Planning Approval Rate in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 83.3% of applications and decides 82.7% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #247 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 2,150 decisions (1,790 granted, 360 refused).
How Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole compares
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 83.3% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is 3.7 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is in the stricter third of English authorities, granting 83.3% of the applications it decides (rank 247th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 83.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 24th most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 360 of its 2,150 decisions were refusals (16.7%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 75% of major developments approved versus 88.2% of householder and other small-scale work, from 88 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 82.7% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 2,150 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South West neighbours it sits between West Devon (84.5%, more approving) and Teignbridge (82.2%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
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Planning permission in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?
On the latest official figures Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is somewhat stricter than the England average and in the stricter third of English authorities, approving 83.3% of the 2,150 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 83.3% approved and 16.7% refused — 1,790 granted and 360 refused of 2,150 decisions, with major schemes approved at 75% and householder and other work at 88.2%.
How quickly does Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole decide planning applications?
On timing Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole is among the slower authorities: 82.7% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole stricter than nearby councils?
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole's 83.3% approval rate makes it the 24th most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring West Devon approves 84.5% and Teignbridge 82.2%.
Can I use Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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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