South Ayrshire planning approval rate
South Ayrshire council approved 95.3% of planning applications and refused 4.7%, based on 1,190 decisions analysed. Ranked 249th out of 292 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
95.3%
overall approval rate
Planning in South Ayrshire?
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 South Ayrshire. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in South Ayrshire, mined from 1,190 proposal descriptions.
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within South Ayrshire. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Ayr West (326 decided)
92.3%
Maybole, North Carrick And Coylton (190 decided)
95.8%
Troon (190 decided)
97.9%
Prestwick (119 decided)
98.3%
Girvan And South Carrick (108 decided)
95.4%
Ayr North (75 decided)
96.0%
Ayr East (35 decided)
100.0%
Wards in South Ayrshire
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in South Ayrshire, showing how the council decides real applications.
Erection of 4 dwellinghouses · Girvan And South Carrick · Fri 21 Aug 2026
Extension to agricultural shed · Kyle · Fri 21 Aug 2026
Installation of glass balustrade and replacement decking · Ayr West · Wed 19 Aug 2026
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In South Ayrshire, 1 in 21 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 South Ayrshire
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for South Ayrshire →
Free. Based on 1,190 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in South Ayrshire
What is the planning approval rate in South Ayrshire?
Based on 1,190 planning decisions analysed since 2020, South Ayrshire approved 95.3% of applications and refused 4.7%. The council is ranked 249th out of 292 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in South Ayrshire?
South Ayrshire refuses 4.7% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 21. That is lower than the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 1,190 decided applications since 2020, 56 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of South Ayrshire have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in South Ayrshire are in Prestwick (98.3%), Troon (97.9%), and Ayr North (96.0%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in South Ayrshire?
The most common planning application types in South Ayrshire are: Other (923 decisions, 94.7% approved), Listed Building (78, 97.4%), and Certificate of Lawfulness (64, 98.4%).
How long does a planning application take in South Ayrshire?
Planning applications in South Ayrshire take an average of 9.6 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 825 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. South Ayrshire decides approximately 198 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in South Ayrshire?
You can search planning applications in South Ayrshire directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 1,190 historical decisions in South Ayrshire to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for South Ayrshire calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes South Ayrshire'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.