Planning Approval Rate in Dartford
Dartford is somewhat stricter than the England average for planning permission: it approves 79.7% of applications and decides 89% of them within the statutory time limit, ranking #280 of 310 English authorities. This page sets out how hard it is to get planning permission in Dartford, how quickly the council decides, and how it compares with its neighbours — from official government figures plus the live planning activity PlanWatch tracks across Dartford Borough Council.
Source: official MHCLG planning statistics (PS2), 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Based on 592 decisions (472 granted, 120 refused).
How Dartford compares
| Dartford | 79.7% |
| South East average | 87.2% |
| England average | 87% |
Dartford is 7.3 points stricter than the England average.
How hard is it to get planning permission in Dartford?
Dartford is among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, granting 79.7% of the applications it decides (rank 280th of 310). That puts it somewhat stricter than the England average — 79.7% approved against an England average of 87%. Within South East it is the 59th most approving of 65 local planning authorities, where the regional average is 87.2%. Refusals are fairly frequent here: 120 of its 592 decisions were refusals (20.3%). On the split by scale it is about as likely to approve major schemes as small ones: 85% of major developments approved versus 81.9% of householder and other small-scale work, from 20 major decisions.
On timing it is about average on speed, deciding 89% of applications within the statutory period against 90.6% nationally. Its figures rest on a mid-sized caseload of 592 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 Spelthorne (80.5%, more approving) and Woking (79.5%, stricter). For context in South East, Fareham approves the most (98%) and Windsor and Maidenhead the least (68.9%).
Compare Dartford with nearby councils
Approval rates for other authorities in South East. See the full South East league table.
Approval rate by development scale in Dartford
Live planning activity in Dartford Borough Council
From the latest planning data PlanWatch holds (to 27 August 2026). These are the records we've collected — the freshness the annual government table lacks.
What people apply for in Dartford Borough Council
Where planning activity concentrates in Dartford Borough Council
Recent applications in Dartford Borough Council
Track live decisions near a postcode on the PlanWatch Dartford page.
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Planning permission in Dartford: common questions
Is it hard to get planning permission in Dartford?
On the latest official figures Dartford is somewhat stricter than the England average and among the ten per cent strictest authorities in England, approving 79.7% of the 592 applications it decided over 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 against 87% for England.
What percentage of planning applications does Dartford approve or refuse?
Refusals are fairly frequent here: 79.7% approved and 20.3% refused — 472 granted and 120 refused of 592 decisions, with major schemes approved at 85% and householder and other work at 81.9%.
How quickly does Dartford decide planning applications?
On timing Dartford is about average on speed: 89% of applications were decided within the statutory period — eight weeks for most, thirteen for major schemes — against 90.6% nationally.
Is Dartford stricter than nearby councils?
Dartford's 79.7% approval rate makes it the 59th most approving of 65 authorities in South East, against a 87.2% regional average. Neighbouring Spelthorne approves 80.5% and Woking 79.5%.
Can I use Dartford's approval rate to predict whether my application will be approved?
No — the approval rate is a historic average across every application Dartford 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 Dartford 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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