Peterborough planning approval rate
Peterborough council approved 87.6% of planning applications and refused 12.4%, based on 33,566 decisions analysed. Ranked 79th out of 300 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
87.6%
overall approval rate
33,566
Decisions analysed
29,415
Approved
4,151
Refused
28
Wards covered
Planning in Peterborough? 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 Peterborough. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
86.7%
97.4%
82.3%
85.4%
92.6%
80.9%
94.7%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Peterborough, mined from 33,566 proposal descriptions.
89.1%
89.6%
83.5%
89.2%
95.3%
73.1%
89.6%
86.3%
88.0%
86.2%
69.6%
89.1%
60.0%
82.8%
100.0%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Peterborough. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Central
83.5%
Barnack
91.5%
Park
81.7%
Northborough
86.3%
Eye, Thorney & Newborough
86.3%
Glinton
91.9%
West
88.7%
East
86.2%
Werrington
89.6%
Orton Waterville
93.0%
Glinton & Wittering
89.5%
Fletton & Woodston
86.6%
Stanground
86.0%
Orton Longueville
92.8%
Ravensthorpe
87.7%
Orton With Hampton
93.2%
Dogsthorpe
86.5%
Newborough
82.2%
Wittering
92.3%
Paston
85.9%
Wards in Peterborough
Central
83.5% approval · 4,075 decisions
Barnack
91.5% approval · 2,715 decisions
Park
81.7% approval · 2,324 decisions
Northborough
86.3% approval · 2,227 decisions
Eye, Thorney & Newborough
86.3% approval · 2,028 decisions
Glinton
91.9% approval · 1,915 decisions
West
88.7% approval · 1,858 decisions
East
86.2% approval · 1,784 decisions
Werrington
89.6% approval · 1,627 decisions
Orton Waterville
93.0% approval · 1,502 decisions
Glinton & Wittering
89.5% approval · 1,500 decisions
Fletton & Woodston
86.6% approval · 1,202 decisions
Stanground
86.0% approval · 1,109 decisions
Orton Longueville
92.8% approval · 943 decisions
Ravensthorpe
87.7% approval · 933 decisions
Orton With Hampton
93.2% approval · 866 decisions
Dogsthorpe
86.5% approval · 808 decisions
Newborough
82.2% approval · 673 decisions
Wittering
92.3% approval · 648 decisions
Paston
85.9% approval · 526 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Peterborough, showing how the council decides real applications.
First floor extension · Werrington · 2026-08-14
Proposed car port, fence and gate, porch, parapet additions, render treatment an · Barnack · 2026-08-13
Erection of timber outbuilding for use as a dog boarding kennel accommodating up · East · 2026-08-13
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Peterborough, 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 Peterborough
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Peterborough →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Peterborough
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 33,566 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Peterborough
What is the planning approval rate in Peterborough?
Based on 33,566 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Peterborough approved 87.6% of applications and refused 12.4%. The council is ranked 79th out of 300 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Peterborough?
Peterborough refuses 12.4% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 8. That is close to the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 33,566 decided applications since 2020, 4,151 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Peterborough have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Peterborough are in Orton With Hampton (93.2%), Orton Waterville (93.0%), and Orton Longueville (92.8%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Peterborough?
The most common planning application types in Peterborough are: Full (22,007 decisions, 86.7% approved), Trees (4,814, 97.4%), and Other (2,396, 82.3%).
How long does a planning application take in Peterborough?
Planning applications in Peterborough take an average of 7.4 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 210 decisions with a recorded timeline. That is inside 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. Peterborough decides approximately 5,594 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Peterborough?
You can search planning applications in Peterborough directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 33,566 historical decisions in Peterborough to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Peterborough calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Peterborough'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.