Planning Approval Rate in Dacorum
Dacorum is close to the England average for planning permission: it approves 89% of applications and decides 82.3% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #150 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Dacorum, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Dacorum Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 1,137 decisions (1,012 granted, 125 refused).
How Dacorum compares
| Dacorum | 89% |
| East of England average | 86.1% |
| England average | 87% |
Dacorum is 2 points easier than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Dacorum?
Dacorum is a little more approving than the median English authority, granting 89% of the applications it decides (rank 150th of 310). That puts it close to the England average — 89% approved against an England average of 87%. Within East of England it is the 17th most approving of 45 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 86.1%. Refusals are uncommon here: 125 of its 1,137 decisions were refusals (11%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 87.5% of major developments approved versus 90.4% of householder and other small-scale work, from 24 major decisions.
On timing it is among the slower authorities, deciding 82.3% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 1,137 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 Three Rivers (89.1%, more approving) and Mid Suffolk (88.2%, stricter). For context in East of England, Norwich approves the most (95.6%) and Epping Forest the least (66.1%).
Compare Dacorum 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 Dacorum
Live planning activity in Dacorum Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 26 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Dacorum Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Dacorum Borough Council
Recent applications in Dacorum Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Dacorum page.
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Planning permission in Dacorum: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Dacorum?
On the latest official figures Dacorum is close to the England average and a little more approving than the median English authority, approving 89% of the 1,137 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Dacorum approve or refuse?
Refusals are uncommon here: 89% approved and 11% refused — 1,012 granted and 125 refused of 1,137 decisions, with major schemes approved at 87.5% and householder and other work at 90.4%.
How quickly does Dacorum decide planning applications?
On timing Dacorum is among the slower authorities: 82.3% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Dacorum stricter than nearby councils?
Dacorum's 89% approval rate makes it the 17th most approving of 45 authorities in East of England, against a 86.1% regional average. Neighbouring Three Rivers approves 89.1% and Mid Suffolk 88.2%.
Can I use Dacorum's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Dacorum 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 Dacorum 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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