Council planning league table

Name: UK council planning league table
Creator: Planning Defender
License: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

How quickly 378 UK planning authorities decide applications, and how many they approve, from each nation’s official planning statistics. Councils are ranked within their own nation, because England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each measure speed in a different way.

England

Applications granted: 87%
Householder applications granted: 90%
Decided on time: 90%

12 months to June 2026

Scotland

Applications granted: 92%
Local applications within 2 months: 63%

12 months to March 2025

Wales

Householder applications granted: 91%
Decided on time: 92%

12 months to March 2026

Northern Ireland

Applications granted: 95%
Local applications within 15 weeks: 41%

12 months to March 2026

Key figures for each nation as a whole. Download the full table (CSV).

How to read this table

The figures cover every planning application each council decided in the period, not just applications that drew objections. They describe past decisions, not how any one application will go.
“Speed” is the share of applications decided within the time limit that nation measures. The measures differ, so a percentage in one nation can’t be compared with a percentage in another.
Scotland’s latest annual figures cover April 2024 to March 2025, a year older than England’s. Authorities that decided fewer than 20 applications aren’t ranked.
Most applications are approved everywhere. An objection makes a difference when it raises material planning issues the case officer has to weigh, as our guide to objecting explains.

England

310 planning authorities, 12 months to June 2026. Across all English planning authorities, 87% of applications were granted, 90% of householder applications were granted and 90% of applications were decided within the statutory time limit or an agreed extension. The speed rank uses the “Decided on time” column.

Fastest and slowest in England

Fastest 10

Rank out of 310. “=” means joint.

Slowest 10

Rank out of 310. “=” means joint.

