Southend-on-Sea planning approval rate
Southend-on-Sea council approved 88.2% of planning applications and refused 11.8%, based on 1,455 decisions analysed. Ranked 90th out of 284 councils for strictness.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
88.2%
overall approval rate
1,455
Decisions analysed
1,284
Approved
171
Refused
17
Wards covered
Planning in Southend-on-Sea? 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 Southend-on-Sea. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
92.2%
87.4%
94.3%
28.2%
96.6%
100.0%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Southend-on-Sea, mined from 1,455 proposal descriptions.
89.3%
91.6%
89.3%
91.0%
88.8%
67.0%
87.8%
85.9%
95.0%
96.9%
93.8%
100.0%
88.0%
78.6%
100.0%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Southend-on-Sea. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Milton
87.3%
Leigh
93.4%
Chalkwell
88.5%
West Leigh
93.8%
Thorpe
84.3%
Kursaal
83.0%
Blenheim Park
84.4%
Belfairs
86.8%
Prittlewell
89.5%
Eastwood Park
81.7%
Shoeburyness
94.3%
Victoria
87.5%
St Lukes
95.2%
West Shoebury
92.6%
Southchurch
84.9%
St Laurence
78.4%
Westborough
86.1%
Wards in Southend-on-Sea
Milton
87.3% approval · 189 decisions
Leigh
93.4% approval · 152 decisions
Chalkwell
88.5% approval · 122 decisions
West Leigh
93.8% approval · 112 decisions
Thorpe
84.3% approval · 102 decisions
Kursaal
83.0% approval · 100 decisions
Blenheim Park
84.4% approval · 77 decisions
Belfairs
86.8% approval · 76 decisions
Prittlewell
89.5% approval · 76 decisions
Eastwood Park
81.7% approval · 71 decisions
Shoeburyness
94.3% approval · 70 decisions
Victoria
87.5% approval · 64 decisions
St Lukes
95.2% approval · 63 decisions
West Shoebury
92.6% approval · 54 decisions
Southchurch
84.9% approval · 53 decisions
St Laurence
78.4% approval · 37 decisions
Westborough
86.1% approval · 36 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Southend-on-Sea, showing how the council decides real applications.
Install rear dormer to form habitable accommodation in the loftspace, install ro · Victoria · Fri 19 Jun 2026
Use dwellinghouse (Class C3) as a 5-person HMO (Class C4), alter elevations, rem · Prittlewell · Fri 19 Jun 2026
Use dwellinghouse (Class C3) as a 6 person HMO (Class C4), replace rear door wit · Kursaal · Fri 19 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 200 comparable decisions. See all 200 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Southend-on-Sea, 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 Southend-on-Sea
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Southend-on-Sea →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Southend-on-Sea
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 1,455 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Southend-on-Sea
What is the planning approval rate in Southend-on-Sea?
Based on 1,455 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Southend-on-Sea approved 88.2% of applications and refused 11.8%. The council is ranked 90th out of 284 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Southend-on-Sea?
Southend-on-Sea refuses 11.8% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 8. That is close to the UK average of 11.7%. Out of 1,455 decided applications since 2020, 171 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Southend-on-Sea have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Southend-on-Sea are in St Lukes (95.2%), Shoeburyness (94.3%), and West Leigh (93.8%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Southend-on-Sea?
The most common planning application types in Southend-on-Sea are: Full (758 decisions, 92.2% approved), Other (310, 87.4%), and Certificate of Lawfulness (199, 80.9%).
How long does a planning application take in Southend-on-Sea?
Planning applications in Southend-on-Sea take an average of 10.2 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 1,453 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. Southend-on-Sea decides approximately 242 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Southend-on-Sea?
You can search planning applications in Southend-on-Sea directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 1,455 historical decisions in Southend-on-Sea to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Southend-on-Sea calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Southend-on-Sea'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.