Updated June 2026 · Data

UK planning statistics: volumes, approval rates and decision times by council

A live snapshot of UK planning activity, built from the public planning registers SiteLens tracks across the country. Figures cover roughly the last 90 days and update as the data refreshes. Free to cite with a link to this page.

Busiest UK planning authorities

The councils receiving the most planning applications over the last 90 days. Volume is the clearest signal of where construction and development activity is concentrated.

Highest approval rates

Among councils with a meaningful volume of decisions (20+ decided in the window), where a planning application is most likely to be approved. Approval rate is the share of decided applications that were granted.

Lowest approval rates

The councils where applications are most likely to be refused, again among those with 20+ decisions. A lower rate can reflect local policy, greenbelt or conservation constraints, or the mix of applications received.

Slowest councils to decide

Median time from receipt to decision, among councils with 20+ recent decisions. Knowing where decisions run long helps the supply chain time its approach to a project.

Fastest councils to decide

Methodology

Figures are derived from the public planning registers SiteLens monitors across UK local planning authorities, covering roughly the last 90 days. Volumes count applications active (validated or received) in the period; approval rate is the share of applications decided in the period that were granted; decision time is the median span from receipt to decision over those decisions. Rankings of approval rate and decision time are limited to councils with at least 50 applications and 20 decisions in the window, so small-sample noise does not distort them. Coverage expands as more registers are tracked, so totals are a floor, not a complete national count. You can explore any council in detail on its SiteLens council page.