Oxford Council approves 91.5% of planning applications, based on 5,477 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Oxford sits 3.5 percentage points above 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 Oxford.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 2,087 | 296 | 2,383 | 87.6% |
| Trees | 1,150 | 6 | 1,156 | 99.5% |
| Discharge of Conditions | 753 | 18 | 771 | 97.7% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 465 | 98 | 563 | 82.6% |
| Other | 212 | 25 | 237 | 89.5% |
| Listed Building | 227 | 5 | 232 | 97.8% |
| Advertisement | 94 | 13 | 107 | 87.9% |
| Prior Approval | 10 | 4 | 14 | 71.4% |
| Change of Use | 12 | 2 | 14 | 85.7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holywell | 349 | 4 | 353 | 98.9% |
| Summertown | 327 | 15 | 342 | 95.6% |
| Headington | 271 | 33 | 304 | 89.1% |
| Carfax | 261 | 12 | 273 | 95.6% |
| Headington Hill And Northway | 231 | 31 | 262 | 88.2% |
| Wolvercote | 245 | 9 | 254 | 96.5% |
| Marston | 217 | 32 | 249 | 87.1% |
| North | 239 | 4 | 243 | 98.4% |
| Quarry And Risinghurst | 216 | 24 | 240 | 90.0% |
| Cowley | 201 | 33 | 234 | 85.9% |
| Jericho And Osney | 190 | 18 | 208 | 91.3% |
| St Margarets | 193 | 6 | 199 | 97.0% |
| St Clement's | 178 | 21 | 199 | 89.4% |
| St Marys | 182 | 11 | 193 | 94.3% |
| Lye Valley | 147 | 36 | 183 | 80.3% |
| Rose Hill And Iffley | 152 | 25 | 177 | 85.9% |
| Littlemore | 145 | 24 | 169 | 85.8% |
| Carfax And Jericho | 157 | 4 | 161 | 97.5% |
| Churchill | 134 | 19 | 153 | 87.6% |
| Walton Manor | 145 | 4 | 149 | 97.3% |
| Cowley Marsh | 114 | 26 | 140 | 81.4% |
| Iffley Fields | 103 | 14 | 117 | 88.0% |
| Hinksey Park | 102 | 9 | 111 | 91.9% |
| Osney And St. Thomas | 97 | 6 | 103 | 94.2% |
| Barton And Sandhills | 86 | 13 | 99 | 86.9% |
Showing top 25 of 30 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →How Oxford’s planning approval rate has changed year by year — down 0.3pp since 2020.
Bar height reflects approval rate. Colour: green ≥85%, amber ≥70%, red below 70%.
Real residential planning decisions from Oxford council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 22/00605/CPU St Clement's | Application to certify that the proposed demolition of existing rear outbuilding | Approved |
| 22/00599/FUL St Marys | Erection of part single, part two storey rear extension. Insertion of 1no. windo | Approved |
| 22/00541/FUL Carfax And Jericho | Formation of a railing to south porch to match existing. | Approved |
| 22/00544/FUL Hinksey Park | Change of use from dwellinghouse (Use Class C3) to House in Multiple Occupation | Approved |
| 22/00506/FUL Wolvercote | Erection of a single storey rear extension and formation of a first floor roof t | Approved |
| 22/00510/FUL St Marys | Erection of a single storey rear extension. Alterations to existing rear extensi | Approved |
| 22/00459/FUL Summertown | Erection of a single storey rear extension. | Approved |
| 22/00491/FUL Blackbird Leys | Demolition of 2no existing single storey buildings. Erection of 1no single store | Approved |
| 22/00474/FUL St Clement's | Installation of 1no commercial kitchen extraction flue to the rear elevation. Al | Approved |
| 22/00568/CPU Hinksey Park | Application to certify that the proposed single storey rear extension with a fla | 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 Oxford's 5,477 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Oxford's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Oxford'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 Oxford. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 5,477 real decisions from Oxford 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 Oxford'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 5,477 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Oxford is 91.5%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 5,477 planning decisions from Oxford council. 5,010 were approved and 467 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Oxford is 91.5%, 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.