Leeds Council approves 86.6% of planning applications, based on 44,615 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Leeds sits 1.4 percentage points below 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 Leeds.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 19,468 | 3,435 | 22,903 | 85.0% |
| Trees | 5,818 | 208 | 6,026 | 96.5% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 4,655 | 644 | 5,299 | 87.8% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 4,307 | 771 | 5,078 | 84.8% |
| Other | 2,228 | 654 | 2,882 | 77.3% |
| Listed Building | 1,152 | 89 | 1,241 | 92.8% |
| Advertisement | 1,019 | 167 | 1,186 | 85.9% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Little London & Woodhouse | 2,793 | 174 | 2,967 | 94.1% |
| Harewood | 2,393 | 454 | 2,847 | 84.1% |
| Horsforth | 2,125 | 261 | 2,386 | 89.1% |
| Adel & Wharfedale | 2,073 | 311 | 2,384 | 87.0% |
| Roundhay | 2,031 | 300 | 2,331 | 87.1% |
| Wetherby | 1,996 | 281 | 2,277 | 87.7% |
| Guiseley & Rawdon | 1,823 | 244 | 2,067 | 88.2% |
| Headingley & Hyde Park | 1,442 | 305 | 1,747 | 82.5% |
| Calverley & Farsley | 1,401 | 218 | 1,619 | 86.5% |
| Alwoodley | 1,327 | 269 | 1,596 | 83.1% |
| Otley & Yeadon | 1,308 | 228 | 1,536 | 85.2% |
| Weetwood | 1,273 | 179 | 1,452 | 87.7% |
| Moortown | 1,221 | 172 | 1,393 | 87.7% |
| Hunslet & Riverside | 1,262 | 118 | 1,380 | 91.4% |
| Chapel Allerton | 985 | 214 | 1,199 | 82.2% |
| Morley North | 991 | 137 | 1,128 | 87.9% |
| Pudsey | 935 | 152 | 1,087 | 86.0% |
| Temple Newsam | 916 | 151 | 1,067 | 85.8% |
| Garforth & Swillington | 865 | 190 | 1,055 | 82.0% |
| Rothwell | 872 | 171 | 1,043 | 83.6% |
| Beeston & Holbeck | 903 | 116 | 1,019 | 88.6% |
| Morley South | 795 | 93 | 888 | 89.5% |
| Kippax & Methley | 716 | 145 | 861 | 83.2% |
| Ardsley & Robin Hood | 744 | 117 | 861 | 86.4% |
| Crossgates & Whinmoor | 714 | 135 | 849 | 84.1% |
Showing top 25 of 33 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Leeds’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 5.4pp since 2020.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Leeds council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/01117/CLP Ardsley & Robin Hood | Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development for a single storey rear extension | Approved |
| 26/9/00033/MOD Wetherby | Single storey front and rear extensions; car port to side with canopy above; fro | Approved |
| 26/01023/CLP Beeston & Holbeck | Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development for a single storey rear extension | Approved |
| 26/9/00032/MOD Moortown | Single storey rear and side extension; roof extensions including new gable to si | Approved |
| 26/9/00014/MOD Wetherby | Reserved Matters Application for 762 dwellings relating to scale, layout, appear | Approved |
| 26/9/00013/MOD Wetherby | Reserved Matters Application for 762 dwellings relating to scale, layout, appear | Refused |
| 26/9/00015/MOD Wetherby | Outline application for 800 dwellings, primary school, convenience store (up to | Refused |
| 26/00406/FU Crossgates & Whinmoor | Single storey extension to front; new window to side | Approved |
| 26/00385/CLP Kippax & Methley | Certificate of Proposed Lawful Development for a dormer window and single storey | Refused |
| 26/00248/FU Middleton Park | Part retrospective application for extensions and replacement roof incorporating | Refused |
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 Leeds's 44,615 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Leeds's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Leeds'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 Leeds. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 44,615 real decisions from Leeds 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 Leeds'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 44,615 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Leeds is 86.6%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 44,615 planning decisions from Leeds council. 38,647 were approved and 5,968 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Leeds is 86.6%, 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.