Medway planning approval rate
Medway council approved 88.2% of planning applications and refused 11.8%, based on 11,117 decisions analysed.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
88.2%
overall approval rate
11,117
Decisions analysed
9,810
Approved
1,307
Refused
46
Wards covered
Planning in Medway? 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 Medway. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
89.5%
90.2%
76.6%
83.5%
94.9%
95.8%
59.1%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Medway, mined from 11,117 proposal descriptions.
84.6%
86.5%
90.1%
91.0%
90.0%
93.6%
87.4%
93.6%
78.5%
93.2%
82.4%
93.9%
87.0%
91.6%
80.8%
82.4%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Medway. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
River Ward
89.5%
Rainham Central Ward
90.9%
Strood Rural Ward
86.9%
Rochester West Ward
95.4%
Peninsula Ward
87.9%
Chatham Central & Brompton
90.9%
Hempstead And Wigmore Ward
89.4%
Strood North Ward
86.4%
Rainham South Ward
90.5%
Rochester West & Borstal
93.5%
Rochester South & Horsted Ward
90.7%
Gillingham South
83.3%
Strood Rural
94.5%
Rainham South East
85.7%
Hempstead & Wigmore
86.0%
Fort Pitt
89.6%
Strood North & Frindsbury
87.3%
Strood South Ward
87.7%
Watling Ward
88.0%
Gillingham South Ward
80.0%
Wards in Medway
River Ward
89.5% approval · 564 decisions
Rainham Central Ward
90.9% approval · 484 decisions
Strood Rural Ward
86.9% approval · 465 decisions
Rochester West Ward
95.4% approval · 434 decisions
Peninsula Ward
87.9% approval · 390 decisions
Chatham Central & Brompton
90.9% approval · 383 decisions
Hempstead And Wigmore Ward
89.4% approval · 357 decisions
Strood North Ward
86.4% approval · 331 decisions
Rainham South Ward
90.5% approval · 327 decisions
Rochester West & Borstal
93.5% approval · 325 decisions
Rochester South & Horsted Ward
90.7% approval · 311 decisions
Gillingham South
83.3% approval · 311 decisions
Strood Rural
94.5% approval · 293 decisions
Rainham South East
85.7% approval · 280 decisions
Hempstead & Wigmore
86.0% approval · 272 decisions
Fort Pitt
89.6% approval · 251 decisions
Strood North & Frindsbury
87.3% approval · 244 decisions
Strood South Ward
87.7% approval · 243 decisions
Watling Ward
88.0% approval · 242 decisions
Gillingham South Ward
80.0% approval · 235 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Medway, showing how the council decides real applications.
Neighbourhood consultation application for the construction of a single storey e · Rainham North · Wed 05 Aug 2026
Change of use from a C3 dwelling house to C4 6- bedroom 6 person HMO · Gillingham South · Wed 05 Aug 2026
Change of use from a C3 dwellinghouse to a 7-person sui generis HMO · Gillingham South · Wed 05 Aug 2026
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Medway, 1 in 8 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 Medway
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Medway →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Medway
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 11,117 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Medway
What is the planning approval rate in Medway?
Based on 11,117 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Medway approved 88.2% of applications and refused 11.8%.
How many planning applications are refused in Medway?
Medway refuses 11.8% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 8. That is close to the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 11,117 decided applications since 2020, 1,307 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Medway have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Medway are in St Mary's Island (97.2%), Rochester West Ward (95.4%), and Strood Rural (94.5%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Medway?
The most common planning application types in Medway are: Full (6,718 decisions, 89.5% approved), Trees (1,327, 90.2%), and Certificate of Lawfulness (1,301, 86.9%).
How long does a planning application take in Medway?
Planning applications in Medway take an average of 10.1 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 10,968 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is slower than 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. Medway decides approximately 1,853 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Medway?
You can search planning applications in Medway directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 11,117 historical decisions in Medway to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Medway calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Medway'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.