PlanningLens holds 2,639 decisions from the Highland planning portal. The headline approval rate is currently withheld on data-quality grounds.
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 Highland.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | – | – | 2,163 | – |
| Full | – | – | 869 | – |
| Prior Approval | – | – | 261 | – |
| Listed Building | – | – | 61 | – |
| Advertisement | – | – | 25 | – |
| Discharge of Conditions | – | – | 14 | – |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | – | – | 9 | – |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aird And Loch Ness | – | – | 271 | – |
| Caol And Mallaig | – | – | 254 | – |
| Eilean A' Cheò | – | – | 242 | – |
| Cromarty Firth | – | – | 233 | – |
| East Sutherland And Edderton | – | – | 221 | – |
| Fort William And Ardnamurchan | – | – | 220 | – |
| Wester Ross, Strathpeffer And Lochalsh | – | – | 215 | – |
| Inverness West | – | – | 210 | – |
| Badenoch And Strathspey | – | – | 195 | – |
| North, West And Central Sutherland | – | – | 190 | – |
| Inverness South | – | – | 120 | – |
| Wick And East Caithness | – | – | 119 | – |
| Dingwall And Seaforth | – | – | 110 | – |
| Tain And Easter Ross | – | – | 105 | – |
| Black Isle | – | – | 104 | – |
| Nairn And Cawdor | – | – | 103 | – |
| Inverness Ness-Side | – | – | 86 | – |
| Thurso And North West Caithness | – | – | 78 | – |
| Inverness Central | – | – | 66 | – |
| Inverness Millburn | – | – | 64 | – |
| Culloden And Ardersier | – | – | 56 | – |
How Highland’s planning approval rate has changed year by year, unchanged since 2021.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 26/03673/FUL Inverness West | Extension to dwelling | Approved |
| 26/02204/LBC Nairn And Cawdor | Replacement windows | Approved |
| 26/00483/FUL Aird And Loch Ness | Extension and alteration, demolition of dwelling | Approved |
| 26/03795/PNO Tain And Easter Ross | Replacement of 2no. windows (Class 7A) | Approved |
| 26/03218/FUL Badenoch And Strathspey | Change of use from church to house (23/01757/FUL revised) | Approved |
| 26/03140/FUL Culloden And Ardersier | Erection of glamping pod for holiday letting purposes | Approved |
| 26/02821/FUL Wick And East Caithness | Erection of stables and hardstanding | Approved |
| 26/02535/FUL Wick And East Caithness | Change of use of agricultural shed to garage/workshop (retrospective) | Approved |
| 26/02005/FUL Eilean A' Cheò | Erection of replacement extensions to house (amended design to planning permissi | Approved |
| 26/00700/LBC Eilean A' Cheò | Replace slates on roof, install new windows and doors | 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 Highland's 2,639 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare 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:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Highland. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 2,639 real decisions from Highland 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 Highland'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.
PlanningLens is currently withholding the headline approval rate for Highland on data-quality grounds. Decision volumes are still published.
PlanningLens holds 2,639 planning decisions from Highland. The approval and refusal split is withheld along with the headline rate.
PlanningLens is currently withholding the headline approval rate for Highland. Ward and project-type breakdowns for this council are withheld on the same basis.