Canterbury Council approves 95.0% of planning applications, based on 10,484 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Canterbury sits 7.0 percentage points above the national average.
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 Canterbury.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 4,400 | 385 | 4,785 | 92.0% |
| Other | 3,936 | 38 | 3,974 | 99.0% |
| Listed Building | 572 | 31 | 603 | 94.9% |
| Trees | 424 | 9 | 433 | 97.9% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 250 | 10 | 260 | 96.2% |
| Advertisement | 210 | 24 | 234 | 89.7% |
| Prior Approval | 166 | 11 | 177 | 93.8% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 4 | 14 | 18 | 22.2% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gorrell | 996 | 52 | 1,048 | 95.0% |
| Westgate | 810 | 71 | 881 | 91.9% |
| Chartham And Stone Street | 733 | 44 | 777 | 94.3% |
| Barton | 737 | 33 | 770 | 95.7% |
| Nailbourne | 692 | 19 | 711 | 97.3% |
| Chestfield | 590 | 24 | 614 | 96.1% |
| Heron | 558 | 43 | 601 | 92.8% |
| Little Stour And Adisham | 579 | 18 | 597 | 97.0% |
| Sturry | 549 | 20 | 569 | 96.5% |
| Blean Forest | 490 | 22 | 512 | 95.7% |
| Seasalter | 461 | 43 | 504 | 91.5% |
| Wincheap | 443 | 20 | 463 | 95.7% |
| Herne And Broomfield | 411 | 19 | 430 | 95.6% |
| Reculver | 362 | 17 | 379 | 95.5% |
| Tankerton | 289 | 14 | 303 | 95.4% |
| St Stephens | 269 | 6 | 275 | 97.8% |
| Beltinge | 240 | 22 | 262 | 91.6% |
| Northgate | 232 | 11 | 243 | 95.5% |
| Swalecliffe | 186 | 7 | 193 | 96.4% |
| Greenhill | 168 | 8 | 176 | 95.5% |
| West Bay | 122 | 5 | 127 | 96.1% |
How Canterbury’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — up 3.8pp since 2021.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Canterbury council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| CA/26/00255 Westgate | Details submitted pursuant to condition 4 (Windows) of listed building consent C | Approved |
| CA/26/00254 Sturry | Single-storey side extension following the demolition of existing side lean-to. | Approved |
| CA/26/00069 Reculver | Details submitted pursuant to conditions 3 (materials) and 4 (windows and doors) | Approved |
| CA/25/01629 Gorrell | Roof extension to create 2 new dwellings, 3 dormer windows to the front elevatio | Approved |
| CA/26/00247 Gorrell | Retrospective application for a veranda to the rear. | Approved |
| CA/26/00191 Gorrell | Retrospective application for single-storey rear extension. | Approved |
| CA/26/00001 Gorrell | Replacement windows to front elevation from timber to upvc together with replace | Approved |
| CA/25/01533 Westgate | Application for Listed Building Consent for replacement of entrance gates includ | Approved |
| CA/25/01532 Westgate | Replacement of entrance gates. | Approved |
| CA/25/01336 Blean Forest | Two-storey detached dwelling and detached garage. | 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 Canterbury's 10,484 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Canterbury's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
More council comparisons coming soon.
Dig deeper into Canterbury'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 Canterbury. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 10,484 real decisions from Canterbury 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 Canterbury'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 10,484 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Canterbury is 95.0%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 10,484 planning decisions from Canterbury council. 9,962 were approved and 522 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Canterbury is 95.0%, 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.