Merton Council approves 85.9% of planning applications, based on 17,557 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Merton sits 2.1 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 Merton.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 9,039 | 1,105 | 10,144 | 89.1% |
| Other | 5,505 | 738 | 6,243 | 88.2% |
| Prior Approval | 545 | 625 | 1,170 | 46.6% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Village | 1,051 | 61 | 1,112 | 94.5% |
| Village_historic | 601 | 51 | 652 | 92.2% |
| Wimbledon Park | 613 | 32 | 645 | 95.0% |
| Abbey | 590 | 44 | 634 | 93.1% |
| Dundonald_histroic | 549 | 75 | 624 | 88.0% |
| Raynes Park | 567 | 57 | 624 | 90.9% |
| Hillside | 560 | 47 | 607 | 92.3% |
| Wimbledon Park_historic | 505 | 55 | 560 | 90.2% |
| Wimbledon Town and Dundonald | 489 | 54 | 543 | 90.1% |
| Colliers Wood | 462 | 78 | 540 | 85.6% |
| Abbey_histroic | 439 | 85 | 524 | 83.8% |
| West Barnes | 400 | 109 | 509 | 78.6% |
| Merton Park_histroic | 422 | 72 | 494 | 85.4% |
| Merton Park | 415 | 74 | 489 | 84.9% |
| Graveney | 359 | 87 | 446 | 80.5% |
| Raynes Park_histroic | 387 | 56 | 443 | 87.4% |
| Trinity_historic | 379 | 61 | 440 | 86.1% |
| Cannon Hill_historic | 364 | 75 | 439 | 82.9% |
| Cannon Hill | 346 | 89 | 435 | 79.5% |
| West Barnes_historic | 384 | 49 | 433 | 88.7% |
| Graveney_histroic | 347 | 75 | 422 | 82.2% |
| Cricket Green | 322 | 68 | 390 | 82.6% |
| Colliers Wood_histroic | 308 | 67 | 375 | 82.1% |
| Hillside_histroic | 312 | 49 | 361 | 86.4% |
| Lower Morden | 282 | 68 | 350 | 80.6% |
Showing top 25 of 48 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Merton’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 6.0pp since 2018.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Merton council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 25/P1807 Cricket Green | APPLICATION FOR CHANGE OF USE FROM B2/B8 INDUSTRIAL TO SUI GENERIS FOOD PRODUCTI | Approved |
| 25/P3090 Raynes Park | APPLICATION TO REPLACE SINGLE GLAZED TIMBER FRAMED SASH AND CASEMENT WINDOWS TO | Approved |
| 25/P2278 Village | APPLICATION FOR THE ERECTION OF A REAR ROOF DORMER EXTENSION. | Approved |
| 25/P3285 Pollards Hill | ERECTION OF A GABLED ROOF TO EXISTING TWO STOREY SIDE EXTENSION (RETROSPECTIVE) | Approved |
| 25/P3635 Lower Morden | APPLICATION FOR THE ERECTION OF A SINGLE STOREY SIDE AND REAR EXTENSION. | Approved |
| 25/P2643 Lavender Fields | APPLICATION FOR VEHICULAR CROSSOVER WITH ASSOCIATED HARDSTANDING IN FRONT GARDEN | Refused |
| 25/P3458 Graveney | REMOVAL OF SHED AND ERECTION OF NEW OUTBUILDING AND OUTDOOR STORAGE AT THE END O | Approved |
| 25/P3621 Lavender Fields | APPLICATION FOR A REAR DORMER, X3 ROOF LIGHTS TO THE FRONT ROOF SLOPE AND X1 WIN | Approved |
| 25/P3233 Figges Marsh | CONVERSION OF SINGLE DWELLINGHOUSE INTO A C4 HMO FOR UP TO 6 PEOPLE, INCLUDING E | Refused |
| 25/P3227 Figges Marsh | ERECTION OF TWO STOREY SIDE EXTENSION WITH HIPPED ROOF, FIRST FLOOR REAR/SIDE EX | 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 Merton's 17,557 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Merton's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Merton'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 Merton. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 17,557 real decisions from Merton 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 Merton'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 17,557 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Merton is 85.9%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 17,557 planning decisions from Merton council. 15,089 were approved and 2,468 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Merton is 85.9%, 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.