Fife Council approves 91.0% of planning applications, based on 5,821 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.3%. Fife sits 2.7 percentage points above the national average.
According to PlanningLens analysis of 77 decided applications, Fife Council approved 97.4% of planning applications in 2025. Across 5,821 decisions analysed since January 2020, the overall approval rate in Fife is 91.0%; the national average across UK councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.3%.
Source: PlanningLens (planninglens.co.uk) analysis of Fife council planning portal records · Updated June 2026 · Quote freely with attribution
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 Fife.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 4,859 | 494 | 5,353 | 90.8% |
| Full | 198 | 10 | 208 | 95.2% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 85 | 1 | 86 | 98.8% |
| Listed Building | 58 | 1 | 59 | 98.3% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 45 | 1 | 46 | 97.8% |
| Prior Approval | 22 | 15 | 37 | 59.5% |
| Trees | 18 | 0 | 18 | 100.0% |
| Advertisement | 14 | 0 | 14 | 100.0% |
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, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Neuk And Landward | 751 | 82 | 833 | 90.2% |
| St. Andrews | 667 | 59 | 726 | 91.9% |
| Howe Of Fife And Tay Coast | 499 | 76 | 575 | 86.8% |
| Cupar | 345 | 32 | 377 | 91.5% |
| West Fife And Coastal Villages | 304 | 30 | 334 | 91.0% |
| Dunfermline Central | 302 | 25 | 327 | 92.4% |
| Burntisland, Kinghorn And West Kirkcaldy | 240 | 16 | 256 | 93.8% |
| Inverkeithing And Dalgety Bay | 222 | 31 | 253 | 87.7% |
| Leven, Kennoway And Largo | 232 | 18 | 250 | 92.8% |
| Tay Bridgehead | 212 | 15 | 227 | 93.4% |
| Glenrothes North, Leslie And Markinch | 196 | 22 | 218 | 89.9% |
| Kirkcaldy Central | 191 | 6 | 197 | 97.0% |
| Kirkcaldy East | 149 | 8 | 157 | 94.9% |
| Glenrothes Central And Thornton | 124 | 20 | 144 | 86.1% |
| Rosyth | 132 | 6 | 138 | 95.7% |
| Cowdenbeath | 122 | 14 | 136 | 89.7% |
| Dunfermline North | 112 | 6 | 118 | 94.9% |
| Dunfermline South | 101 | 8 | 109 | 92.7% |
| Buckhaven, Methil And Wemyss Villages | 92 | 9 | 101 | 91.1% |
| Glenrothes West And Kinglassie | 81 | 6 | 87 | 93.1% |
| Kirkcaldy North | 69 | 5 | 74 | 93.2% |
| The Lochs | 61 | 11 | 72 | 84.7% |
| Lochgelly And Cardenden | 44 | 8 | 52 | 84.6% |
| Lochgelly, Cardenden And Benarty | 35 | 7 | 42 | 83.3% |
How Fife’s planning approval rate has changed year by year, up 2.6pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Fife council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/01510/CLP East Neuk And Landward | Single storey extension to rear of dwellinghouse | Approved |
| 26/01223/FULL St. Andrews | Erection of replacement stone wall | Approved |
| 25/02926/NMV1 Tay Bridgehead | Erection of new-build facility for research and development (Class 4) (decarboni | Approved |
| 26/01052/FULL St. Andrews | Alterations and extension to building including installation of external plant a | Approved |
| 26/01323/FULL St. Andrews | Erection of outbuilding to rear of dwellinghouse | Approved |
| 26/01220/FULL East Neuk And Landward | Erection of garden room and installation of window to existing outbuilding | Approved |
| 26/01227/FULL Cupar | Single storey extension to rear of dwellinghouse | Approved |
| 26/01170/LBC Burntisland, Kinghorn And West Kirkcaldy | Listed Building Consent for internal alterations to dwellinghouse | Approved |
| 26/01157/FULL East Neuk And Landward | Change of use from 2 flatted dwellings (Sui Generis) to dwellinghouse (Class 9) | Approved |
| 26/01120/FULL Howe Of Fife And Tay Coast | Change of use from shop (Class 1A) to dwellinghouse (Class 9) and associated wor | 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 Fife's 5,821 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Fife's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Fife'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 Fife. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 5,821 real decisions from Fife 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 Fife'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 5,821 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Fife is 91.0%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.3%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 5,821 planning decisions from Fife council. 5,299 were approved and 522 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Fife is 91.0%, 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.
Writing about planning in Fife? These figures are free to republish with attribution. Copy the one-line citation, or paste the stat box into any website, CMS or newsletter, it carries its own styling and links back to this page for verification.