All England councils

Planning statistics for England councils, 12 months to June 2026. Select a column heading to sort.
Speed rank
=1	Coventry	1,055	82%	91%	100%
=1	Southend-on-Sea	866	82%	89%	100%
=1	Bury	780	86%	95%	100%
=1	Rotherham	731	78%	70%	100%
=1	Barking and Dagenham	681	65%	66%	100%
=1	Amber Valley	607	97%	98%	100%
=1	Telford and Wrekin	559	91%	92%	100%
=1	Blackburn with Darwen	478	97%	100%	100%
=1	Castle Point	354	84%	89%	100%
=10	East Riding of Yorkshire	1,794	90%	93%	99%
=10	Wokingham	1,117	95%	97%	99%
=10	City of Wolverhampton	745	90%	95%	99%
=10	North Tyneside	612	97%	97%	99%
=10	Fareham	575	97%	99%	99%
=10	Rutland County	510	88%	90%	99%
=10	St Helens	455	94%	97%	99%
=10	North East Lincolnshire	447	94%	97%	99%
=10	Ipswich	430	93%	96%	99%
=10	Bolsover	276	97%	97%	99%
=10	Hartlepool	215	94%	96%	99%
=10	Tamworth	152	95%	99%	99%
=22	Stockport	1,289	95%	96%	98%
=22	Bexley	1,258	90%	95%	98%
=22	Hounslow	1,216	75%	79%	98%
=22	Swindon	829	90%	93%	98%
=22	Three Rivers	809	89%	91%	98%
=22	Luton	731	75%	85%	98%
=22	Folkestone and Hythe	697	82%	86%	98%
=22	Plymouth	672	95%	96%	98%
=22	Thurrock	670	81%	82%	98%
=22	North Kesteven	616	97%	99%	98%
=22	South Staffordshire	610	83%	90%	98%
=22	Sunderland	607	91%	94%	98%
=22	South Holland	574	79%	86%	98%
=22	Broxtowe	477	94%	96%	98%
=22	Halton	219	96%	100%	98%
=22	Crawley	217	83%	80%	98%
=22	Exmoor	180	96%	98%	98%
=39	Richmond upon Thames	1,825	82%	83%	97%
=39	Havering	1,446	77%	86%	97%
=39	West Oxfordshire	1,117	95%	97%	97%
=39	Tunbridge Wells	1,100	93%	97%	97%
=39	Mid Sussex	1,089	91%	93%	97%
=39	Sefton	1,033	93%	96%	97%
=39	Colchester	1,003	84%	86%	97%
=39	Medway	918	92%	97%	97%
=39	North Devon	874	94%	98%	97%
=39	Chichester	866	88%	95%	97%
=39	Sandwell	856	87%	88%	97%
=39	Arun	738	87%	97%	97%
=39	Teignbridge	718	80%	80%	97%
=39	Runnymede	600	84%	88%	97%
=39	Spelthorne	566	79%	87%	97%
=39	West Lindsey	556	93%	95%	97%
=39	Tameside	553	86%	94%	97%
=39	Newcastle-under-Lyme	441	91%	97%	97%
=39	Fylde	413	96%	98%	97%
=39	South Tyneside	387	90%	99%	97%
=39	Worcester	386	89%	91%	97%
=39	Hastings	329	87%	92%	97%
=39	Adur	307	94%	96%	97%
=39	Burnley	295	87%	89%	97%
=39	Nuneaton and Bedworth	284	94%	98%	97%
=39	Cannock Chase	251	89%	92%	97%
=39	Broads Authority	127	97%	98%	97%
=39	Old Oak and Park Royal	59	83%	-	97%
=67	Cornwall	4,741	93%	97%	96%
=67	Brent	1,916	77%	87%	96%
=67	Waverley	1,362	88%	92%	96%
=67	Horsham	1,339	91%	98%	96%
=67	Wealden	1,283	85%	90%	96%
=67	Maidstone	1,097	84%	92%	96%
=67	Leicester	997	82%	87%	96%
=67	South Hams	976	92%	94%	96%
=67	Mid Suffolk	849	90%	94%	96%
=67	Lichfield	677	84%	89%	96%
=67	Chorley	536	93%	96%	96%
=67	Wyre	529	85%	91%	96%
=67	Eastleigh	517	90%	91%	96%
=67	Torridge	512	90%	99%	96%
=67	Hull	449	90%	91%	96%
=67	Wyre Forest	434	92%	95%	96%
=67	South Ribble	392	97%	100%	96%
=67	Great Yarmouth	333	83%	92%	96%
=67	Mansfield	284	96%	97%	96%
=67	Knowsley	274	96%	97%	96%
=67	Ebbsfleet	26	96%	-	96%
=88	Ealing	1,955	83%	87%	95%
=88	Islington	1,426	88%	93%	95%
=88	Central Bedfordshire	1,425	83%	89%	95%
=88	Epping Forest	1,282	68%	77%	95%
=88	Lewisham	1,256	84%	89%	95%
=88	Milton Keynes	1,030	88%	91%	95%
=88	Vale of White Horse	981	95%	96%	95%
=88	Newham	978	83%	87%	95%
=88	Stroud	917	88%	91%	95%
=88	Wirral	877	88%	90%	95%
=88	Warwick	864	91%	94%	95%
=88	Oldham	814	93%	95%	95%
=88	Babergh	803	88%	91%	95%
=88	Isle of Wight	729	92%	96%	95%
=88	Lancaster	654	83%	91%	95%
=88	Swale	644	89%	94%	95%
=88	Stoke-on-Trent	551	87%	91%	95%
=88	Ribble Valley	487	82%	90%	95%
=88	City of London Corporation	477	98%	-	95%
