Swale planning approval rate
Swale council approved 91.2% of planning applications and refused 8.8%, based on 1,517 decisions analysed. Ranked 148th out of 284 councils for strictness.
Last updated: June 2026 · Based on decisions from January 2020 to present
91.2%
overall approval rate
1,517
Decisions analysed
1,383
Approved
134
Refused
23
Wards covered
Planning in Swale? 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 Swale. Householder and full planning applications typically have the highest volume.
89.1%
94.2%
98.3%
93.8%
78.7%
90.5%
Approval rate by project type
These rates are based on what homeowners are actually building in Swale, mined from 1,517 proposal descriptions.
87.5%
84.8%
86.3%
79.8%
90.9%
92.9%
96.5%
97.6%
94.6%
94.4%
91.7%
80.0%
70.0%
Approval rate by ward
Planning outcomes vary significantly by ward within Swale. Click any ward for detailed statistics.
Boughton And Courtenay
93.8%
Hartlip, Newington And Upchurch
91.7%
East Downs
92.1%
Sheppey East
83.9%
Watling
94.3%
West Downs
92.8%
Teynham And Lynsted
96.3%
Bobbing, Iwade And Lower Halstow
81.2%
Abbey
96.1%
Queenborough And Halfway
87.5%
Borden And Grove Park
98.6%
Sheppey Central
89.4%
St. Ann's
95.2%
Priory
98.4%
Sheerness
75.0%
Homewood
93.9%
Minster Cliffs
91.5%
Chalkwell
87.0%
Woodstock
90.0%
Murston
100.0%
Wards in Swale
Boughton And Courtenay
93.8% approval · 145 decisions
Hartlip, Newington And Upchurch
91.7% approval · 120 decisions
East Downs
92.1% approval · 89 decisions
Sheppey East
83.9% approval · 87 decisions
Watling
94.3% approval · 87 decisions
West Downs
92.8% approval · 83 decisions
Teynham And Lynsted
96.3% approval · 81 decisions
Bobbing, Iwade And Lower Halstow
81.2% approval · 80 decisions
Abbey
96.1% approval · 76 decisions
Queenborough And Halfway
87.5% approval · 72 decisions
Borden And Grove Park
98.6% approval · 71 decisions
Sheppey Central
89.4% approval · 66 decisions
St. Ann's
95.2% approval · 63 decisions
Priory
98.4% approval · 62 decisions
Sheerness
75.0% approval · 60 decisions
Homewood
93.9% approval · 49 decisions
Minster Cliffs
91.5% approval · 47 decisions
Chalkwell
87.0% approval · 46 decisions
Woodstock
90.0% approval · 40 decisions
Murston
100.0% approval · 29 decisions
Recent comparable decisions
The most recent residential planning decisions in Swale, showing how the council decides real applications.
Part conversion of garage to habitable space, including erection of a single sto · Sheppey East · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Listed Building Consent for structural repair to roof timbers. · St. Ann's · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Replacement of fifty-six (56) holiday chalets with forty-two (42) holiday chalet · Sheppey East · Mon 22 Jun 2026
Showing 3 of 200 comparable decisions. See all 200 in the full report →
What gets approved near your property?
In Swale, 1 in 11 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 Swale
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free planning check for Swale →
✓ Common refusal reasons in Swale
✓ Your 10 nearest comparable planning decisions
✓ Appeal success rates
✓ PDF report to share with your architect
Free. Based on 1,517 decisions.
Compare with nearby councils
Frequently asked questions about planning in Swale
What is the planning approval rate in Swale?
Based on 1,517 planning decisions analysed since 2020, Swale approved 91.2% of applications and refused 8.8%. The council is ranked 148th out of 284 UK councils for approval rate.
How many planning applications are refused in Swale?
Swale refuses 8.8% of planning applications, roughly 1 in 11. That is lower than the UK average of 11.7%. Out of 1,517 decided applications since 2020, 134 were refused. PlanningLens lets you check any postcode to see which applications were refused near a specific property.
Which areas of Swale have the highest planning approval rates?
The highest approval rates in Swale are in Borden And Grove Park (98.6%), Priory (98.4%), and Teynham And Lynsted (96.3%). Approval rates vary significantly by ward, see the full ward breakdown above.
What types of planning application are most common in Swale?
The most common planning application types in Swale are: Full (603 decisions, 89.1% approved), Other (501, 94.2%), and Trees (177, 98.3%).
How long does a planning application take in Swale?
Planning applications in Swale take an average of 14.6 weeks to reach a decision, measured across 1,344 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. Swale decides approximately 253 planning applications per year.
How do I check planning applications in Swale?
You can search planning applications in Swale directly on the council's official planning portal. PlanningLens also lets you check any postcode against 1,517 historical decisions in Swale to see what's been approved and refused near a specific property.
How is PlanningLens approval rate data for Swale calculated?
PlanningLens scrapes Swale'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.