Planning Approval Rate in Castle Point
Castle Point is markedly stricter than the typical English council for planning permission: it approves 77.2% of applications and decides 99.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #290 of 310 English authorities. This is the approval-rate record for Castle Point: how hard it is to get planning permission, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours, from official government statistics.
Looking for a particular application rather than the statistics? Search Castle Point planning applications by postcode on PlanWatch.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 429 decisions (331 granted, 98 refused).
How Castle Point compares
| Castle Point | 77.2% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Castle Point is 9.8 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Castle Point?
Castle Point is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 77.2% of the applications it decides (rank 290th of 310). That puts it markedly stricter than the typical English council — 77.2% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 42nd most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 98 of its 429 decisions were refusals (22.8%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 75% of major developments approved versus 79.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 4 major decisions.
On timing it is among the faster authorities, deciding 99.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a relatively light caseload of 429 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 Rochford (77.6%, more approving) and Uttlesford (76.8%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Castle Point 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 Castle Point
Live planning activity in Castle Point Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 2 October 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Castle Point Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Castle Point Borough Council
Recent applications in Castle Point Borough Council
This is a sample, not the full register. Search Castle Point planning applications by postcode.
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Planning permission in Castle Point: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Castle Point?
On the latest official figures Castle Point is markedly stricter than the typical English council and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 77.2% of the 429 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Castle Point approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 77.2% approved and 22.8% refused — 331 granted and 98 refused of 429 decisions, with major schemes approved at 75% and householder and other work at 79.1%.
How quickly does Castle Point decide planning applications?
On timing Castle Point is among the faster authorities: 99.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Castle Point stricter than nearby councils?
Castle Point's 77.2% approval rate makes it the 42nd most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring Rochford approves 77.6% and Uttlesford 76.8%.
Can I use Castle Point's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Castle Point 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 Castle Point Borough 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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