=88	Rushmoor	276	95%	97%	95%
=108	Barnet London	2,417	74%	80%	94%
=108	Windsor and Maidenhead	1,409	73%	76%	94%
=108	Cambridge	986	91%	95%	94%
=108	Ashford	942	88%	94%	94%
=108	Reigate and Banstead	936	89%	93%	94%
=108	Braintree	911	84%	92%	94%
=108	Cheltenham	906	97%	97%	94%
=108	New Forest	884	90%	96%	94%
=108	Warrington	843	79%	80%	94%
=108	Salford	708	87%	92%	94%
=108	East Cambridgeshire	692	89%	91%	94%
=108	Mid Devon	663	95%	96%	94%
=108	Gravesham	632	75%	77%	94%
=108	Bassetlaw	564	80%	85%	94%
=108	Forest of Dean	526	93%	97%	94%
=108	North East Derbyshire	503	91%	93%	94%
=108	Darlington	458	91%	98%	94%
=108	Staffordshire Moorlands	381	76%	78%	94%
=108	Oadby and Wigston	248	73%	74%	94%
=108	Rossendale	242	86%	88%	94%
=108	Northumberland	36	92%	-	94%
=129	Leeds	3,465	82%	83%	93%
=129	Northumberland County	2,028	89%	90%	93%
=129	Manchester	1,807	89%	95%	93%
=129	Lambeth	1,793	79%	83%	93%
=129	Cheshire West and Chester	1,708	92%	94%	93%
=129	Durham County	1,679	93%	97%	93%
=129	Hillingdon	1,633	85%	90%	93%
=129	Southwark	1,492	91%	95%	93%
=129	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	1,126	88%	95%	93%
=129	Sevenoaks	1,099	87%	90%	93%
=129	Tower Hamlets	972	84%	93%	93%
=129	Sutton	879	88%	92%	93%
=129	Calderdale	805	83%	82%	93%
=129	Wigan	690	85%	88%	93%
=129	Southampton	685	90%	94%	93%
=129	Welwyn Hatfield	632	85%	86%	93%
=129	Dartford	596	77%	76%	93%
=129	West Devon	346	87%	91%	93%
=129	Harlow	287	83%	78%	93%
=129	Gosport	247	95%	97%	93%
=149	Wiltshire	3,509	93%	96%	92%
=149	Dorset	2,708	92%	96%	92%
=149	Redbridge	1,638	73%	83%	92%
=149	Liverpool	1,612	85%	91%	92%
=149	South Cambridgeshire	1,498	94%	96%	92%
=149	Westmorland and Furness	1,131	93%	95%	92%
=149	East Hertfordshire	1,111	83%	85%	92%
=149	Huntingdonshire	1,058	87%	95%	92%
=149	Test Valley	993	93%	97%	92%
=149	Tonbridge and Malling	891	95%	97%	92%
=149	Winchester	854	93%	97%	92%
=149	Malvern Hills	737	82%	88%	92%
=149	Dover	732	89%	93%	92%
=149	Broadland	719	92%	97%	92%
=149	Tewkesbury	692	88%	93%	92%
=149	Preston	612	91%	97%	92%
=149	Epsom and Ewell	591	82%	87%	92%
=149	Fenland	588	86%	94%	92%
=149	Worthing	553	90%	93%	92%
=149	Peak District	513	87%	88%	92%
=149	Pendle	440	84%	85%	92%
=149	Gloucester	436	80%	80%	92%
=149	High Peak	340	83%	87%	92%
=149	Dartmoor	287	84%	92%	92%
=173	Shropshire	2,076	87%	92%	91%
=173	Kirklees	1,766	90%	93%	91%
=173	Croydon	1,576	73%	87%	91%
=173	Haringey	1,464	85%	90%	91%
=173	Harrow	1,362	75%	82%	91%
=173	Trafford	1,352	86%	88%	91%
=173	City of York	1,198	83%	87%	91%
=173	Oxford	1,186	88%	89%	91%
=173	South Kesteven	961	90%	93%	91%
=173	North Norfolk	871	93%	96%	91%
=173	East Lindsey	773	93%	95%	91%
=173	Hertsmere	738	89%	90%	91%
=173	Portsmouth	650	86%	90%	91%
=173	Rochdale	607	86%	88%	91%
=173	Maldon	478	84%	89%	91%
=173	Blaby	416	94%	99%	91%
=173	Gedling	376	93%	94%	91%
=190	Kensington and Chelsea	2,292	93%	94%	90%
=190	Sheffield	1,716	87%	89%	90%
=190	St Albans City and	1,415	86%	87%	90%
=190	Waltham Forest	1,406	79%	81%	90%
=190	Greenwich	1,389	77%	77%	90%
=190	Cotswold	1,285	90%	92%	90%
=190	South Norfolk	1,003	92%	96%	90%
=190	Dudley	803	83%	89%	90%
=190	Newark and Sherwood	752	91%	96%	90%
=190	Hart	715	85%	88%	90%
=190	Tandridge	712	82%	90%	90%
=190	North Lincolnshire	681	89%	93%	90%
=190	Surrey Heath	589	86%	87%	90%
=190	Gateshead	510	87%	93%	90%
=190	Ashfield	402	86%	90%	90%
=190	Boston	302	91%	96%	90%
=206	Wandsworth	2,123	89%	92%	89%
=206	South Oxfordshire	1,465	94%	98%	89%
=206	Chelmsford	1,209	87%	90%	89%
=206	Wakefield	1,084	92%	95%	89%
