Planning Approval Rate in Cherwell
Cherwell is somewhat more approving than the England average for planning permission: it approves 93.3% of applications and decides 80.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #59 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Cherwell, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Cherwell District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,082 decisions (1,009 granted, 73 refused).
How Cherwell compares
| Cherwell | 93.3% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Cherwell is 6.3 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Cherwell?
Cherwell is in the more approving third of English authorities, granting 93.3% of the applications it decides (rank 59th of 310). That puts it somewhat more approving than the England average — 93.3% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 13th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are uncommon here: 73 of its 1,082 decisions were refusals (6.7%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 94.9% of major developments approved versus 95.1% of householder and other small-scale work, from 39 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 80.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,082 decisions over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025, where the typical English authority decides around 783. Among its South East neighbours it sits between Canterbury (93.4%, more approving) and Winchester (93.3%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Cherwell with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Cherwell
Live planning activity in Cherwell District Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 25 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Cherwell District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Cherwell District Council
Recent applications in Cherwell District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Cherwell page.
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Planning permission in Cherwell: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Cherwell?
On the latest official figures Cherwell is somewhat more approving than the England average and in the more approving third of English authorities, approving 93.3% of the 1,082 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Cherwell approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 93.3% approved and 6.7% refused — 1,009 granted and 73 refused of 1,082 decisions, with major schemes approved at 94.9% and householder and other work at 95.1%.
How quickly does Cherwell decide planning applications?
On timing Cherwell is among the slower authorities: 80.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Cherwell stricter than nearby councils?
Cherwell's 93.3% approval rate makes it the 13th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Canterbury approves 93.4% and Winchester 93.3%.
Can I use Cherwell's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Cherwell 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 Cherwell District 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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