Highland Council approves 94.4% of planning applications, based on 1,987 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. Highland sits 6.5 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 Highland.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 1,876 | 111 | 1,987 | 94.4% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cromarty Firth | 197 | 4 | 201 | 98.0% |
| Caol And Mallaig | 170 | 11 | 181 | 93.9% |
| Inverness West | 162 | 19 | 181 | 89.5% |
| East Sutherland And Edderton | 165 | 2 | 167 | 98.8% |
| Aird And Loch Ness | 128 | 7 | 135 | 94.8% |
| Fort William And Ardnamurchan | 103 | 11 | 114 | 90.4% |
| Eilean A' Cheò | 108 | 5 | 113 | 95.6% |
| North, West And Central Sutherland | 108 | 3 | 111 | 97.3% |
| Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh | 82 | 0 | 82 | 100.0% |
| Dingwall And Seaforth | 73 | 3 | 76 | 96.1% |
| Inverness South | 65 | 7 | 72 | 90.3% |
| Nairn And Cawdor | 60 | 9 | 69 | 87.0% |
| Inverness Ness-Side | 57 | 3 | 60 | 95.0% |
| Badenoch And Strathspey | 55 | 4 | 59 | 93.2% |
| Black Isle | 45 | 6 | 51 | 88.2% |
| Tain And Easter Ross | 48 | 2 | 50 | 96.0% |
| Wick And East Caithness | 32 | 1 | 33 | 97.0% |
| Thurso And North West Caithness | 29 | 1 | 30 | 96.7% |
| Inverness Millburn | 28 | 1 | 29 | 96.6% |
| Inverness Central | 23 | 1 | 24 | 95.8% |
| Culloden And Ardersier | 24 | 0 | 24 | 100.0% |
Real residential planning decisions from Highland council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/00211/FUL Badenoch And Strathspey | Erection of extension | Approved |
| 25/04766/PNO North, West And Central Sutherland | Erection of agricultural building | Approved |
| 25/04419/PNO Thurso And North West Caithness | Erection of domestic wind turbine | Approved |
| 25/03924/FUL Nairn And Cawdor | Change of use of land to garden ground | Approved |
| 25/03719/PNO Wick And East Caithness | Erection of extension to agricultural building | Approved |
| 25/02991/FUL Inverness South | Erection of house | Approved |
| 25/02986/FUL Aird And Loch Ness | Erection of house and garage | Approved |
| 25/02713/FUL Inverness South | Conversion of derelict cottages to house, erection of garage and garden room | Approved |
| 25/02524/FUL Inverness Central | Installation of driveway and replacement fence | Approved |
| 25/02520/FUL Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh | Single storey ground floor extension to create new kitchen and dining space, dor | 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 Highland's 1,987 real decisions. Delivered by email in minutes.
Get My Pro Report — £79Compare Highland's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Highland's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Based on 1,987 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Highland is 94.4%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 87.9%. However, rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 1,987 planning decisions from Highland council. 1,876 were approved and 111 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Highland is 94.4%, 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.