=206	City of Doncaster	969	86%	94%	89%
=206	Derby	938	88%	88%	89%
=206	Tendring	848	84%	88%	89%
=206	Woking	694	84%	88%	89%
=206	Norwich	558	95%	98%	89%
=206	Watford	496	80%	80%	89%
=206	Broxbourne	477	86%	94%	89%
=206	Bracknell Forest	474	92%	95%	89%
=206	Middlesbrough	301	74%	82%	89%
=206	Stevenage	246	96%	96%	89%
=220	Cheshire East	2,410	87%	91%	88%
=220	Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole	2,189	82%	87%	88%
=220	South Downs	1,616	91%	92%	88%
=220	Hackney	1,287	82%	85%	88%
=220	Kingston upon Thames	1,100	78%	83%	88%
=220	Solihull	1,100	94%	94%	88%
=220	Wychavon	1,057	84%	91%	88%
=220	West Berkshire	1,037	90%	93%	88%
=220	North Herts	995	91%	94%	88%
=220	Bolton	992	79%	84%	88%
=220	Charnwood	895	88%	90%	88%
=220	Breckland	774	84%	98%	88%
=220	Walsall	753	84%	88%	88%
=220	Brentwood	668	83%	86%	88%
=220	East Hampshire	597	88%	92%	88%
=220	South Derbyshire	596	93%	96%	88%
=220	Hyndburn	266	78%	81%	88%
=237	Bromley	2,314	76%	79%	87%
=237	Enfield	1,919	79%	83%	87%
=237	South Gloucestershire	1,490	88%	86%	87%
=237	Uttlesford	1,215	76%	82%	87%
=237	Rother	714	89%	94%	87%
=237	Stockton-on-Tees	615	92%	96%	87%
=237	Chesterfield	357	87%	90%	87%
=237	Blackpool	314	84%	88%	87%
=245	Bristol	2,042	86%	89%	86%
=245	Herefordshire	1,484	94%	96%	86%
=245	Guildford	1,362	85%	86%	86%
=245	Stratford-on-Avon	1,228	92%	95%	86%
=245	North Somerset	1,087	90%	94%	86%
=245	Basingstoke and Deane	1,037	91%	96%	86%
=245	Exeter	590	83%	84%	86%
=245	Rugby	443	93%	94%	86%
=253	East Suffolk	1,897	92%	95%	85%
=253	Thanet	684	92%	93%	85%
=253	Reading	652	85%	95%	85%
=253	Peterborough	626	85%	90%	85%
=257	North Yorkshire	4,642	89%	94%	84%
=257	Bradford	2,354	87%	90%	84%
=257	West Northamptonshire	1,852	88%	91%	84%
=257	Merton	1,073	91%	93%	84%
=257	Lake District	722	89%	94%	84%
=257	Torbay	504	87%	90%	84%
=257	Bromsgrove	481	93%	95%	84%
=257	Yorkshire Dales	434	91%	97%	84%
=257	City of Lincoln	324	92%	100%	84%
=257	Redditch	171	95%	98%	84%
=267	Somerset	3,544	87%	93%	83%
=267	Elmbridge	1,590	80%	81%	83%
=267	Dacorum	1,123	87%	90%	83%
=267	Bedford	1,060	79%	88%	83%
=267	West Suffolk	1,000	93%	96%	83%
=267	Basildon	824	89%	88%	83%
=267	Rushcliffe	760	92%	95%	83%
=267	North West Leicestershire	532	95%	98%	83%
=267	North York Moors	418	96%	97%	83%
=267	North Warwickshire	340	95%	97%	83%
=267	Hartlepool Development Corporation	36	89%	-	83%
278	Newcastle	1,018	89%	94%	82%
=279	Brighton and Hove	1,659	90%	95%	81%
=279	North Northamptonshire	1,111	90%	91%	81%
=279	Redcar and Cleveland	387	95%	96%	81%
=279	Middlesbrough Development Corporation	69	88%	-	81%
=279	Isles of Scilly	57	93%	90%	81%
=284	East Devon	1,267	88%	94%	80%
=284	Nottingham	922	88%	91%	80%
=284	New Forest National Park	471	88%	91%	80%
=284	Rochford	471	80%	84%	80%
=284	Lewes	405	89%	95%	80%
=289	Hammersmith and Fulham	1,227	95%	98%	79%
=289	Hinckley and Bosworth	545	89%	94%	79%
=289	Erewash	401	92%	97%	79%
=292	Cherwell	1,022	91%	93%	78%
=292	Slough	616	80%	81%	78%
=294	Birmingham	3,333	82%	87%	77%
=294	Camden	1,951	89%	89%	77%
=294	Bath and North East Somerset	1,748	94%	97%	77%
=294	Eastbourne	350	86%	93%	77%
298	Havant	407	94%	95%	76%
=299	Canterbury	879	95%	97%	75%
=299	East Staffordshire	707	88%	90%	75%
=299	Barnsley	655	92%	93%	75%
302	West Lancashire	543	81%	86%	74%
=303	City of Westminster	4,802	86%	82%	73%
=303	Buckinghamshire	4,532	85%	86%	73%
=305	Harborough	774	89%	92%	72%
=305	Derbyshire Dales	486	86%	90%	72%
=307	Stafford	508	81%	89%	70%
=307	Melton	333	88%	91%	70%
309	Mole Valley	857	73%	77%	69%
310	Cumberland	1,163	95%	97%	65%

