Planning Approval Rate in Bedford
Bedford is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 81.4% of applications and decides 86.5% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #265 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Bedford, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Bedford.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,031 decisions (839 granted, 192 refused).
How Bedford compares
| Bedford | 81.4% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Bedford is 5.6 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Bedford?
Bedford is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 81.4% of the applications it decides (rank 265th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 81.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 35th most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 192 of its 1,031 decisions were refusals (18.6%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 82.5% of major developments approved versus 86.3% of householder and other small-scale work, from 57 major decisions.
On timing it is a little slower than average, deciding 86.5% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,031 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its East of England neighbours it sits between Harlow (81.5%, more approving) and Southend-on-Sea (81.4%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Bedford with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in East of England. See the full East of England league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Bedford
Live planning activity in Bedford
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 4 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Bedford
Where planning activity concentrates in Bedford
Recent applications in Bedford
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Bedford page.
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Planning permission in Bedford: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Bedford?
On the latest official figures Bedford is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 81.4% of the 1,031 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Bedford approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 81.4% approved and 18.6% refused — 839 granted and 192 refused of 1,031 decisions, with major schemes approved at 82.5% and householder and other work at 86.3%.
How quickly does Bedford decide planning applications?
On timing Bedford is a little slower than average: 86.5% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Bedford stricter than nearby councils?
Bedford's 81.4% approval rate makes it the 35th most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring Harlow approves 81.5% and Southend-on-Sea 81.4%.
Can I use Bedford's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Bedford decided, not a prediction for any individual application; your outcome depends on the site, the proposal, local planning policy and any objections.
Methodology & limits
Approval, refusal and in-time rates come from the government's official PS2 planning application statistics (Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government), covering 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This dataset is England-only and published annually, so it lags live activity. Live figures are the applications PlanWatch has collected for Bedford and are not a complete council register. Refusal reasons and delegated-vs-committee splits are not published in this data.
This is a historic average, not a prediction. It cannot tell you whether your application will be approved — that depends on your site, proposal, local policy and any objections.
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