East Cambridgeshire Council approves 90.5% of planning applications, based on 10,928 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. East Cambridgeshire sits 2.5 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 East Cambridgeshire.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 4,889 | 661 | 5,550 | 88.1% |
| Trees | 2,905 | 51 | 2,956 | 98.3% |
| Other | 614 | 194 | 808 | 76.0% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 611 | 38 | 649 | 94.1% |
| Listed Building | 344 | 35 | 379 | 90.8% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 267 | 40 | 307 | 87.0% |
| Advertisement | 136 | 8 | 144 | 94.4% |
| Prior Approval | 119 | 16 | 135 | 88.1% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodditton | 991 | 123 | 1,114 | 89.0% |
| Ely West | 946 | 68 | 1,014 | 93.3% |
| Bottisham | 826 | 59 | 885 | 93.3% |
| Burwell | 817 | 68 | 885 | 92.3% |
| Ely East | 815 | 61 | 876 | 93.0% |
| Fordham And Isleham | 744 | 97 | 841 | 88.5% |
| Stretham | 707 | 86 | 793 | 89.2% |
| Soham South | 625 | 58 | 683 | 91.5% |
| Sutton | 547 | 61 | 608 | 90.0% |
| Soham North | 490 | 72 | 562 | 87.2% |
| Littleport | 448 | 59 | 507 | 88.4% |
| Haddenham | 440 | 53 | 493 | 89.2% |
| Downham | 374 | 56 | 430 | 87.0% |
| Ely North | 395 | 32 | 427 | 92.5% |
| Downham Villages | 132 | 20 | 152 | 86.8% |
| Cheveley | 129 | 11 | 140 | 92.1% |
| Fordham Villages | 105 | 22 | 127 | 82.7% |
| The Swaffhams | 71 | 8 | 79 | 89.9% |
| Isleham | 69 | 7 | 76 | 90.8% |
| Littleport East | 66 | 9 | 75 | 88.0% |
| Dullingham Villages | 57 | 3 | 60 | 95.0% |
| Ely South | 53 | 2 | 55 | 96.4% |
| Littleport West | 34 | 6 | 40 | 85.0% |
How East Cambridgeshire’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 1.3pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from East Cambridgeshire council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 25/01379/FUL Downham | Replacement cladding of existing front extension and garage | Approved |
| 25/01091/FUL Ely North | Installation of 2 double gates and fencing to the front of the property | Approved |
| 26/00007/FUL Ely East | Convert an existing class E unit into C3 dwelling. Single storey rear extension, | Refused |
| 26/00008/ERN Sutton | Change of use from office to dwelling | Approved |
| 26/00026/FUL Ely East | Single storey extension to rear, roof window, external and internal alterations | Approved |
| 26/00002/FUL Woodditton | Replacement detached double garage and garden store | Approved |
| 25/01386/CLE Haddenham | To establish use of land rear of 37 Lode Way as residential curtilage | Approved |
| 25/01343/FUL Bottisham | Change of use of building and land from an agricultural use to two dwellinghouse | Approved |
| 25/01317/FUL Bottisham | Erection of a flexible industrial or storage/distribution unit, hard standing an | Approved |
| 25/01301/FUL Burwell | Alterations, demolitions ,improvements and extensions plus replacing existing ro | 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 East Cambridgeshire's 10,928 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare East Cambridgeshire's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into East Cambridgeshire'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 East Cambridgeshire. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 10,928 real decisions from East Cambridgeshire 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 East Cambridgeshire'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 10,928 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in East Cambridgeshire is 90.5%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 10,928 planning decisions from East Cambridgeshire council. 9,885 were approved and 1,043 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in East Cambridgeshire is 90.5%, 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.