Planning Approval Rate in Bromley
Bromley is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 75.4% of applications and decides 83.8% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #298 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Bromley, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Bromley.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 2,171 decisions (1,638 granted, 533 refused).
How Bromley compares
| Bromley | 75.4% |
| London average | 82.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Bromley is 11.6 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Bromley?
Bromley is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 75.4% of the applications it decides (rank 298th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 75.4% approved against an England average of 87%. Within London it is the 27th most approving of 34 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 82.5%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 533 of its 2,171 decisions were refusals (24.6%). On the split by scale it is far tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 57.9% of major developments approved versus 78.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 19 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 83.8% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 2,171 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its London neighbours it sits between Barnet (76.4%, more approving) and Croydon (75.2%, stricter). For context in London, Hammersmith and Fulham approves the most (97.2%) and Barking and Dagenham the least (66.2%).
Compare Bromley with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in London. See the full London league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Bromley
Live planning activity in Bromley
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 7 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Bromley
Where planning activity concentrates in Bromley
Recent applications in Bromley
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Bromley page.
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Planning permission in Bromley: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Bromley?
On the latest official figures Bromley is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 75.4% of the 2,171 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Bromley approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 75.4% approved and 24.6% refused — 1,638 granted and 533 refused of 2,171 decisions, with major schemes approved at 57.9% and householder and other work at 78.1%.
How quickly does Bromley decide planning applications?
On timing Bromley is among the slower authorities: 83.8% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Bromley stricter than nearby councils?
Bromley's 75.4% approval rate makes it the 27th most approving of 34 authorities in London, against a 82.5% regional average. Neighbouring Barnet approves 76.4% and Croydon 75.2%.
Can I use Bromley's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Bromley 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 Bromley 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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