Spelthorne planning approval rate
Spelthorne council approved 86.3% of planning applications and refused 13.7%, based on 1,639 decisions analysed. Ranked 62nd out of 300 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
86.3%
overall approval rate
1,639
Decisions analysed
1,414
Approved
225
Refused
14
Wards covered
Planning in Spelthorne? 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 Spelthorne. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
82.9%
97.3%
87.6%
85.5%
96.9%
90.9%
75.0%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Spelthorne, mined from 1,639 proposal descriptions.
86.0%
80.2%
85.1%
75.3%
74.1%
89.2%
90.0%
74.2%
87.1%
87.5%
78.8%
76.5%
42.6%
31.2%
75.0%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Spelthorne. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Sunbury East
91.9%
Staines
88.5%
Laleham And Shepperton Green
91.0%
Shepperton Town
84.9%
Ashford Common
81.8%
Ashford North And Stanwell South
76.9%
Ashford Town
79.1%
Staines South
89.1%
Riverside And Laleham
89.6%
Ashford East
80.8%
Sunbury Common
82.8%
Stanwell North
82.6%
Halliford And Sunbury West
93.5%
Out Of Borough
100.0%
Wards in Spelthorne
Sunbury East
91.9% approval · 197 decisions
Staines
88.5% approval · 156 decisions
Laleham And Shepperton Green
91.0% approval · 155 decisions
Shepperton Town
84.9% approval · 139 decisions
Ashford Common
81.8% approval · 137 decisions
Ashford North And Stanwell South
76.9% approval · 121 decisions
Ashford Town
79.1% approval · 110 decisions
Staines South
89.1% approval · 110 decisions
Riverside And Laleham
89.6% approval · 106 decisions
Ashford East
80.8% approval · 104 decisions
Sunbury Common
82.8% approval · 93 decisions
Stanwell North
82.6% approval · 92 decisions
Halliford And Sunbury West
93.5% approval · 77 decisions
Out Of Borough
100.0% approval · 37 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Spelthorne, showing how the council decides real applications.
Retrospective application for retention of roof extension including raised ridge · Riverside And Laleham · Fri 14 Aug 2026
Prior approval for the demolition of existing care home. (this application is de · Staines South · Thu 13 Aug 2026
Erection of single storey ground floor rear extension · Ashford East · Thu 13 Aug 2026
Showing 3 recent comparable decisions. See more in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Spelthorne, 1 in 7 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 Spelthorne
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Spelthorne →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Spelthorne
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 1,639 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Spelthorne
What is the planning approval rate in Spelthorne?
Based on 1,639 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Spelthorne approved 86.3% of applications and refused 13.7%. The council is ranked 62nd out of 300 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Spelthorne?
Spelthorne refuses 13.7% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 7. That is higher than the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 1,639 decided applications since 2020, 225 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Spelthorne have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Spelthorne are in Halliford And Sunbury West (93.5%), Sunbury East (91.9%), and Laleham And Shepperton Green (91.0%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Spelthorne?
The most common planning application types in Spelthorne are: Full (922 decisions, 82.9% approved), Trees (224, 97.3%), and Certificate of Lawfulness (224, 87.5%).
How long does a planning application take in Spelthorne?
Planning applications in Spelthorne take an average of 10.6 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 975 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. Spelthorne decides approximately 273 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Spelthorne?
You can search planning applications in Spelthorne directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 1,639 historical decisions in Spelthorne to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Spelthorne calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Spelthorne'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.