East | 693 | 179 | 872 | 79.5% |
| Princes Risborough | 620 | 136 | 756 | 82.0% |
| Hazlemere | 589 | 64 | 653 | 90.2% |
| Former Beaconsfield | 575 | 61 | 636 | 90.4% |
| Penn, Tylers Green and Loudwater | 549 | 70 | 619 | 88.7% |
| Former Chalfont St Giles | 487 | 70 | 557 | 87.4% |
| Former Gerrards Cross | 480 | 76 | 556 | 86.3% |
| Terriers and Amersham Hill | 417 | 79 | 496 | 84.1% |
| Former Penn Wood & Old Amersham | 441 | 55 | 496 | 88.9% |
| Former Stoke Poges & Wexham | 373 | 98 | 471 | 79.2% |
| Former Chalfont St Peter | 383 | 51 | 434 | 88.2% |
| Former Denham | 349 | 69 | 418 | 83.5% |
| Former Little Chalfont & Amersham Common | 350 | 67 | 417 | 83.9% |
| Former Amersham and Chesham Bois | 357 | 39 | 396 | 90.2% |
| Former Chiltern Ridges | 317 | 61 | 378 | 83.9% |
| Totteridge and Bowerdean | 317 | 60 | 377 | 84.1% |
| Former Iver | 313 | 57 | 370 | 84.6% |
| Former Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches | 302 | 60 | 362 | 83.4% |
| Former Great Missenden | 305 | 49 | 354 | 86.2% |
| Castlefield and Oakridge | 275 | 74 | 349 | 78.8% |
Showing top 25 of 124 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Buckinghamshire’s planning approval rate has changed year by year, down 1.7pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Buckinghamshire council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| PL/26/06516/FA Abbey | Removal of existing glazed shopfronts, cladding of retained structure at street | Refused |
| PL/26/06016/FA Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont | Part garage conversion to habitable accommodation. Existing front porch demolish | Approved |
| PL/26/05788/FA Burnham | Removal of a glass panel from a first-floor west elevation window and replacemen | Approved |
| PL/26/05598/FA Chalfont St Giles and Little Chalfont | Construction of a single-storey outbuilding within the rear curtilage of 2 Jorda | Refused |
| PL/26/05253/PIP Quainton | Application for permission in principle for the erection of minimum of 1 and a m | Approved |
| PL/26/02520/FA Beaconsfield | Demolition of existing single storey rear extension and erection of two storey r | Approved |
| PL/26/06758/TP Haddenham and Stone | T1 Lime - Reduce the height by approximately 8m and reduce the side branches by | Approved |
| PL/26/06356/FA | Single storey rear infill extension, converion of part of garage to utility room | Approved |
| PL/26/06289/FA Ridgeway West | Detached outbuilding. | Refused |
| PL/26/06228/FA Iver | Single storey rear conservatory. | Approved |
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 Buckinghamshire's 18,396 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Buckinghamshire's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Buckinghamshire'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 Buckinghamshire. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 18,396 real decisions from Buckinghamshire 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 Buckinghamshire'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 18,396 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Buckinghamshire is 85.4%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 85.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 18,396 planning decisions from Buckinghamshire council. 15,716 were approved and 2,680 were refused. These figures cover every decision on record for the council, January 2018 to September 2026.
The average approval rate in Buckinghamshire is 85.4%, 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 Buckinghamshire? 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.