Planning Approval Rate in Cambridge
Cambridge is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 90.9% of applications and decides 92.1% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #109 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Cambridge, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Cambridge City Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,034 decisions (940 granted, 94 refused).
How Cambridge compares
| Cambridge | 90.9% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Cambridge is 3.9 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Cambridge?
Cambridge is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 90.9% of the applications it decides (rank 109th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 90.9% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 13th most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are uncommon here: 94 of its 1,034 decisions were refusals (9.1%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 92.9% of major developments approved versus 92.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 28 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 92.1% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,034 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 West Suffolk (91%, more approving) and Huntingdonshire (90.6%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Cambridge 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 Cambridge
Live planning activity in Cambridge City Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 4 September 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Cambridge City Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Cambridge City Council
Recent applications in Cambridge City Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Cambridge page.
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Planning permission in Cambridge: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Cambridge?
On the latest official figures Cambridge is somewhat more approving than the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 90.9% of the 1,034 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Cambridge approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 90.9% approved and 9.1% refused — 940 granted and 94 refused of 1,034 decisions, with major schemes approved at 92.9% and householder and other work at 92.9%.
How quickly does Cambridge decide planning applications?
On timing Cambridge is about average on speed: 92.1% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Cambridge stricter than nearby councils?
Cambridge's 90.9% approval rate makes it the 13th most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring West Suffolk approves 91% and Huntingdonshire 90.6%.
Can I use Cambridge's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Cambridge 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 Cambridge City Council 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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