Source: MHCLG live tables on planning application statistics (table PS2), 12 months to June 2026, published 24 September 2026. Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.

Scotland

33 planning authorities, 12 months to March 2025. Across all Scottish planning authorities, 92% of applications were granted and 63% of local applications without a processing agreement were decided within the two-month statutory period. The speed rank uses the “Local applications within 2 months” column.

Fastest and slowest in Scotland

Fastest 10

Rank out of 33. “=” means joint.

Slowest 10

Rank out of 33. “=” means joint.

All Scotland councils

Planning statistics for Scotland councils, 12 months to March 2025. Select a column heading to sort.
Speed rank
1	East Lothian	1,026	96%	96%
2	North Ayrshire	481	97%	91%
=3	Aberdeenshire	1,658	94%	90%
=3	Perth and Kinross	1,401	92%	90%
=3	North Lanarkshire	850	97%	90%
6	Scottish Borders	855	91%	88%
7	Fife	2,328	96%	82%
=8	West Lothian	667	88%	80%
=8	Angus	610	97%	80%
=8	Stirling	593	97%	80%
11	Inverclyde	266	94%	78%
=12	East Dunbartonshire	539	94%	73%
=12	Moray	539	96%	73%
14	Clackmannanshire	212	97%	69%
15	Dundee	524	92%	68%
=16	South Ayrshire	679	97%	65%
=16	East Ayrshire	424	90%	65%
18	West Dunbartonshire	168	97%	64%
=19	Midlothian	509	91%	61%
=19	Falkirk	468	93%	61%
21	Aberdeen	1,005	91%	60%
22	South Lanarkshire	1,085	95%	56%
=23	City of Edinburgh	4,368	81%	55%
=23	Dumfries and Galloway	1,227	93%	55%
25	Shetland Islands	226	100%	51%
26	Renfrewshire	552	97%	50%
27	Highland	2,539	95%	49%
28	Argyll and Bute	1,253	96%	47%
29	Orkney Islands	369	92%	41%
30	Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	408	99%	40%
31	East Renfrewshire	541	90%	37%
32	Loch Lomond and the Trossachs	243	97%	33%
33	Glasgow	2,155	88%	29%

Source: Scottish Government planning applications statistics 2024/25 (annual tables), 12 months to March 2025, published 2 December 2025. Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0. These are the latest annual Scottish figures (April 2024 to March 2025), a year older than the figures shown for England. The total includes prior notifications and approvals. Scotland doesn't publish a householder approval rate by council.

