Cheshire West & Chester planning approval rate
Cheshire West & Chester council approved 91.9% of planning applications and refused 8.1%, based on 16,866 decisions analysed. Ranked 157th out of 284 councils for strictness.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
91.9%
overall approval rate
16,866
Decisions analysed
15,493
Approved
1,373
Refused
49
Wards covered
Planning in Cheshire West & Chester? 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 Cheshire West & Chester. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
91.5%
95.7%
87.6%
92.4%
96.5%
89.4%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Cheshire West & Chester, mined from 16,866 proposal descriptions.
96.9%
91.2%
94.5%
91.9%
91.7%
78.9%
97.4%
93.3%
93.9%
96.8%
96.5%
90.4%
98.6%
84.4%
97.5%
92.3%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Cheshire West & Chester. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Chester City and The Garden Quarter
93.4%
Weaver And Cuddington
89.0%
Marbury
90.0%
Tarvin And Kelsall
90.5%
Christleton and Huntington
93.3%
Handbridge Park
94.6%
Gowy Rural
91.1%
Newton and Hoole
94.8%
Tarporley
91.4%
Tattenhall
90.6%
Willaston And Thornton
87.7%
Sandstone
89.9%
Saughall And Mollington
90.0%
Frodsham
93.4%
Hartford And Greenbank
91.9%
Great Boughton
93.5%
Malpas
92.1%
Upton
95.2%
Shakerley
85.5%
Farndon
92.2%
Wards in Cheshire West & Chester
Chester City and The Garden Quarter
93.4% approval · 1,208 decisions
Weaver And Cuddington
89.0% approval · 908 decisions
Marbury
90.0% approval · 848 decisions
Tarvin And Kelsall
90.5% approval · 814 decisions
Christleton and Huntington
93.3% approval · 789 decisions
Handbridge Park
94.6% approval · 663 decisions
Gowy Rural
91.1% approval · 652 decisions
Newton and Hoole
94.8% approval · 594 decisions
Tarporley
91.4% approval · 559 decisions
Tattenhall
90.6% approval · 555 decisions
Willaston And Thornton
87.7% approval · 538 decisions
Sandstone
89.9% approval · 505 decisions
Saughall And Mollington
90.0% approval · 500 decisions
Frodsham
93.4% approval · 484 decisions
Hartford And Greenbank
91.9% approval · 480 decisions
Great Boughton
93.5% approval · 444 decisions
Malpas
92.1% approval · 443 decisions
Upton
95.2% approval · 439 decisions
Shakerley
85.5% approval · 434 decisions
Farndon
92.2% approval · 386 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Cheshire West & Chester, showing how the council decides real applications.
Conversion of agricultural buildings into 3 dwellings · Farndon · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Single storey front porch · Marbury · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Felling of one Conifer which is damaging boundary fencing and which has 50% of b · Handbridge Park · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 200 comparable decisions. See all 200 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Cheshire West & Chester, 1 in 12 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 Cheshire West & Chester
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Cheshire West & Chester →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Cheshire West & Chester
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 16,866 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Cheshire West & Chester
What is the planning approval rate in Cheshire West & Chester?
Based on 16,866 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Cheshire West & Chester approved 91.9% of applications and refused 8.1%. The council is ranked 157th out of 284 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Cheshire West & Chester?
Cheshire West & Chester refuses 8.1% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 12. That is lower than the UK average of 11.7%. Out of 16,866 decided applications since 2020, 1,373 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Cheshire West & Chester have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Cheshire West & Chester are in Wolverham (98.4%), Westminster (97.6%), and Strawberry (97.6%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Cheshire West & Chester?
The most common planning application types in Cheshire West & Chester are: Full (8,904 decisions, 91.5% approved), Discharge of Conditions (1,985, 95.7%), and Other (1,952, 87.6%).
How long does a planning application take in Cheshire West & Chester?
Planning applications in Cheshire West & Chester take an average of 16.7 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 797 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. Cheshire West & Chester decides approximately 2,811 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Cheshire West & Chester?
You can search planning applications in Cheshire West & Chester directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 16,866 historical decisions in Cheshire West & Chester to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Cheshire West & Chester calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Cheshire West & Chester'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.