Dover Council approves 93.2% of planning applications, based on 6,755 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. Dover sits 5.3 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 Dover.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 2,284 | 250 | 2,534 | 90.1% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 2,025 | 8 | 2,033 | 99.6% |
| Trees | 755 | 44 | 799 | 94.5% |
| Other | 572 | 71 | 643 | 89.0% |
| Listed Building | 334 | 27 | 361 | 92.5% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 186 | 27 | 213 | 87.3% |
| Advertisement | 82 | 6 | 88 | 93.2% |
| Prior Approval | 56 | 28 | 84 | 66.7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little Stour And Ashstone | 754 | 84 | 838 | 90.0% |
| Guston Kingsdown St Margarets-at-Cliffe | 693 | 45 | 738 | 93.9% |
| Sandwich | 672 | 28 | 700 | 96.0% |
| Eastry Rural | 544 | 53 | 597 | 91.1% |
| Aylesham, Eythorne And Shepherdswell | 493 | 39 | 532 | 92.7% |
| North Deal | 494 | 34 | 528 | 93.6% |
| Town And Castle | 359 | 29 | 388 | 92.5% |
| Dover Downs And River | 348 | 20 | 368 | 94.6% |
| Walmer | 345 | 23 | 368 | 93.8% |
| Whitfield | 333 | 13 | 346 | 96.2% |
| Mill Hill | 260 | 20 | 280 | 92.9% |
| Alkham And Capel-le-Ferne | 218 | 18 | 236 | 92.4% |
| Middle Deal | 175 | 8 | 183 | 95.6% |
| St Radigunds | 150 | 15 | 165 | 90.9% |
| AYLESHAM | 63 | 2 | 65 | 96.9% |
| Tower Hamlets | 50 | 8 | 58 | 86.2% |
| Maxton And Elms Vale | 51 | 5 | 56 | 91.1% |
| Buckland | 48 | 4 | 52 | 92.3% |
| ST MARGARETS AT CLIFFE | 32 | 0 | 32 | 100.0% |
| EYTHORNE AND SHEPHERDSWELL | 22 | 3 | 25 | 88.0% |
| CAPEL_LE_FERNE | 14 | 2 | 16 | 87.5% |
| MIDDLE DEAL AND SHOLDEN | 15 | 1 | 16 | 93.8% |
| CASTLE | 12 | 0 | 12 | 100.0% |
| RINGWOULD | 9 | 1 | 10 | 90.0% |
| RIVER | 8 | 1 | 9 | 88.9% |
Showing top 25 of 28 wards by volume. Your Pro Report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →Real residential planning decisions from Dover council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 25/01192 Aylesham, Eythorne And Shepherdswell | Erection of a single storey rear extension (conservatory demolished) | Approved |
| 25/01222 Walmer | Erection of a detached garden room | Approved |
| 25/01189 Sandwich | Erection of a single storey front/side extension for ancillary use as an annexe | Approved |
| 25/01181 Dover Downs And River | Erection of a single storey rear extension (existing conservatory to be demolish | Approved |
| 25/01170 Tower Hamlets | Basement conversion to self contained flat | Refused |
| 25/01162 Aylesham, Eythorne And Shepherdswell | Prune back to trunk selected lateral branches overhanging garage roof of one Syc | Approved |
| 25/01147 Guston Kingsdown St Margarets-at-Cliffe | Erection of a front porch | Approved |
| 25/01098 Little Stour And Ashstone | Erection of a plantroom for the installation of 180kW woodchip biomass boiler wi | Approved |
| 25/01058 Town And Castle | Conversion of existing building from 3 apartments to 5 apartments | Approved |
| 25/00734 Little Stour And Ashstone | Erection of a shelter for storage of tractors/trailers and machinery | 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 Dover's 6,755 real decisions. Delivered by email in minutes.
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Dig deeper into Dover's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Based on 6,755 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Dover is 93.2%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. However, rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 6,755 planning decisions from Dover council. 6,294 were approved and 461 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Dover is 93.2%, 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.