Wales

24 planning authorities, 12 months to March 2026. Across the Welsh planning authorities that reported a full year, 91% of householder applications were granted and 92% of applications were decided within the statutory or agreed time period. The speed rank uses the “Decided on time” column.

Fastest and slowest in Wales

Fastest 10

Rank out of 24. “=” means joint.

Slowest 10

Rank out of 24. “=” means joint.

All Wales councils

Planning statistics for Wales councils, 12 months to March 2026. Select a column heading to sort.
Speed rank
=1	Caerphilly	741	74%	99%
=1	Torfaen	433	94%	99%
=1	Merthyr Tydfil	300	91%	99%
=4	Cardiff	2,194	95%	98%
=4	Blaenau Gwent	262	99%	98%
=6	Pembrokeshire County	781	88%	97%
=6	Neath Port Talbot	575	97%	97%
=8	Vale of Glamorgan	1,122	94%	96%
=8	Isle of Anglesey County	645	99%	96%
=8	Bannau Brycheiniog	385	93%	96%
11	Powys County	1,117	78%	95%
=12	Carmarthenshire County	1,168	86%	94%
=12	Newport	917	82%	94%
=14	Rhondda Cynon Taf	957	97%	93%
=14	Monmouthshire County	811	98%	93%
16	Swansea	1,453	85%	92%
17	Wrexham	658	95%	90%
18	Flintshire County	776	93%	89%
19	Pembrokeshire Coast	507	88%	88%
20	Ceredigion County	797	82%	87%
21	Gwynedd	744	93%	78%
22	Conwy	656	92%	74%
23	Bridgend	620	87%	69%
24	Eryri	377	97%	63%

Source: Welsh Government development management quarterly survey, 12 months to March 2026, published 28 July 2026. Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0. The Welsh total counts every case type the survey covers, including discharge of conditions. Wales doesn't publish one overall approval rate, so only the householder approval rate is shown.

Northern Ireland

11 councils, 12 months to March 2026. Across Northern Ireland as a whole for approvals, and its councils combined for speed, 95% of applications were granted and 41% of local (non-major) applications were processed within 15 weeks. The speed rank uses the “Local applications within 15 weeks” column.

Fastest and slowest in Northern Ireland

Fastest 10

1Mid and East Antrim79%
2Fermanagh and Omagh74%
3Antrim and Newtownabbey59%
4Ards and North Down47%
5Causeway Coast and Glens44%
6Belfast40%
7Derry City and Strabane36%
8Mid Ulster34%
9Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon32%
10Lisburn and Castlereagh29%

Rank out of 11. “=” means joint.

Slowest 10

11Newry, Mourne and Down5%
10Lisburn and Castlereagh29%
9Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon32%
8Mid Ulster34%
7Derry City and Strabane36%
6Belfast40%
5Causeway Coast and Glens44%
4Ards and North Down47%
3Antrim and Newtownabbey59%
2Fermanagh and Omagh74%

Rank out of 11. “=” means joint.

All Northern Ireland councils

Planning statistics for Northern Ireland councils, 12 months to March 2026. Select a column heading to sort.
Speed rank
1	Mid and East Antrim	536	94%	79%
2	Fermanagh and Omagh	795	97%	74%
3	Antrim and Newtownabbey	571	94%	59%
4	Ards and North Down	732	97%	47%
5	Causeway Coast and Glens	869	96%	44%
6	Belfast	1,170	96%	40%
7	Derry City and Strabane	503	97%	36%
8	Mid Ulster	982	97%	34%
9	Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	839	95%	32%
10	Lisburn and Castlereagh	690	91%	29%
11	Newry, Mourne and Down	1,084	89%	5%

Source: Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland planning statistics 2025/26, 12 months to March 2026, published 26 August 2026. Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0. Northern Ireland doesn't publish a separate householder figure by council.

Using these figures

You’re welcome to quote or republish these figures. They come from official statistics published under the Open Government Licence, so please credit the original source shown under each table. If you use the rankings, please link to this page:

Planning Defender, “Council planning league table”, https://planningdefender.com/councils/planning-league-table

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