Canterbury Council approves 94.6% of planning applications, based on 4,270 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. Canterbury sits 6.7 percentage points above the national average.
Enter your postcode for a personalised approval likelihood score — 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 | 1,981 | 171 | 2,152 | 92.1% |
| Other | 1,442 | 21 | 1,463 | 98.6% |
| Listed Building | 197 | 14 | 211 | 93.4% |
| Trees | 172 | 2 | 174 | 98.9% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 107 | 6 | 113 | 94.7% |
| Prior Approval | 81 | 7 | 88 | 92.0% |
| Advertisement | 60 | 3 | 63 | 95.2% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0.0% |
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.
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 | 421 | 24 | 445 | 94.6% |
| Westgate | 290 | 26 | 316 | 91.8% |
| Barton | 296 | 16 | 312 | 94.9% |
| Chestfield | 279 | 10 | 289 | 96.5% |
| Nailbourne | 277 | 7 | 284 | 97.5% |
| Chartham And Stone Street | 262 | 18 | 280 | 93.6% |
| Little Stour And Adisham | 242 | 14 | 256 | 94.5% |
| Heron | 220 | 21 | 241 | 91.3% |
| Sturry | 219 | 9 | 228 | 96.1% |
| Herne And Broomfield | 199 | 6 | 205 | 97.1% |
| Seasalter | 170 | 18 | 188 | 90.4% |
| Blean Forest | 168 | 10 | 178 | 94.4% |
| Wincheap | 168 | 8 | 176 | 95.5% |
| Reculver | 144 | 9 | 153 | 94.1% |
| Tankerton | 139 | 6 | 145 | 95.9% |
| St Stephens | 123 | 1 | 124 | 99.2% |
| Beltinge | 103 | 10 | 113 | 91.2% |
| Northgate | 106 | 4 | 110 | 96.4% |
| Swalecliffe | 72 | 6 | 78 | 92.3% |
| Greenhill | 61 | 4 | 65 | 93.8% |
| West Bay | 56 | 2 | 58 | 96.6% |
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/22/02596 Blean Forest | T2) Beech tree - fell located in rear garden. | Approved |
| CA/22/02554 Gorrell | T1 - To re-pollard Contorted Willow tree in front garden and remove Ivy from upp | Approved |
| CA/22/02528 Chartham And Stone Street | Palm tree- remove due to tree condition. Located in the rear garden. | Approved |
| CA/22/02532 Chartham And Stone Street | G1 - Ash - fell in rear garden. T5 - Ash - fell, Maple - fell, at boundary. | Approved |
| CA/22/02525 Gorrell | Details submitted pursuant to conditions 3 (balustrade details) and 4 (door and | Approved |
| CA/22/02486 Heron | Single-storey detached outbuilding for use as car port and home office. | Approved |
| CA/22/02467 Little Stour And Adisham | T1 - Conifer tree by the Coach House reduce to 1.5 metres in height, G1 - Conife | Approved |
| CA/22/02400 Westgate | Change of use from education centre to 2 dwellings. | Refused |
| CA/22/02401 Westgate | Application for Listed Building Consent for internal alterations to form 2 dwell | Approved |
| CA/22/01972 Herne And Broomfield | First floor rear extension. | Approved |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your Pro Report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Canterbury's 4,270 real decisions. Delivered by email in minutes.
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Dig deeper into Canterbury's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Based on 4,270 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Canterbury is 94.6%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. However, rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 4,270 planning decisions from Canterbury council. 4,040 were approved and 230 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Canterbury is 94.6%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the PlanningLens free postcode check to get a personalised score.