Highland planning approval rate
Highland council approved 94.8% of planning applications and refused 5.2%, based on 2,338 decisions analysed. Ranked 230th out of 284 councils for strictness.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
94.8%
overall approval rate
2,338
Decisions analysed
2,217
Approved
121
Refused
21
Wards covered
Planning in Highland? 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 Highland. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
94.4%
98.7%
96.1%
100.0%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Highland, mined from 2,338 proposal descriptions.
97.8%
95.1%
87.8%
100.0%
93.3%
100.0%
94.1%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Highland. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Cromarty Firth
98.1%
Caol And Mallaig
94.5%
Inverness West
89.9%
East Sutherland And Edderton
98.3%
Aird And Loch Ness
95.9%
Eilean A' Cheò
96.5%
Fort William And Ardnamurchan
92.3%
North, West And Central Sutherland
96.9%
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh
100.0%
Badenoch And Strathspey
94.3%
Inverness South
92.0%
Nairn And Cawdor
88.1%
Dingwall And Seaforth
95.2%
Inverness Ness-Side
95.5%
Tain And Easter Ross
95.5%
Black Isle
89.5%
Wick And East Caithness
94.6%
Thurso And North West Caithness
95.3%
Inverness Millburn
97.4%
Inverness Central
94.4%
Wards in Highland
Cromarty Firth
98.1% approval · 210 decisions
Caol And Mallaig
94.5% approval · 201 decisions
Inverness West
89.9% approval · 188 decisions
East Sutherland And Edderton
98.3% approval · 179 decisions
Aird And Loch Ness
95.9% approval · 169 decisions
Eilean A' Cheò
96.5% approval · 144 decisions
Fort William And Ardnamurchan
92.3% approval · 143 decisions
North, West And Central Sutherland
96.9% approval · 130 decisions
Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh
100.0% approval · 113 decisions
Badenoch And Strathspey
94.3% approval · 88 decisions
Inverness South
92.0% approval · 87 decisions
Nairn And Cawdor
88.1% approval · 84 decisions
Dingwall And Seaforth
95.2% approval · 84 decisions
Inverness Ness-Side
95.5% approval · 67 decisions
Tain And Easter Ross
95.5% approval · 66 decisions
Black Isle
89.5% approval · 57 decisions
Wick And East Caithness
94.6% approval · 56 decisions
Thurso And North West Caithness
95.3% approval · 43 decisions
Inverness Millburn
97.4% approval · 38 decisions
Inverness Central
94.4% approval · 36 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Highland, showing how the council decides real applications.
Extension and alterations to car park · Inverness Ness-Side · Fri 26 Jun 2026
Erection of pod · Aird And Loch Ness · Fri 26 Jun 2026
Erection of agricultural building (class 18) · Tain And Easter Ross · Thu 25 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 200 comparable decisions. See all 200 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Highland, 1 in 19 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 Highland
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Highland →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Highland
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 2,338 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Highland
What is the planning approval rate in Highland?
Based on 2,338 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Highland approved 94.8% of applications and refused 5.2%. The council is ranked 230th out of 284 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Highland?
Highland refuses 5.2% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 19. That is lower than the UK average of 11.7%. Out of 2,338 decided applications since 2020, 121 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Highland have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Highland are in Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh (100.0%), East Sutherland And Edderton (98.3%), and Cromarty Firth (98.1%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Highland?
The most common planning application types in Highland are: Other (2,032 decisions, 94.4% approved), Prior Approval (154, 98.7%), and Full (127, 96.1%).
How long does a planning application take in Highland?
Planning applications in Highland take an average of 7.9 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 349 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is inside 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. Highland decides approximately 390 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Highland?
You can search planning applications in Highland directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 2,338 historical decisions in Highland to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Highland calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Highland'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.