Planning Approval Rate in Cotswold
Cotswold is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89% of applications and decides 90.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #149 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Cotswold, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Cotswold District Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,287 decisions (1,146 granted, 141 refused).
How Cotswold compares
| Cotswold | 89% |
| South West average | 89.5% |
| England average | 87% |
Cotswold is 2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Cotswold?
Cotswold is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89% of the applications it decides (rank 149th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South West it is the 14th most approving of 27 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 89.5%. Refusals are uncommon here: 141 of its 1,287 decisions were refusals (11%). On the split by scale it is somewhat tougher on major schemes than on small ones: 82.9% of major developments approved versus 91.6% of householder and other small-scale work, from 35 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 90.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on one of the heavier caseloads of 1,287 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 East Devon (89%, more approving) and South Hams (88.8%, stricter). For context in South West, Cheltenham approves the most (96.5%) and Gloucester the least (80.5%).
Compare Cotswold with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South West. See the full South West league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Cotswold
Live planning activity in Cotswold 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 Cotswold District Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Cotswold District Council
Recent applications in Cotswold District Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Cotswold page.
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Planning permission in Cotswold: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Cotswold?
On the latest official figures Cotswold is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89% of the 1,287 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Cotswold approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89% approved and 11% refused — 1,146 granted and 141 refused of 1,287 decisions, with major schemes approved at 82.9% and householder and other work at 91.6%.
How quickly does Cotswold decide planning applications?
On timing Cotswold is about average on speed: 90.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Cotswold stricter than nearby councils?
Cotswold's 89% approval rate makes it the 14th most approving of 27 authorities in South West, against a 89.5% regional average. Neighbouring East Devon approves 89% and South Hams 88.8%.
Can I use Cotswold's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Cotswold 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 Cotswold 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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