Spelthorne planning approval rate
Spelthorne council approved 86.4% of planning applications and refused 13.6%, based on 1,613 decisions analysed. Ranked 62nd out of 300 councils for strictness.
Last updated: August 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to August 2026
86.4%
overall approval rate
1,613
Decisions analysed
1,393
Approved
220
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%
87.3%
85.0%
96.7%
90.9%
75.0%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Spelthorne, mined from 1,613 proposal descriptions.
86.2%
80.1%
85.3%
75.5%
73.9%
89.2%
90.0%
74.4%
88.1%
87.3%
78.8%
78.0%
44.2%
31.2%
72.7%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Spelthorne. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Sunbury East
91.8%
Laleham And Shepperton Green
90.9%
Staines
88.9%
Shepperton Town
84.9%
Ashford Common
82.2%
Ashford North And Stanwell South
76.7%
Ashford Town
78.7%
Staines South
88.7%
Riverside And Laleham
90.2%
Ashford East
80.4%
Stanwell North
82.6%
Sunbury Common
83.3%
Halliford And Sunbury West
94.7%
Out Of Borough
100.0%
Wards in Spelthorne
Sunbury East
91.8% approval · 195 decisions
Laleham And Shepperton Green
90.9% approval · 154 decisions
Staines
88.9% approval · 153 decisions
Shepperton Town
84.9% approval · 139 decisions
Ashford Common
82.2% approval · 135 decisions
Ashford North And Stanwell South
76.7% approval · 120 decisions
Ashford Town
78.7% approval · 108 decisions
Staines South
88.7% approval · 106 decisions
Riverside And Laleham
90.2% approval · 102 decisions
Ashford East
80.4% approval · 102 decisions
Stanwell North
82.6% approval · 92 decisions
Sunbury Common
83.3% approval · 90 decisions
Halliford And Sunbury West
94.7% approval · 76 decisions
Out Of Borough
100.0% approval · 36 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Spelthorne, showing how the council decides real applications.
Erection of a single storey side and rear wraparound extension. Following remova · Ashford East · Wed 05 Aug 2026
Alteration and extension to the existing rear roof · Shepperton Town · Wed 05 Aug 2026
Amended description:-Proposed alterations to shopfront including new doors and p · Staines · Tue 04 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 1,613 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Spelthorne
What is the planning approval rate in Spelthorne?
Based on 1,613 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Spelthorne approved 86.4% of applications and refused 13.6%. The council is ranked 62nd out of 300 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Spelthorne?
Spelthorne refuses 13.6% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 7. That is higher than the UK average of 11.4%. Out of 1,613 decided applications since 2020, 220 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 (94.7%), Sunbury East (91.8%), and Laleham And Shepperton Green (90.9%). 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 (912 decisions, 82.9% approved), Trees (223, 97.3%), and Certificate of Lawfulness (216, 88.4%).
How long does a planning application take in Spelthorne?
Planning applications in Spelthorne take an average of 10.7 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 950 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 269 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 1,613 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.