Swale Council approves 89.2% of planning applications, based on 416 real decisions analysed from the council’s public planning portal. The national average across all councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Swale sits 1.2 percentage points above the national average.
Enter your postcode for a free, personalised approval pattern report — based on your ward and application type.
Not all applications are treated equally. Extension types, listed building consent, and change of use applications each have very different success rates in Swale.
| Application Type | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full | 136 | 17 | 153 | 88.9% |
| Other | 131 | 10 | 141 | 92.9% |
| Trees | 48 | 0 | 48 | 100.0% |
| Certificate of Lawfulness | 31 | 9 | 40 | 77.5% |
| Listed Building | 11 | 6 | 17 | 64.7% |
| Prior Approval | 10 | 2 | 12 | 83.3% |
| Advertisement | 4 | 1 | 5 | 80.0% |
A loft conversion in one ward can have a 90% approval rate. In the next ward, 55%. The free check tells you which side you're on — your free property report is emailed in minutes.
Check My PostcodeWard-level data reveals where planning applications are most and least likely to succeed. Officers, local policies, and neighbourhood character all play a role.
| Ward | Approved | Refused | Total | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marden And Yalding | 32 | 7 | 39 | 82.1% |
| Harrietsham, Lenham And North Downs | 29 | 5 | 34 | 85.3% |
| Loose And Linton | 24 | 2 | 26 | 92.3% |
| Headcorn And Sutton Valence | 19 | 1 | 20 | 95.0% |
| Leeds And Langley | 17 | 1 | 18 | 94.4% |
| West Downs | 15 | 2 | 17 | 88.2% |
| Boughton Monchelsea And Chart Sutton | 9 | 7 | 16 | 56.2% |
| Boxley Downs | 13 | 1 | 14 | 92.9% |
| Hartlip, Newington And Upchurch | 13 | 0 | 13 | 100.0% |
| High Street | 9 | 3 | 12 | 75.0% |
| Bearsted And Downswood | 9 | 2 | 11 | 81.8% |
| Boughton And Courtenay | 11 | 0 | 11 | 100.0% |
| Fant And Oakwood | 10 | 1 | 11 | 90.9% |
| Barming Heath And Teston | 11 | 0 | 11 | 100.0% |
| East Downs | 10 | 1 | 11 | 90.9% |
| Watling | 8 | 3 | 11 | 72.7% |
| Sheerness | 7 | 3 | 10 | 70.0% |
| Sheppey Central | 7 | 2 | 9 | 77.8% |
| Queenborough And Halfway | 9 | 0 | 9 | 100.0% |
| Coxheath And Farleigh | 7 | 1 | 8 | 87.5% |
| Grove Green And Vinters Park | 8 | 0 | 8 | 100.0% |
| Chalkwell | 8 | 0 | 8 | 100.0% |
| Staplehurst | 7 | 0 | 7 | 100.0% |
| Palace Wood | 7 | 0 | 7 | 100.0% |
| Tovil | 6 | 0 | 6 | 100.0% |
Showing top 25 of 31 wards by volume. Your free property report includes the full ward breakdown.
See full ward breakdown →Real residential planning decisions from Swale council. Each reference links to the council's own planning portal so you can verify the details yourself.
| Reference | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 26/500055/FULL Sheerness | Erection of 1st and 2nd floor rear extension to form 2no residential flats and a | Refused |
| 26/500056/LBC Sheerness | Listed Building Consent for erection of 1st and 2nd floor rear extension to form | Refused |
| 26/500058/LAWPRO Harrietsham, Lenham And North Downs | Lawful Development Certificate for proposed two storey rear extension and demoli | Approved |
| 26/500002/LBC High Street | Listed Building Consent for external repairs to include the replacement of first | Refused |
| 25/505251/FULL Loose And Linton | Installation of ramped access in rear garden and handrails. | Approved |
| 25/505060/LDCEX High Street | Lawful Development Certificate for existing use of the property as a House in Mu | Approved |
| 25/505018/LAWPRO Headcorn And Sutton Valence | Lawful Development Certificate for proposed conversion of two residential dwelli | Approved |
| 25/504743/FULL Watling | Erection of an outdoor kitchen with an oak frame structure and cedar shingle pit | Approved |
| 25/502103/FULL West Downs | Demolition of part of the existing library/home office structure and erection of | Refused |
| 25/502104/LBC West Downs | Listed Building Consent for the demolition of part of the existing library/home | Refused |
Find out what actually gets approved near your address first. Your free property report analyses the 20 nearest decisions to your property, ward-specific refusal patterns, and extension-by-extension approval patterns. Based on Swale's 416 real decisions. Free, emailed in minutes.
Check my postcodeCompare Swale's planning approval rates with neighbouring areas:
Dig deeper into Swale's planning statistics — by ward, extension type, or project category:
Data-driven guides to help you understand planning approval patterns:
Yes. PlanningLens offers a free planning permission check for Swale. Enter your postcode to instantly see approval rates for your ward and application type, based on 416 real decisions from Swale council. The full property-specific report is also free and emailed within minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanningLens for a free instant check based on Swale's real planning decisions. The free property report goes further: it analyses the 20 nearest comparable decisions to your property, ward-level refusal patterns, and approval rates by application type. Free and emailed within minutes.
Based on 416 planning decisions, the overall approval rate in Swale is 89.2%. The national average across councils tracked by PlanningLens is 88.0%. Rates vary significantly by ward and application type.
PlanningLens has analysed 416 planning decisions from Swale council. 371 were approved and 45 were refused. These figures cover decisions from January 2020 to the present.
The average approval rate in Swale is 89.2%, but outcomes depend heavily on your specific ward, the type of extension or development you are proposing, and local planning policy. Use the free PlanningLens postcode check to get a personalised score.